Casablanca Spring 2027: Vai, Brasil!

by · WWD

The spring 2027 show was a real moment for Charaf Tajer, who worked the beats of his beloved Brazil into this high-energy collection, which took place near Paris’ Belleville neighborhood, where he grew up.

The show was set inside Espace Niemeyer, in the 19th arrondissement, which was designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and is famous for its organic curving spaces and futuristic dome out front.

Tajer recalls gazing at the dome and thinking “Is it a sculpture? A museum? No one could ever explain to me what it was. I’ve always been fascinated by this place.” For the show, Tajer filled the inside of the dome with palm trees and tropical plants, and sent his male and female models circling around a little oasis.

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They wore easy clothes in citrusy colors that recalled all the juice bars on Ipanema Beach, and the bolder shades of the Brazilian flag.

Those juicy colors were everywhere. A pair of boxy shorts and matching top were the shade of freshly squeezed orange juice, while a skinny silk pajama suit was green as the lime in a caipirinha. Pink, green and yellow garden prints sprouted across silky, crisscross halter tops, fluid skirts and cabana tops. Another, sarong-like skirt featured rosy sunset colors, and a shark, in a nod to all those lurking on the Atlantic Coast.

Hibiscuses blossomed across the collection, too, as big, placement prints on cool drawstring surfer shorts or boxy patchwork jackets. They also came as a splash of pink on the buttonhole of a white tailored suit, and as tone-on-tone appliqués tumbling down the front of white knit dresses and pique shirts, or dangling delicately from handbags.

It wouldn’t be a Brazilian collection without a lineup of carnival-ready skirts and skinny pants with long swishy fringes, or a va-va-voom bikini top made from two sparkling pink hibiscus blossoms. Skinny, multicolored knit halter dresses and striped flapper styles completed this joyful color burst of a collection.

The accessories were great, too. One model carried a Casablanca-branded surfboard, while another was ready to board the plane to Rio with a pastel overnight bag in tow.

Those bags, and the collection, will be headed to Brazil early next year for Carnival, where Casablanca is planning a mega-event with Alma, the events company that specializes in the country’s annual extravaganza. Tajer, who grooved to Brazilian club music during the rehearsals and the show, said he can’t wait to return.