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Knitwear Made by Inmates Is Used in São Paulo Fashion Week

11/03/2014 - 08h43

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PEDRO DINIZ
FOLHA COLUMNIST

Orange isn't a common color on the catwalk.

But, if it is up to the designers Valdemar Iódice, of São Paulo, and Raquell Guimarães, of Minas Gerais, it will set the tone in the 2105 winter collection of the brand Iódice, one the highlights of the 38th edition of the São Paulo Fashion Week, which will begin on Monday, November 3, at Parque Villa-Lobos, in São Paulo.

After two years away from the event, Iódice is back in the São Paulo fashion scene following the "Orange Is the New Black" series.

Eight inmates of a maximum security prison in Minas Gerais, who will be serving time for more than 20 years, produced 20 knitted garments for Iódice's new collection.

They are part of the Flor de Lótus project, created in 2009 by Raquell Guimarães, whose goal is to teach inmates of prisons in Juiz de Fora and Belo Horizonte the techniques to make knitting and crochet in order to help include the inmates socially.

Guimarães, who is the owner of the Doisélles label and has a contract with two prisons to produce the brand's garments, says "the inmates doing the longest time are those who do the best job."

"Men's hands are also great for this kind of work because they produce a wider and more beautiful weft," she says.

OFF THE CATWALK

Four of the eight men involved in the project would come to São Paulo to participate in the fashion show on Wednesday, November 5.

They would knit clothes at the entrance of the catwalk and, at the end of the show, they would be taken back to prison in São Paulo, where they would sleep until the next day.

However, the paperwork to allow them to leave the prison in Minas Gerais, transport and escort them to São Paulo, find room in a prison and take them back was not concluded in time.

Iódice mixed knitting, crochet and macramé pieces produced by the inmates with other clothes of his collection, inspired by the African tribe Wodaabe, totaling 30 looks.

Iódice will turn 70 in 2015 and he is the SPFW designer with the longest career. "I had to get back to the fashion shows. Some customers were pressuring me for the brand to appear in shows again," he said.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

Read the article in the original language

Divulgação
Eight inmates of a maximum security prison in Minas Gerais produced 20 knitted garments for Iódice's new collection
Eight inmates of a maximum security prison in Minas Gerais produced 20 knitted garments for Iódice's new collection

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