Candomblé and Afro-Brazilian Fashion: Aesthetics, Religion, and Politics on the Runway

• Grant number: 25/21224-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2025
• End date: November 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology - Anthropology of Afro-Brazilian Populations
• Principal Investigator: Vagner Gonçalves da Silva
• Grantee: Mateus do Nascimento Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project investigates the presence and circulation of Candomblé symbols in Afro-Brazilian fashion, focusing on the São Paulo Fashion Week (SPFW) and Casa de Criadores (CdC) fashion shows. The research is based on the premise that fashion is also a field of symbolic, political, and identity struggles, in which resistance and collective memories are expressed. The aim is to understand how elements linked to the attire and mythology of the orixás, traditionally associated with ritual space, are reinterpreted on the runway. The study engages with the anthropology of fashion, still an underexplored field, as well as with approaches from the anthropology of art and technique (Gell, 2018; Ingold, 2022; Latour, 2012), in addition to thick description (Geertz, 1978). The empirical corpus includes collections by designers Isa Silva and Mônica Anjos, both recognized for their explicit dialogue with Afro-Brazilian religiosity. The methodology involves the analysis of fashion shows, media materials, interviews, and specialized bibliography. The project thus seeks to understand the ways in which Afro-Brazilian fashion transforms religious elements into aesthetic language, affirming Black identities and strategies of cultural resistance. (AU)