Creativity in times of crisis: TudiCofusi

Brazilian brand TudiCofusi is much more than just another fashion label. It’s indeed a fashion, design and art collective launched around three years ago by four young women, all in their late twenties and early-thirties: Márcia Higuchi, Keila Akemi and sisters Alexandra and Stella Fernandes. Three of them graduated in Visual Arts at the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) and also work as art directors, while Alexandra is a post-graduate SENAC student and also works as a designer for a young São Paulo-based fashion brand.

What inspired the girls to launch such a hybrid-like project? The desire to create fun and amusing collections and to set free their ideas and imagination. Their garments are often colourful and casual and echo the 80s aesthetic, but their latest collection is characterised by neutral nuances with just a splash of vivid colours and silhouettes that can transform the shape of the body.

Dazed Digital: What are your signature designs and how would you describe your work?
TudiCofusi: TudiCofusi is known for its unusual garments, but our aesthetics are constantly changing. Our work is democratic, fun and without prejudice or barriers. We feel that by embracing our differences and opinions we can actually complement each other and show this in our designs. We usually look for a sort of meeting point between artist inspirations and the brand’s concept to develop our collective projects, but our starting point is always one, creative freedom. At TudiCofusi everyone can do anything. Someone having an original idea is enough for everybody to start getting together and making an effort to turn the idea into reality. Our style is therefore absolutely unpretentious. There are other fashion brands out there that overvalue their styles, while we value authenticity, that’s the principle on which we base our creations. We usually work from our studio in Pinheiros, São Paulo. It is set in Alexandra’s backroom where we have 3 sewing machines and a cutting table. We get together twice a week after work and most of the weekends, but our meetings can also take place in restaurants, bars or even while we have a walk around the city.

DD: What’s your latest collection like?
TC: All the garments in our latest collection were developed during our creative laboratories without any models or seamstresses. They were made by draping, pleating and sculpting the fabric, obtaining in this way a variety of silhouettes, with garments that can be adjusted to the different shapes of the wearers’ bodies or that can be worn in different ways. We mainly chose neutral colours that could help highlighting the shapes and silhouettes. The collection theme was “Creativity in times of crisis/A reflection on dressing”. We started the process thinking about solutions to make a fashion show without spending much. The financial crisis, the fashion market and the saturation of the prêt-a-porter spawned many questions and reflections on dressing and on how to consider the brand. The answer to the questions was freeing fashion and looking for new creative processes. To support our theory we decided to feature the work of Brazilian artist Guto Araki on the runway during our fashion show. Araki’s sculpture “A two carat diamond inside an egg” was meant to give an existential touch to the show.

DD: Who has been the greatest influence on your careers so far?
TC: Wong Kar-Wai, Hot Chip, Vivienne Westwood, Pedro Almodóvar, David Bowie, Quentin Tarantino, Matthew Barney, Marcel Duchamp, Robert Rodríiguez, Andy Warhol, Björk, Miranda July, Keith Richards, Pipilotti Rist, Betty Davis, Cartola, John Galliano, Wim Wenders, Gabriel García Márquez and many more.

DD: You are involved in the Casa de Criadores project - can you tell us more about it?
TC: Casa de Criadores’ main goal is to show the work of new designers, revealing talents from the Brazilian fashion scene and launching them on the market. This event is focused on renewing São Paulo’s fashion scene by showing the work of designers who create less conventional collections. Together with the São Paulo Fashion Week, the project has so far helped creating and consolidating the Brazilian fashion scene. It was through our friend, collaborator and graphic designer Ademar Ferrera that we were invited by the event organiser Andre Hidalgo to participate for the first time in Casa de Criadores, opening the Fashion Winter Season 2008 on its 10th anniversary and debuting on the Brazilian catwalk in November 2007. In December 2008 we presented our latest collection, participating for the third time in the event.

DD: What’s the Brazilian fashion scene like at the moment?
TC: The Brazilian fashion scene has grown a lot in the most recent years, both in size and quality. A lot of new brands appeared on the scene and compete with established brands, increasing production and raising standards. People are also more interested into fashion. Brazilian consumers are still searching for “models to follow” among our national icons, but we think this is the first step towards creating their own style. Even though most people are driven by a need to buy rather than to express themselves artistically, Brazil has a lot of young and exciting creative people working in the fashion scene at the moment.

DD: What’s the Bazar de las delicias?
TC: A space we have created in order to have a close relationship with our costumers. Our idea is to join people in a relaxed place and offer more than just our products, but also a special atmosphere that revolves around the collection’s theme and mood, with performances from independent bands, DJs and actors.  

DD: What’s the most challenging aspect of being TudiCofusi?
TC: Being able to administrate the collective during our spare time and choosing which of our many ideas will become real.

DD: What’s your New Year’s resolution?
TC: Relax and take it easy!