As a creative sector, the fashion industry can play a vital part. Fashion is not only clothing: it is identity, attitude and socio-cultural communication. IN-MOD has therefore been inviting Brazilian designers, entrepreneurs, journalists and scholars to discuss the role of fashion and design in rising creative economies during the São Paulo fashion weeks since 2007.
Lucia Cuba, Peruvian fashion designer and consultant, was invited by IN-MOD to participate in the latest discussion in January 2009. "The idea of linking creativity to the formal economy is an interesting starting point, and one that is new to many Latin American countries. Fashion and design can enormously stimulate our economies, just as gastronomy is currently doing in Peru. This does, however, require professionalisation and diversification of both the products and the production processes, as well as the relevant knowledge and reflection. Brazil is proving that Latin American designers have more to offer than woven alpaca rugs and pseudo-European fashion. We can learn much from one another. It is for this reason that I have invited the director of IN-MOD to a return visit to the Peru Fashion Week that will soon be held in Lima", says Cuba