Photography by Marina Bernardo. Fashion collection by Raquel de Carvalho. Art direction and set design by Raquel de Carvalho and Marcella Dahl. Model is Pedro Nkomuwana signed at Constrate Agency. Styling by Marcella Dahl. Make up and hair by Badu Silva. Nail art by Roberta Munis. Analogue pictures by Marcella Dahl. Accessories by Minha Vó Tinha and Toca.
Raquel de Carvalho is a Brazilian fashion designer based in London. She graduated from the London College of Fashion in 2017. Her practice is based on knitwear and experimentation with upcycled garments. With a flair for drama and extravagance, she designs for humans free from normative gender binaries.
She started to think about this project after seeing Colin Jones’s from “The Black House” where he captured images of black youth during the 70s in Holloway in London. As a result, she was driven by the desire to learn and rethink narratives around the visual cultures of African Diaspora in Brazil and the UK.
Raquel travelled to Bahia in 2018 to develop her research, getting to know histories and artists, registering a personal visual diary with drawings, photographs, materials and also reconnecting with her spirituality through the Brazilian Umbanda religion and with her heritage from the Northeast of Brazil, immersing herself into the multiple cultures and personal references within the country.
The idea behind the collection was to experiment and to draw the parallels between these places, embracing their similarities and differences while recreating the universe of her grandmother’s house, bringing Brazilian northeast roots and childhood memories as a visual reference to the scenario.
The project does not aim to simplify such subjects to visual purposes but to question Brazilian aesthetics through different elements while celebrating the rich African legacy in Brazilian culture. The photoshoot took place in the ruins of Raquel’s old grandparents’ house, where she spent most of her childhood, in the countryside of Brazil.
“This entire project is more than making clothes but it is also about being able to rethink and hear important narratives that are not told. More than just being inspired by something, it is important to learn from it, and this is a process and far from being over”.
Fashion collection by Raquel de Carvalho / Instagram: @decarvalho.raquel
Art direction and set design by Raquel de Carvalho and Marcella Dahl
Photography by Marina Bernardo / Instagram @marinabernardo
Styling by Marcella Dahl / Instagram @marcelladahl
Model is Pedro Nkomuwana signed at Constrate Agency / Instagram: @in.komum @contraste.mgt
Make up and hair by Badu Silva / Instagram @badumakeup
Nail art by Roberta Munis / Instagram @robertamunis
Analogue pictures by Marcella Dahl / Instagram @marcelladahl
Brands
Accessories by Minha Vó Tinha and Toca.
