CELEBRATE

For a very long time, Brazil held a reputation of having the most beautiful people on earth as their female and male models continued to dominate the fashion world. They are the stars that open and close fashion shows and are faces that grace the print ads and billboards of the world’s biggest brands. Famed supermodel Gisele Bündchen has been named most beautiful woman multiple times and has a net worth of a whopping $360 million. Bündchen, along with other Victoria Secret models Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Isabeli Fontana, Izabel Goulart all hail from the same country of Brazil. What is special about these women isn’t just their symmetric face, flawless skin and perfect hair, they are anomalous as they have the trifecta of a sizeable chest, a tiny waist and ass. Brazilian male models, on the other hand, also enjoy the same fashion success as their female counterparts. To this day, Francisco Lachowski and Marlon Teixeira remain the top male models of the world booking jobs well beyond the prime of most talents. Locally, we have Daniel Matsunaga and Hideo Muraoka, both of Japanese and Brazilian descent who also hail from the South American country. Why then are Brazilians so good looking? I was about to find out.

After 35 hours of air travel from Manila, the #MakingMEGA team arrived in São Paulo on Turkish Airlines from Istanbul close to midnight. I wasn’t sure if it was the quick transition from the cabin to the Brazilian summer, but there was a distinct and palpable heat in the air. I could not pinpoint what it was exactly, but it was a different kind of heat that I’ve never experienced before. It can be likened to the romance you feel when you land in the French capital or the immediate hunger you experience when you arrive in Milan. I quickly dismissed it and slept it off as we waited for our flight to Rio de Janeiro the following morning. During check-in at the Guarulhos domestic airport, I took immediate notice of typical Brazilian fashion. For the most part, they like to wear shorts and cotton tshirts paired their famed flipflops. Without any pretense and any desire to impress with their sartorial choices, it is safe to say that Brazilians are dressed appropriately for their climate. This all made sense after seeing the praias of Copacabana and Ipanema.

“Everyone is naked!” I exclaimed. Understandably, this would be the case in any beach city in the middle of the summer season. But there was something different about Rio de Janeiro. In the Philippines, you are fully clothed up until you reach your beach bed. It is only then when you would you remove your clothing. In Rio, people are walking in swimsuits from their hotel rooms straight to elevators, in restaurants, on the sidewalk, crossing the street, everywhere! This isn’t something I’m used to. Here, we follow dress codes and wear swimsuits that we feel are appropriate for our body type. If you are a small, medium or a large built man, you would opt to wear board shorts. Occasionally, you would run into a man who prefers short shorts and rarely would you find a man wearing speedos in Boracay or El Nido.

In Brazil, women and men, tall or short, young and old, fat or thin, all wear the same kind of swimsuit, the tiny kind. For women, they love bikinis that provide minimum frontal coverage and maximum exposure behind. For men, they prefer the sunga or a square type swim trunks that is worn just below the hip bone. It dawned on me that the heat I felt when I first landed in Brazil wasn’t coming from the weather, it was emanating from its people. Brazilians are oozing with confidence. They celebrate their bodies regardless of their gender, age, size or shape! There was no body shame or any malice if you saw a woman and her exposed size boob. It was fantastic! Brazilians are all about celebrating their bodies and it is something I hope the rest of the world learns from. Take off your top at the beach even if you aren’t on a diet and don’t go to the gym. Enjoy the sun, sand and sea regardless because it isn’t only liberating, nature feels great on the skin. Celebrate you and your body.