Lea T. took to the runway in São Paulo Saturday night in celebration of Elle Brazil’s 24th anniversary–but her turn on the catwalk marked an important personal landmark in the model’s career as well: According to Made in Brazil blog’s Juliano Corbetta, this is Lea T’s first modeling job after undergoing sexual reassignment surgery.
Sao Paulo might not be one of the big four fashion cities, but when it comes to swimwear, Brazil is second to none. Brazilians dress for the beach like it’s the red carpet–the suits here are just as glitzy and glamorous as evening gowns, only much (much) more revealing (they don’t call it the Brazilian wax for nothing). Many labels showed last week at Fashion Rio, and more showed this past week at Sao Paulo fashion week.
As one Brazilian fashion writer put it, swimwear is Brazil’s haute couture. Here’s why. (Also if you need any motivation to go to the gym, this is it.)
