Graduation Collection | FASM

Sem Lei, Nem Rei ("No Law, No King") is my graduation collection from FASM (Faculdade Santa Marcelina) — a deeply personal project inspired by the socio-political and emotional landscapes of Brazil’s Northeast. The title comes from a popular regional saying that reflects the lawlessness, abandonment, and resilience of this drought-stricken area, long forgotten by the state and society.

The starting point for the collection came from my own experience visiting remote villages, where homes stood deserted — furniture, family photos, and even clothing left behind, frozen in time. This encounter with forced displacement and loss led me to explore the relationship between people and the spaces they inhabit. I paired this with the philosophical ideas found in The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton, who suggests that our homes are reflections of our inner selves. This intersection of absence, identity, and memory formed the emotional and conceptual foundation of the collection.

I imagined clothing as a kind of home for the body, and wondered: what does it mean to abandon both your house and your second skin? From this, I developed cocoon-like silhouettes and worked with unconventional materials—dense fabrics commonly used in furniture and construction, repurposed into wearable forms. I also created unique textile blends, including handmade knits combining cotton with straw fibers, contrasted with Italian linen to evoke a dialogue between the raw and the refined.

The textures and color palette were directly inspired by the faded, sunburnt hues of the abandoned interiors I visited — peeling paint, weathered wood, dry soil, and forgotten cloth. Every element of the collection was crafted with intention: I designed not only the garments, but also the prints, accessories, shoes, and even the buttons by hand.

Sem Lei, Nem Rei was my opportunity to bring together all facets of fashion design — concept, craft, and emotion — into a body of work that questions material memory, human presence, and the soul embedded in what we wear.