Welcome to GEN33

 Photo: “Diablos”. Caracas, Venezuela, by Alvaro Camacho.

Welcome to the first edition of GEN33. A publication about the business and culture of Latin America’s creative industries.

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Why the name? According to the United Nations, there are 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, and this is broadly what I'd be aiming to cover.

The "GEN" refers to “gente” which means people in both Portuguese and Spanish. It also refers to the word generation, as in a new generation of talent. Lastly, it's a play on the word genetics due to the unique mix that makes up this hugely diverse region of 650 million people.

As a Venezuela native and journalist covering Latin America since 2006, I’ve always felt the need to showcase a different side of the continent beyond its tremendous challenges and disparities, political turmoil and economic woes.

Indeed, several countries in Latin America, such as Venezuela and Argentina, have some of the highest inflation rates in the world, while others, like Peru, have recently declared a national emergency due to a political and economic crisis threatening their democracy.

However, alongside these harsh realities, there also exists a multitude of people who are helping bring attention to the region as a place full of business opportunites, creativity and inspiration.

For this reason, every two weeks, I will curate the best content from Latin America with an editorial focus on fashion, art and culture, aiming to provide context and insight into the places, people and creative projects of the region.

Bear with me as in the beginning it might be a bit experimental, but let's see where this journey takes us!

Without further ado, let's crack on with some recent highlights.

Back in September, Dominique Oliver, CEO and founder of Amaro, was included in Bloomberg’s list of the 500 most influential people in Latin America.

While Oliver was born and raised in Switzerland, he sought Brazil for its e-commerce business potential. Amaro is the first digitally native vertical brand in Brazil and one of the fastest growing in the country.

Image IG Dominique Oliver

It started in 2012 as an e-commerce fashion retailer, soon expanding to beauty and home decor. Amaro's strategy of combining clothing with smartphones and betting on multichannel sales has reaped rewards. It grew 45% versus 2021, and now stocks over 500 brands. @Amaro

In February of this year, renowned media and lifestyle brand Hypebeast launched its Brazilian social media channel Hypebeast Brasil @Hypebeastbr, (I wrote about it on BoF) Its success prompted the brand to also launch a new account for Latin America @HypebeastLatam earlier this month.

The platform —focused on sneaker culture, art, fashion and tech — will release exclusive content in Spanish aimed at its Latin American audience, including interviews with local artists and designers, city guides and cultural events.

Venezuelan artists are making a comeback in Miami. Earlier this month, Carlos Medina exhibited his Neutrino Spheres series at Pinta Fair in Coconut Grove. The show ran from November 3th to December 4th, but you can still catch The Ye’Kwana Universe, Living in the Middle of the Jungle exhibition at the Juan Carlos Maldonado Art Collection (JCMAC) in Miami’s Design District, which runs through February 26, 2023.

This exhibition showcases works by the Ye’Kwana people of the Amazon region of Venezuela whose hand-woven baskets share a geometry with that of Modern abstract artists.

Back to fashion, Botter is one of the most exciting labels to emerge from Paris Fashion Week recently. It is impossible not to notice the impeccably tailored clothes of the brand, which are infused with bright hues and Caribbean flair.

It is led by designers Lisi Herrebrugh and Rushemy Botter, who worked as artistic directors at Nina Ricci for three years before undertaking this venture.

Botter, who graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, hails from the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaço and his partner Lisi Herrebrugh, a graduate of the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, is Dutch and Dominican. The power duo was a recipient of ADAM Grand Prize this year.

Their latest collection, SS2023 called The Plastic Sea, toyed with the idea of bringing water to the runway. It featured melting ice bags, fluorescent boat-shaped trainers, and models whose hands swam in small aquariums filled with water. @botter_paris

Moving on to further down South, Argentina has given us much to talk about beyond football (congratulations on the World Cup!) and crippling inflation. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of seeing these two beautiful brands up close during London Fashion Week:

La Rando and Aynié. They were presented as part of a collective installation at the Argentinian Embassy in London, and both based their designs on the reinvention of the Argentine leather craft tradition.

Photo @la.rando.buenosaires

The first, was inspired by the creative logic of Bauhaus furniture and was conceived by Argentine architect Gala Elman and designer Renata Maccione. The brand focuses on the use of Italian leather as the base raw material, mixed with natural silk, cotton and linen of Belgian origin.

Photo @aynie_bsas

Meanwhile, Aynié comes from a tradition of over 100 years of leather craftsmanship in Buenos Aires. It is now led by Clara Aynié (great-grandaughter of the founder), who has updated the brand's approach and aims to bring it into the 21st century with her creativity and design skills.

Photo: Sasha Stories

There's so much more about Argentian fashion I'd like to share, but I'll save some for upcoming editions. I will just add that this month The Buenos Aires government announced a project to position Recoleta ( Buenos Aires' poshest neighbourhoods) as a fashion district emulating similar areas in Miami and Milan.

Infact, The installation of the future BAFA District in Recoleta takes reference from the Quadrilatero d'Oro of Milan. The area will be bustling with fashion, art, jewellery and of course great gastronomy. Sorry I don’t have link in English but you can read more about it here.

That’s it for now! Thank you for reading. If you liked this, forward it to a friend or consider pledging.

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