Brazil, a country known globally for carnival and voluptuous women, has witnessed the rise of a new aesthetic and behavioural trend among women; strong muscular bodies are in demand, ideally with minimal body fat. The spark? Social media. Patricia Barci investigates for The Genteel.
By Patricia Barci
Amanda is a photographer and writer with a love for travel, fashion, design and adventure.
Chere contributes lifestyle editorial to The Genteel from Paris.
Grace is Associate Editor at The Genteel and a contributing writer from London, where she has recently graduated with a First-Class degree in English from Loughborough University.
Cristina reports for The Genteel from Rome. She is a professional freelance journalist with ten years of experience.
Alina is the editor of frank by The Genteel, freelance writer and occasional portrait painter.
Karin reports from Toronto but travels extensively throughout the year.
Katie is a Ph.D researcher studying at Loughborough University. She has a flare for fashion and loves writing.
Raised in a home where fashion appreciation was considered a fundamental principle, from a young age Julie Rubinger understood fashion possessed great value.
Laaleen has worked in broadcast, print and digital media in New York, Britain and Pakistan, where she founded the Rockville Media Company.
Erin hails from the San Francisco Bay Area, but has called Madrid home for the last four years.
Venezuela is a country where beautiful women reign - but not all beauty comes naturally. An increasing number of Venezuelan women go under the knife each year to achieve the curves they want. With cultural perception over realistic body proportions changing dramatically, mannequins in shop windows have also begun to reflect these outrageous measurements.
In her investigation of extreme cases of 'beauty' imitation, which included the likes of Toby Sheldon and Valeria Lukyanova, Julie Rubinger uncovered why mimicking another person's image through body modification is not necessarily as eerie as it seems.
Fashion is an industry that thrives on the beauty of youth. However, until now, protection of the those that actually work within it has been largely overlooked around the world. On November 20, the state of New York will be the first to amend its labour laws to include underage models.
Mixing fashion and philanthropy is nothing new. But The Brides’ Project puts a special twist on it, turning the emotional process of purchasing a wedding gown into an opportunity to give back - a unique experience that lasts much longer than the walk down the aisle.
Berlin designer Isabell de Hillerin is trying to preserve a traditional handcraft that provides a future for women in Romania and Moldova. Lara Wiedeking asks de Hillerin about her designs and the social responsibilities of the fashion industry.
Bhutan's Royal Textile Academy is not only teaching the traditional art of weaving and preserving the culture of Bhutanese textiles, but it is hoping to aid the economic growth of the country.
The Genteel unearths the forces shaping global fashion and design through the lens of business, culture, society and best kept secrets.
A worldwide collective of contributors currently form The Genteel. On a daily basis our team dispatches thought-provoking and insightful articles from the streets of Oslo, Toronto, Beirut, Moscow, United Arab Emirates, Seoul and beyond.
