Ademar Ferrera’s oNONO

Born twenty-five years ago in a small town in the rural region of Paraná, southern Brazil, Ferrera grew up surrounded by textiles since his family owned a small clothing factory. While studying advertising at university Ferrera worked as model, church pianist, choir conductor and radio speaker and contributed with his art to different exhibitions.
The fashion call was too strong, though, and soon he started working with many important Brazilian companies and brands such as Iódice, Colcci, Zoomp and Zapping, contributing to the design and styling for young experimental Brazilian brand TudiCofusi while also collaborating with the Brazilian electro band ReginaNITES!

Inspired by all these influences and by designers he sees as “creators of unforgettable images” - among them Christian Dior, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, Alexander McQueen, Jean-Paul Gaultier and John Galliano - Ferrera decided to go solo and create his own brand, oNONO.

Based on four main principles - freedom, authenticity, simplicity and creativity - the brand’s first collection will be launched with a non-traditional fashion show at a heliport during the 25th Casa de Criadores event that will take place in Sao Paulo from 27th to 29th May.

oNONO’s site (www.onono.com.br) - launching after the brand’s show - will be a sort of platform recording all the creative projects of this collective label. Ferrera exclusively presents his brand to Dazed Digital through “Strobo”, a series of photographs conceived by Brazilian photographer Thelma Vilas Boas that will be featured in an art exhibition after the catwalk show.
 
Dazed Digital: What prompted you to launch oNONO in such turbulent financial times?
Ademar Ferrera: I have had oNONO firmly on my mind for the last 3 years and during all this time the project has always had a constant work-in-progress quality about it, which I think it will retain also after its launch. I conceived oNONO as a project that allows several talented people to work together, exchanging ideas. I think the fashion industry today is very tired as the frenzied search for trends massacred an entire generation and I believe there is a market for new things and more authentic, intelligent and interesting ways of thinking. oNONO is essentially a collaborative brand and I would like to work in future with people from the media industry - for example from the TV, radio, Internet publications and other media - and generate new concepts and ideas, because I think that the images currently created by fashion advertising are outdated and do not arise desire in most consumers.

DD: What inspired oNONO’s first collection?
Ademar Ferrera: The craze for logos and trademarks inspired me the idea of a brand that had no name and had therefore no particular meaning. I would define this first oNONO collection as experimental-commercial. During the creative process I tried not to be influenced by what is currently fashionable and imagined what people would like to wear, coming up with a new solution for fashion-conscious people in times of crisis. I devised a unisex collection that emphasises the individual and I tried to think about new ways of wearing fashionable clothes. Nowadays there are so many girls using boys’ clothes and vice-versa, so I designed a sort of simplified collection that allows both men and women to wear the same clothes. This first oNONO collection is therefore also based on contradictions, on opposites, such as men vs. women, rich vs. poor, digital vs. manual, positive vs. negative, pretty vs. ugly and real vs. unreal. Once explored, these endless contradictions will lead the wearer to hopefully think differently and see things under a new light.

DD: What’s the most challenging aspect of launching or managing a fashion brand at the moment?
Ademar Ferrera: Achieving investment as the world economy is very unstable. But I believe that investing is the key to new ways of thinking, even as an attempt to survive the crisis. In my opinion the crisis exists to stop and do things in a different way, take fresh decisions, seek innovative solutions and start a new movement.

DD: You’re a stylist, party organiser, artist, DJ, fashion designer and graphic designer: what’s your favourite job?
Ademar Ferrera: All of them. What motivates me most is to create images and feelings. Images are what inspire my work, from my prints to my parties. I’m always concerned with the image as this is what transmits feelings to people.

DD: What’s your favourite style at the moment?
Ademar Ferrera: What I call the “homeless” style, that is thousand of styling possibilities, what I would describe as “urban jungle freedom”.

DD: Can you tell us more about the Brazilian fashion scene?
Ademar Ferrera: Brazilian fashion has, little by little, developed and evolved at the point that it has become a professional business. The time Brazilian fashion was synonymous with swimwear has gone. We have good designers here and I like the most genuine ones, those who have their own history and are not influenced by trends. What continues to plague Brazilian fashion, though, is the lack of investment.

DD: Can you recommend us a few Brazilian designers or brands we should keep an eye on?
Ademar Ferrera: Wilson Ranieri, Gustavo Silvestre, Sara Kawasaki, Rober Dognani, Neon and Lino Villaventura.

DD: What’s Casa de Criadores?
Ademar Ferrera: A ‘New Talents Fashion Week’, an innovative and fresh event during which young designers can present their creations in catwalk form. This platform helped launching many of the top names of the current Brazilian fashion scene.

DD: Can you give us any tips about where to go and what to see in Sao Paulo?
Ademar Ferrera: Art lovers shouldn’t miss great spaces such as the Vermelho Gallery, the Emma Thomas Gallery, Fortes Vilaça Gallery and beautiful museums such as the Pinacoteca do Estado, the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) and the MIS – Museum of Image and Sound. The city centre is very decadent and seductive and features the famous 25 de Março street and the Mercado Municipal, one of the biggest open markets in the world and a rich source of inspiration, plus the Terraço Itália, an 80s restaurant overlooking the whole city, a charming and former bar for Brazilian modernist artists called Bar do Museu, the neighbourhood of Vila Madalena - rather restless and full of bars and restaurants - and, of course, the beloved “Secret Bar”, where I am resident DJ, currently hailed as the most exciting place for great parties. Madonna and Marc Jacobs have already been our guests.

DD: Are you planning any new and exciting parties at the moment?
Ademar Ferrera: I recently organised with fashion designer Gustavo Silvestre a successful party called “Delírio Tropical” (Tropical Delirium) and now I’m working on new parties called “Love Songs”. Furthermore, I am preparing a series of thematic parties with performances and installations that will involve many artists and will mix art, fashion and music.

DD: What are your plans for the next few months?
Ademar Ferrera: Pursue many projects with oNONO and do a new collection, plus launch three art exhibition projects and a series of photographic biographies in partnership with photographer Thelma Vilas Boas. I also want to get another band together and go back to playing the piano. I essentially want to work non-stop, making music, designing, having fun and laughing. Always!

Credits for Strobo images:
Photo: Thelma Vilas Boas
Make-up: Vanessa Rozan and Erick Eduardo
Hair: Vitto Mariella
Models: Bárbara Thomaz and Vanessa Rozan
Art Direction, Styling, Direction and Concept: AD
 
Credits for Ademar Ferrera images:
Photo: Alisson Louback
Make-up: Vitto Mariella
Styling: Gustavo Silvestre