While hurrying between shows at Sao Paulo fashion week last week, I nearly ran into Kecya Felix, a Brazilian stylist/designer, who was wearing what looked like a burqa (it’s actually a niqab and abaya) embellished with sequined interlocking Chanel “C”s and an iPad around her neck. A slide show played on the iPad–”Could Coco Chanel Create This Look?” one slide asked.

I approached Felix to ask what she was all about. She shook her head and pointed towards her boyfriend, American Ryan Donnelly, who was functioning as her voice for the ever growing throngs of showgoers who stopped, intrigued, to find out more about Felix and her provocative outfit.

“She’s doing a project about sexism in clothing and it’s going to involve visual art as well as a small collection of clothing,” Donnelly explained. “We went on a trip to the middle east where she bought this [abaya and niqab]–she didn’t create it. We bought it in Amman, Jordan.”

While Felix wouldn’t talk during her stunt at SPFW (she did the same thing at Fashion Rio) she sent over an email with her artist statement (written in the third person):

Read more →