I’ve always been fond of patchouli. From the teenager with curly hair and red lipstick, adept to flowered skirts and sandals, apart from the age and hair, few things have changed. The ever growing will to transgress, change, and reform the world and its concepts, even if it’s with bijoux, the tools I work with, remains exactly the same.

I was born in the countryside of Minas Gerais, and moved to the capital in November of 1968. On the 13th of December of that same year the AI-5* was decreed. As a child, I wasn’t aware of what that dictatorship act meant for the country, but certainly the music, art, cinema and theatre knew what it represented. Art has always been a form of expression, a way to speak about thoughts and feelings, and there were many who refused to lower their voices, especially in music, where the voices of protest were louder.

It all started with “Tropicália”, an art installation created by HelioOiticica. In cinema, Glauber Rocha revolutionized concepts. In theatre, “O Reida Vela” innovated. Oscaritoand Grande Otelo gave their body a new clumsy language. Constructivist poets deconstructed poetry. Gil reinvented sounds and groanings. Os Mutantes and the irreverent Rita Lee taught us how to be different. Caetano danced à la Carmen Miranda. Presentations were made with electric guitars, associating rock to Brazilian music. Deep down it was all about innovating, speaking with the world, many times showing what was cliché about our country in an ironic and celebrative way. The objective was to introduce Brazil to the world, and the world to Brazil, making it international.

Tropicalismo, a Brazilian art movement, inspires our collection. The result is colorful, pop, as a flag to happiness, so easily found in the spirit of Brazilian people.

The hippie culture, typical of the irreverent youth of that time, was remembered and reconstructed. We brought back elements from classic bijoux, giving them a new design, free of prejudice. The peacock feather, almost a hippie icon, came in metal. Earrings with multicolored lines gained new psychedelic shapes, in silk. The Fimo clay, very often used in popular fairs, got a new metallic shape. Daily use cords play joyfully in round shapes and non-usual combinations of color. Patchwork quilts are a reference to flower compositions, and the cerradoflora serves as inspiration to the collection, where a garden of colorful cetin blossoms into necklaces.Seeds get new colors, using natural fibers as support. It all makes us remember that nature is our biggest mirror, our major influence.

More than ever, just like Tropicalismo did, we have to situate the Brazilian culture in a global context, thinking globally, but never loosing our regional touch. In a recent jewelry congress, international consultants spoke about the possible paths we should take. One of them was the sun and the joy, so related to our image. The other was about being less ethnic during the creative process, if we wanted to keep exporting our design. Tropicalistasalready knew that.

Nowadays time runs so fast that those revolutionary times seem millions of years away, when in fact it happened only a few decades ago. Sexual revolution happened in the sixties. And in homage to the pill that freed sex from procreation, we have made the Apple Necklace, ironically bitten. Deliciously happy!

We would like to remind you that we have also got bananas.