From Rio With Love
bOTTLETOP HIGH SUMMER 2023
Photographed with Brazilian photographer Yuri Sardenburg during the high glamour of Rio Carnaval, we wanted to share the real-life stories of a diverse group of women in Rio representing local communities: Compelling women who represent and support their communities in powerful ways. Women who have struggled with inequality to build careers for themselves. Women who are proud and strong.
Meet Juliana Nalù
Juliana Nalú is a fashion supermodel born and raised in the favela of Chapadão, Brazil. She is an advocate for education and recently launched Favela Seeds, an educational and cultural incentive center and provider of basic needs such as food, psychological support and clothing for talented youth in Brazil.
"I'm so grateful to be able to call Rio home. Even with all the inequality and difficulty, growing up here has made me who I am today. It isn’t perfect here, but it is still the place that fills my heart with joy."
Meet Iany Kathleen
Iany Kathleen is a curvy model, fashion producer and hair stylist from Campo Grande, Santa Margarida in West Brazil.
"I express myself through fashion, art, and the hair I do – on myself, and on other people too. Seeing myself in the fashion market is a breakthrough for me because when I was a child, there was no one like me in the media. I never imagined that I would be walking the path that I am walking today, and that for me is incredible.”
Meet Kaio Guimarães
Kaio Guimarães, aka Oiak, is a fashion model and LGBTWQ+ activist.
“Fashion is literally my life. I love inspiring and putting in people’s heads that they need to love themselves the way they are, that they can be whoever they want. With fashion I make that happen.”
Meet Raisa Barros
Raisa Barros is a model, fashion creative and artist from Rio de Janeiro.
“Rio is literally the purgatory of beauty and chaos. It’s a beautiful city, but it’s filled with inequality, especially for women. I believe women are being given more and more visibility, more voice, but I think it’s still a long way to feel that there has been effective change.”
