ALL THE RAGE
Flamboyant, sexy and beautiful: Rio de Janeiro has enraptured travellers for centuries. Zara Wong gets a taste of South America’s most visited city.
Flamboyant, sexy and beautiful: Rio de Janeiro has enraptured travellers for centuries.
1. When in Rio ...
Rio, Rio, Rio – even the sound of its name conjures up that Carnevale magic, visions of long stretches of beaches and the sound of the coolly languid bossa nova. A resurgence of interest in the Rio by way of it hosting the 2016 Olympics has seen the city come to life. Here, Vogue’s guide on the best places to stay and eat. The Philippe Starck-designed Hotel Fasano is a touch of high-glamour glitz in the otherwise laidback city of Rio. It was Nicolas Ghesquière’s hotel of choice when he travelled to Rio for the presentation of his resort 2017 show. For another side of Rio, away from the beaches, head to Santa Teresa Hotel, situated in the mountains of its namesake bohemian neighbourhood. Laze away the day poolside on a giant sun bed surrounded by tropical gardens, then head to Bar dos Descasados for a drink at sunset. Built on the site of a former coffee plantation, the boutique hotel has also been globally recognised: it’s part of the Mr & Mrs Smith portfolio and the Relais & Chateaux group, so you know the food is going to be good (its own Térèze restaurant is a fine-dining destination). The hotel is also popular with celebrities who prefer its quieter atmosphere – Alicia Keys stayed here for a whole month. For Christopher Esber, Brazil was a recent vacation highlight, with the vivid colours of the country’s landscape infusing his resort 2017 collection – the heat of the city can be felt in the
knotted linens, while the bright electric blue of the water and sky trickle through his designs. And if you ever reached a destination that you loved so much you deferred the rest of your trip, Esber did just that with Rio. (See more of his suggestions on the following pages.)
If you feel the need to diverge from Brazilian food on your trip, head to Sushi Leblon, where Esber recommends the jumbo shrimp and Vogue’s pick is the quail egg sushi. Since it was opened 30 years ago by professional surfer and local celebrity Pedro Paulo Guise Carneiro Lopes – nicknamed Pepe – it’s gone on to revolutionise the area’s foodie credentials, with other restaurants on the street like Brigite’s and Pipo also coming highly recommended.
QUICK PICKS
• Local gelato and Brazilian coffee at Momo Gelato. • Museum of Tomorrow and Museu de Arte do Rio, both cultural highlights of the city. • Cristo Redentor, a famous icon of the city. Standing 710 metres above sea level, the site’s outlook over Rio is astounding. • The out-of-this-world Museu de Arte Contemporânea designed by Oscar Niemeyer – a sight to behold and chosen by Louis Vuitton to showcase its resort collection. • Multi-brand boutique Dona Coisa with its chic approach to fashion paired with Brazilian exuberance.
2. Work & play
From the sand of Copacabana to the hills of Santa Teresa, the Vogue fashion team took on Rio de Janeiro with more than 10 suitcases of the latest autumn/winter ’16/’17 collections in tow (thanks to American Airlines). The spirit of the Olympics was already in the air with model Lily Donaldson getting in the mood complete with a Vogue basketball. (The basketballs will be available at Vogue American Express Fashion’s Night Out.)
3. Dressing for the part
Vogue sought out the local labels to buy on your Rio de Janeiro holiday. Can’t make it abroad? Create your own Brazilian touch. The city’s sun and surf culture makes its style perfectly compatible with an Australian summer.
THE ESTABLISHMENT
Designer Lenny Niemeyer has seen sales for one-piece swimsuits rocket in Brazil over the past few seasons, so take note. Niemeyer, whose husband is the nephew of the late architect Oscar Niemeyer, is an icon in the Brazilian fashion industry and has worked out of the same space since she first began in 1997. To complete your beach look like a Rio native, top your swimsuit off with a kimono. Those in Niemeyer’s latest collection can be casually wrapped around a swimsuit or dressed up with a long skirt and fanciful earrings.
