FASHION Magazine

Halima Aden’s story is filled with firsts. Now she’s breaking ground again as the first Muslim model to appear in a burkini in the salacious Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

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Diplo sprang to our collective consciousness as rap star M.I.A.’s DJ and collaborator (and, briefly, romantic partner). He’s gone on to record two albums as one half of Major Lazer and work with pop-dance artists such as La Roux, Santigold and Robyn, and he worked with Beyoncé on the beats for “Run the World (Girls).” Naturally, all of this led to a busy touring schedule. While he criss-crossed the globe, Diplo (a.k.a. Thomas Wesley Pentz) began to explore local music scenes in search of acts to sign to his Philadelphia-based Mad Decent label—notably baile funk from the favelas of Brazil, kuduro from Angola and “bounce” from New Orleans. Now, he’s released a book of the highlights from his journeys, 128 Beats Per Minute: Diplo’s Visual Guide to Music, Culture, and Everything in Between (Universe), with a foreword by the high priest of coolness, Alexander Wang.

The mention of Brazil usually brings to mind exotic images of beautiful beaches, dancing until dawn at Carnival and knockout models like Gisele Bündchen. Another image to add to that list is the ultra-colourful work of one of the country’s most renowned designers, Ronaldo Fraga.

With a knack for turning arts and crafts concepts into high style, the glasses and curly-tipped moustache donning man always creates collections that tell the story of his country with an execution that is so spot on because, for the past eight years, he has worked with rural artisan groups from every corner of Brazil. “I believe there’s an immediate need to close the gap that exists between designers and artisans in Brazil,” says Fraga. “I think much of our identity in Brazil is handmade.” For his last two collections, Fraga worked with the same group of craftswomen, Gatas Bordadeiras, from the city of Passira in Pernambuco, a state in the North-East of the country.

There was a definite vibe at the Tassoni Brasil (tassonibrasil.com) show, part of last week’s Toronto Alternative Arts & Fashion Week—the room was packed with an audience that included up-and-coming designers and fashionable youth giving off a great sense of excitement and support.