Mapping Brazil - Fashion: Empowerment & Lifestyle

Brazil in 2015 is an emerging country battling the global economic crisis and fighting the long-standing evils of widespread bureaucracy and corruption. Although Brazilians have been through many critical periods before, intense feelings of outrage, indignation and urgency seem to be at their highest ever. Fear of the future, together with a daily dose of news related to the global economic crisis are shaking a recent wave of optimism among Brazilians. Visitors in 2015 will find people going through a tough economic adjustment, and a politically divided country, with conservative forces gaining power over government and considerably altering policies that had prioritised jobs, development, income and the distribution of wealth.

It must be said, though, that despite the political/economic moment that Brazil is facing today, over the past two decades the country has witnessed changes that will continue to influence society as a whole. The country’s unequal distribution of income has been reduced and an array of newly empowered consumers have been welcomed to the market. As an entirely new segment of society enhanced their purchasing power, a second generation from the hard-working, low-income class finally had a better chance to get an education. Some have set up small businesses or created their own opportunities through informal entrepreneurship, and their spending power has bought them a strategic position in an economically-driven society – this is Brazil’s ‘new middle class’.

There are about 11.7 million people living in the favelas in Brazil, a population which, if set apart, would be the fifth largest state in the country. Over the past ten years, the percentage of middle-class individuals living in favelas has grown from 33% to 65%. The annual income of this sector is an impressive R$63.2 billion, the equivalent of the overall spending of countries such as Paraguay and Bolivia. It is also relevant to know that more than half of this population is concentrated in the south-eastern part of Brazil – an area that includes the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo.

According to a study by Data Favela, a research institute which concentrates on this sector, the percentage of favela inhabitants who belong to classes ‘A’ and ‘B’ (with higher income and purchasing power) has also grown from 3% to 7%. Nowadays, around 9 million of the country’s 30.7 million youngsters are part of the new middle class or, as it is popularly called in Brazil, ‘Class C’. They concentrate a purchasing power of R$129 billion, while that of classes A and B amounts to R$80 billion and R$19.9 billion respectively, for a total of R$99.9 billion.

Research and statistics explain in numbers why the market in Brazil suddenly started to pay closer attention to this sector. More and more people have become interested in acquiring a deeper understanding of this population’s needs, interests and behaviours. This is a population that had remained invisible and anonymous in most marketing and branding studies, as well as in literature, culture, education, health and so on. But not anymore. Their choices and interests are shaping a whole new market and shaking up existing ones. Additionally, their cultural and musical preferences, entertainment and lifestyle choices, as well as the resulting symbols, signals and styling expressions are spreading throughout the cities, mixing and mashing with those of the upper classes. All of this has been intriguing as well as inspiring to artists, creatives and, of course, fashion designers.

Historically, Brazilians tend to value what comes from abroad. International brands and lifestyles can be loved, respected and quickly adopted in Brazil, and in this regard the new middle class is not much different from the rest. A lot of its behaviours and attitudes are a national version of a global culture. Currently, for example, a lot of codes are originating around funk music in Brazil (very strong in Rio de Janeiro, but present from north to south) or around a revised version of Brazilian country music (stronger in the centre-eastern part of the country and now in São Paulo) and also through techno brega, very strong in the north, with heavy influences from local indigenous and Caribbean music, to mention just a few. From a more superficial analysis, such cultural movements all share a common ground of showing status, and have a direct impact on retail fashion, which has a direct impact on them in return.

Studies show how this population is more driven by the democratisation of consumption than by political ideologies. The new middle class influences and is influenced by social media. In fact, they use social media as a platform of expression. They are disillusioned with politics, but very engaged by causes. They see consumption as a kind of social inclusion; it subliminally represents a celebration of their economic empowerment. Conscious consumption is not a trend that comes naturally from their hearts but is much more a consequence of their limited resources.

In fact, it would be fair to say that Brazilians like to shop as much as North Americans in the USA do, and this is true for all economic classes. And, in a somewhat different trend, while part of the new middle class tries to show how much money they are spending through the brands they purchase, another group is constantly interested in bargains.

The big fuss that was created around the opening of Forever 21 stores in São Paulo is not something to be ignored. Fair trade is not an issue that seems to concern people who were willing to wait hours in line just to enter the store, seduced by the promise of filling their shopping bags with bargain-priced ‘international’ tops, jeans and accessories.

Back to the new middle class: one must consider the fact that these Brazilians have a long-standing acquaintance with international brands and a desire fuelled by well-orchestrated advertisement campaigns globally launched by these companies, strengthened by an equally dominant film industry. Thus they will spend a lot of money on middle-market brands as if they were luxury items – that is the case with brands like Hollister, GAP, Tommy Hilfiger, Lacoste and others, which can draw very high prices on the domestic market. As a whole, they value items with large, conspicuous logos, following the logic of, ‘If I buy it, I have to show it off’. Not surprisingly, Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors are among the luxury brands they value and desire the most.

Information about fashion has reached this population for a long time and they are good at incorporating it and expressing themselves through dress codes and beauty styling. The internet and social media phenomena have contributed to their influence and empowerment and web audiences are turning icons of this segment into new celebrities. Maybe they are taking part in a global pop/fashion trend, in an era when figures like Kim Kardashian rise into the spotlight from nowhere to become the dearest friend of the fashion crowd and a topic for Vogue, or when Waleska Poposuda, an ostentatious Brazilian funk singer, becomes guest of honour at Brazilian Vogue’s Carnival Ball in 2014, right after having a one-song hit that fixes in the minds of almost 80% of the country’s population.

As popular idols start to gain an audience among the upper classes, part of their attitude is somehow appreciated and incorporated as well. The trend forecasting service WGSN Brazil globally presented a strong local trend they observed and dubbed ‘The Outside In’: the growing interest of upper classes in music, attitudes and lifestyles that were once restricted to the lower classes. For example, funk is a movement which originated in the favela that has now successfully invaded the most edgy nightclubs in major cities such as Rio and São Paulo.

While this sector has not yet developed brands of their own, creators and retailers are taking time to understand their preferences and deliver targeted products. This has opened a big market for limited-edition, pocket collections. A recent example is the Kim Kardashian collection announced by the apparel retailer C&A, a guaranteed sales success.

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