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ashion’s global nature is undeniable, but a country’s cultural, political and religious characteristics still imbue their own unique stylish imprints. That was certainly my impression after attending spring/summer 2013 Fashion Week in Medellín, Colombia. Colombiamoda is the second-largest fashion week in South America (after São Paulo).

It’s also a trade show where up to $137 million worth of business is typically inked. But I was there to see runway collections from 30 of the country’s top designers. Two shows especially caught my attention—for both the universal-ity of their designs and their unique Colombian sensibility.

After chatting with Colombian jewel-lery designer Nicolás Estrada, I have

concluded that Canadians and Colombians

share an unexpected personality quirk: We both love to apologize for our countries. In our case, it’s for our earnest blandness; for them, it’s for their violent reputation. “It’s like we think it’s a sin to be Colombian,” Estrada told me over lunch one day at Medellín’s famous Museum of Antioquia. “We’re always asking for forgiveness and telling people that if they come here we’ll treat them well and that we’re not all criminals. We have to move on. It’s a different time now.” Estrada, who was born in Medellín but now studies in Germany, says that designing jewellery has helped him reconcile his country’s troubled past with the more peaceful city he sees today. “It’s much better than seeing a psychiatrist,” he said, laughing. “There’s time for reflection; you work through the emotions with the pieces you create.” To illustrate his point, he picked up some pistol charms and lockets adorned with religious icons that he had created a few years ago. “This is the lonely soul of purgatory. This is Christ. This is the holy heart,” he said and then paused. “Here in Medellín, religion is omnipres-ent. We have been breathing religion since we were small, but I have a love-hate relationship with it because I felt that the Church was too permis-sive with [drug lord] Pablo Escobar and his people. There’s this saying in Colombia that if you sin and then pray, you’re even. That always bothered me, but I still love the icons and the lan-guage associated with the faith, and they influence my work.”

fVirgin talent

Religious iconography was at the heart of Carlos Polite’s self-titled collection. The designer was the winner of this season’s sponsorship by the country’s leading fashion magazine, Fucsia. His muse was “La Virgin” and, not surprisingly, it took a form of divine intervention for him to even have a showcase at Colombiamoda. “I was speechless,” said Lila Ochoa, editor-in-chief of Fucsia. “Right from the moment the show began, I thought, ‘Heaven must be something like this,’” add-ing that her magazine’s sponsorship was also something of a miracle. “We hold an annual contest to find new talent, but this year we felt h

Virgins and muchachas INSPIRE runway storylines. by noreen flanagan

MEDELLÍNStyLE fILE

Designing jewels in a dangerous time

fAShION DISPAtChSouth america

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StORytIME My other favourite col-lection was from the husband-and-wife team behind the label Leal Daccarett. It had a surreal quality—a.k.a. the fashion equivalent of noted Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. The line is known for clever design twists and the creative blending of craftsman-ship with street-influenced design. Storytelling is also central to their work. “My grandfather always told me these fantastical tales—like the one about the mer-

maid who lived on his farm,” explained Karen Daccarett Daes. “She even makes

an appearance in this collection.” “Colombians love fantasy,” added Francisco Leal Holguin. “We also like to play with clichés. For ex-ample, the strapless princess gown is ultra-feminine in the front, but

when the model turns around, you see the woman she wants to be: strong

and feminine.” For now, neither Polite nor Leal Daccarett is available in Canada, but

Holguin hopes to expand beyond their borders. “I used to spend my summers at camp in [Ontario’s] Algonquin Park,” said Holguin. “I loved it there. I’d love to return and bring our collection with us!”

style

eflections of top models in tiny dresses shimmy across the ripples of Rio’s Guanabara Bay as a bartender shakes

up a caipirinha and offers it to me with a grin. (You can almost see his eight-pack through his shirt.) Somewhere inside, Sophia Loren is circulat-ing. Welcome to the high-style, high-drama launch party of the 2013 Pirelli calendar. h

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nobody deserved to win,” she ex-plained. “So we said ‘Okay, we are not going to sponsor a show.’” Then someone showed Ochoa a photo of some pieces that Polite had created for a fashion show in the northern city of Barranquilla. “I asked ‘Who is this guy?’” she recalled. “We began talking, and at first he wasn’t con-vinced that we were serious. I said that he could ask for anything he wanted! I knew my boss might kill me, but I was prepared to pay this out of my salary!” His virgin-inspired collection—which also had Asian and military influences—was the high-light of Colombiamoda. Backstage, Polite told me that he had always been fascinated with Japanese culture and philosophy but that the virgin was also an iconic image: “She is like a warrior: a mother who has a son and gives her son what she believes. All the artists in history have painted the virgin—not just as a religious concept but also an icon.”

LIfE Of thE PARty

fashion and philanthropy COLLIDE at Pirelli’s rio bash. by noah lehaVa

colour and contrast in rio,

from the favelas to the mountains

the “reverse mullet dress” by leal daccarett

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Pirelli, the Italian tire company, has been pro-ducing its calendar for 40 years: photos of famous faces (and bodies) in breathtaking locations, snapped by boldface names like Annie Leibovitz and Karl Lagerfeld. This year, Pirelli passed the reins to Steve McCurry, the American photo-journalist who shot the famous 1985 National Geographic cover of the Afghan girl with the trans-fixing green eyes.

McCurry took a fresh approach to the no-toriously sexy calendar: He shot 11 fully clothed models hanging out amid the colourful chaos of Rio’s favelas, capturing the socioeconomic trans-formation of Brazil along with a vivid sense of place. His choice of models underscored his mis-sion: All are philanthropists with spe-cial causes, from Adriana Lima, a vol-unteer with Bill Clinton’s Haiti relief program, to Petra Nemcova, who founded the Happy Hearts Fund to help children affected by natural dis-asters. “For years, Pirelli has created iconic images, but this year they added another dimension: purpose,” explains Nemcova, her vintage Valentino gown shimmering as we enter the gala ball-room. “[Steve] chose the girls for our voices—and the voices of the people we represent—to be heard.” n

elle canada’s Noah lehava with brazilian actor rodrigo santoro; model hanaa ben abdesslem at the gala

candlelit tables at pier mauá, where the pirelli gala was held; a view of the pier from the red carpet

models and philanthropists (from left) isabeli Fontana, adriana lima and petra Nemcova

47 centimetres tall7.5 kilograms

34 total photos11 models featured,

including karlie kloss and liya kebede

thE PIRELLI CALENDAR, by thE NuMbERS“it’s not about their

bodies. or their sexuality. you can do sexy shots anywhere, including the lobby of a hotel. for what i was trying to do, i needed setting, background, a sense of atmosphere. What is it about rio that makes it rio? the graffiti, the bars, the bodegas, the incredible light...the shadowy sexy girl walking up the aqueduct.”

– SteVe mccurry, PhotograPher

f O R M O R E O N C O L O M b I A M O D A A N D t O C h E C k O u t O u R R I O b L A C k b O O k g u I D E , v I S I t E L L E C A N A D A . C O M / M A r C h 2 0 1 3 .