SPFW N60: Leandro Castro

On 16 October, the runway of São Paulo Fashion Week received “Gaiafilia”, a collection by Leandro Castro that proposes a dialogue between fashion and Amazonian territory. The name, which means love of the earth, sums up a project that unites scientific research, artisanal practice and material experiment.

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Before reaching SPFW, Leandro presented his work at Casa de Criadores, where he began to develop his authorial language based on the reuse of fabrics and on tailoring. With a degree in Science, Technology and Moda and a master's in Engineering and Inovação, he works with biomimicry as a line of enquiry that observes nature as living technology.

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For this collection, the designer took part in an immersion in the Biomas programme, an initiative of Sebrae Nacional curated by Walter Rodrigues. The research took place in Santarém, Alter do Chão and Belterra, in western Pará, in collaboration with riverside communities. Aira gourds, Coroca straw, wood from managed forestry and purple ipê seeds were incorporated into the development of the pieces.

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The presentation at Pacubra, in Parque Ibirapuera, showed around 30 agender looks. Satin fabrics and transparencies combine with tailoring, creating contrasts between rigidity and movement. The colour range runs through black, white, green, blue and pink.

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In “Gaiafilia”, the Amazon appears as a lived territory and not as a reference image. The collection results from the direct relationship between research, raw material and local communities, consolidating Leandro Castro in the landscape of contemporary Brazilian fashion.