As a child, Airon Martin heard his grandmother say that he would only be a man if he was identified with a “dr.” in front of. For her, her grandson should follow a traditional profession. “I tried to be a doctor, I tried to be a lawyer, anything with a ‘dr.’, but fashion was stronger,” says the founder of Misci, perhaps the most talked about brand in national fashion today.
It took two career changes before the 31-year-old designer saw his creations paraded by First Lady Rosângela da Silva, Janja, and Environment Minister Marina Silva, in television interviews and at official government events, putting his label, hitherto better known by specialists, on the lips of the people.
Martin was raised by his mother and grandmother in a house at the back of a roadside cabaret in Sinop, a city of 150,000 in the interior of Mato Grosso, where he lived daily with prostitutes. His life story already made him very ashamed, he says, but today his unusual past, transferred to Misci’s creations, is a great asset of the brand in the market, which for Martin is better than any “storytelling” advertising.
Another decisive factor in the success of Misci, says the designer, is the quality of the products, careful execution and finishes, made with Brazilian export-quality raw materials. The silk thread used in Janja and Marina Silva’s shirts is the same used by Dior and Hermès. The arapaima skin used in some bags comes from the same tannery that supplies Rick Owens.
Misci—for “miscegenation”—was his final project for the industrial design course at the Istituto Europeo di Design, in São Paulo. His initial idea was to develop a furniture line, but the then student ended up changing course and opted to create the clothing brand, which would be “a survey of what the Brazilian identity was.”
“Fashion is one thing and clothes are another. We don’t just make clothes, clothes are one of the reflections of fashion that we present. It’s a bit philosophical, but we have to show the consumer that there is a difference. Clothes a lot of people make elo fast fashion does it. Few people do fashion in Brazil. It’s understanding who is doing fashion and valuing that.”
Translated by AZAHARA MARTIN ORTEGA
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