Research Notes: Occupation Zuzu and the Politics of Re-framing Brazilian Fashion

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Acknowledgments

The author wishes to acknowledge the anonymous peer reviewers and the co-editors of this special issue for their insightful comments.

Notes

1. The idea of “Occupation” is a specific format developed by the Itaú Cultural Institute, which defines it on its website as “an opportunity for several audience profiles to make contact with artists who have made history, and to know their creative process. It is also a space for the institution to direct its educational activities to further develop and understand the role played by the artists, their movements and periods.” Listed on the website: http://novo.itaucultural.org.br/conheca/projetos/.

2. According to data provided by the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, 150 fashion courses were registered in 2015 by the Ministry of Education of Brazil. However, if we count the courses that take place informally we reach a much larger number. Listed on the website:http://ruf.folha.uol.com.br/noticias/2015/09/1680532-moda-derruba-filosofia-entre-as-graduacoes-mais-procuradas.shtml.

3. The military coup began on the threshold between March 31 and April 1, 1964. The “Ocupação Zuzu” was launched 50 years later on April 1, 2014, in order to remember this date. Ironically, Brazil celebrates this day as “April Fools’ Day,” a tradition that pre-dates the military dictatorship but whose irony is not lost today. In its final report in December 2014 the Truth Commission, which investigates violations of human rights in the country recorded 434 people dead or missing. The full report is listed in: http://www.cnv.gov.br/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=571.

4. Zuleika Angel Jones appears in the Brazilian government records detailing Political Deaths and Disappearances. Listed on the website: http://cemdp.sdh.gov.br/modules/desaparecidos/acervo/ficha/cid/332.

5. Unlike the fashion designers who dominated the fashion scene in the country, Zuzu Angel kept the messages and meanings of her ready-to-wear garments parallel to those being made with her more upscale, tailored outfits. In 1967 during an interview with Jornal do Brasil she said: “The modern woman just wants to be well dressed, no matter the signature or the origin of the outfit. The ready-to-wear is the magic word, ready to wear anyone. The slogan ‘saw, liked, chose’ becomes reality.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Denise B. Pollini

Denise B. Pollini is Head of the Education Department at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Serralves Foundation, Porto, Portugal. She graduated in Fine Arts and has a Masters in Arts from the Universidade de São Paulo. She is author of Breve História da Moda (A Brief History of Fashion, 2007) and curator of the fashion exhibition Moda no Brasil: criadores Contemporâneos e memórias (Fashion in Brazil: contemporary creators and memories) at the Brazilian Art Museum/MAB-FAAP (2012).

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