Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 22: After flirting with the heights of sophistication in the last years, the Brazilian bikini has returned to its roots. Indigenous imagery, palm-studded beaches and bright carnival scenes dominated the 2002 beachwear collections at Sao Paulo Fashion Week, the biggest fashion event in the southern hemisphere which ended on Saturday.
Although the bikini is Brazil`s premier fashion export, designers said they had the Brazilian girl on their mind this year rather than the growing legions of foreign clients.
"Today, all over the world, people are looking more at their own countries," said Amir Slama of the Rosa Cha label, who saw his show in New York canceled last September after the attack on the World Trade Center.
"Although this collection is very Brazilian, with images like parrots and seafood, people in other places will get into it," said Slama, chosen as Brazil`s top designer in 2002.
Last year, Rosa Cha offered classic black bikinis with images of French perfume bottles and shocking pink numbers stamped with Barbie dolls.

In this year`s show, Slama`s models filed past a thick waterfall in sand-colored bikinis with tracings of indigenous body paint and sarongs printed with feather headdresses .

Slama also took inspiration from the Rio de Janeiro carnival, adopting the pink and green colors of a top samba school.
Rosa Cha exports around 10 percent of its 300,000 pieces to the United States, Europe and Japan and this collection arrives in the Northern Hemisphere in November. The Sao Paulo company opens its first store abroad in October in Miami.
It is not like the old crochet which would fall apart the minute it hit the water," said designer Liana Thomaz. "We`ve come up with new technology."
In keeping with her practice of not baring too much for the home audience, Gisele chose relatively conservative bikinis and had a skirt or sarong in hand most of her time on the catwalk.

Bureau Report