THE FINISHING TOUCH
The women on the Brazilian social circuit love a statements accessory. Blue Bird shoes is their label-to-know for its flats, embroidered loafers and embellished slides. For handbags, they head to Glorinha Paranaguá for her elegant take on natural materials. There’s also the Italian-made designs by Brazilianborn Paula Cademartori, who can be found on Matchesfashion.com and Net-A-Porter. For emerging designers, handbag label Serpui is worth checking out.
COVER-UP-TO-COCKTAIL
Calling her designs “bain couture”, Brazilian designer Adriana Degreas does sultry swimwear, cover-ups and an athleisurewear line with tongue-in-cheek slogans like “Brazilians do it better”. Degreas’s non-bikini options are some of her most interesting; her silken throwovers can even pass for cocktail dresses.
SLEEK SUITING
For those more suited to lounging around at the grand old mansions of Santa Teresa rather than the famous beachside haunts of Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian-born designer Barbara Casasola is a name to commit to memory. Trained at Central St. Martins and now based in London, her line is about super-sleek, femininely minimalist pieces. Meanwhile, streetwear brand Osklen is a go-to for the youth of Brazil.
4. Soul food Top chef Massimo Bottura talks to Sophie Tedmanson about his sustainable and cultural food project, RefettoRio Gastromotiva.
Massimoin world, Modena, Bottura’sbut the Italy, Italianchef was is recently restaurantalso passionatevoted Osteria the Francescanaaboutbest in foodthe Food for Soul, sustainabilityinvolving food, throughart and his design. cultural Here, project he gives an insight into RefettoRio Gastromotiva, the community kitchen he will open during the Olympics featuring some of the world’s top chefs working to transform surplus food into delicious meals for the poor, while also providing job training for young people from the favelas. We also hear what inspires him. Massimo Bottura: “I think if I didn’t have Osteria Francescana as a laboratory of ideas, I couldn’t do Food for Soul. In Osteria we create culture, and Food For Soul is a consequence of our life. At the Expo Milano in 2015 the theme was ‘ feeding the planet’. To me, feeding the planet, fighting waste, comes first. I built Refettorio Ambrosiano, Milano [the first sustainable soup kitchen he opened] with other people around me – artists, architects, designers … an amazing beautiful space in the poorest place in Milan. We were re-giving life in that exceptwe charity cookedthe project: from recreate.found mealschefs it nothing themselveswereforis Thea poor culturalthe peopleand people.bestin that’s walkingthe project.in It the middlehowwas world.in Wea we wereof classic inventedthe start But fragile most soupand this somethingsouls beautifulkitchen,howis not who wea tables,back, “There’sso amid Fooda pointthe For mostof Soul your beautifulis a life not-for-profitwhenand interestingyou have where to art.I give use my Refettorio image liketo this. raise It’s moneya worldwideto help cultural people project.open a “As for my inspiration as a chef … creating a recipe is an intellectual act. In this journey of creativity you have to leave a door open for the unexpected. If you walk into that door you have the possibility of seeing the world from another point of view. Every day in the kitchen we compress into edible bites my passion, my interests – art, music – my memories, my everything. So on our plates it’s not just good food, it’s something more. For more information on RefettoRio Gastromotiva, go to www.foodforsoul.it/projects/refettorio-rio.
5. Christopher Esber’s city highlights
“Frey Kalioubi [2nd floor, 73 Praça Tiradentes] is a new multi-brand concept store with some really original new designers.” “Armazém São Thiago [26 Rua Áurea] has been around for decades and has great interiors.” “The most amazing place to have coffee and cake is in the tearooms of Confeitaria Colombo [32 Rua Gonçalves Dias], a restaurant from the 19th century.” “Go to Pedra do Sal in the neighbourhood of Saúde for late-night dancing in the streets with the locals. But leave your jewellery at home!”