SPOTLIGHT

The craft behind the country

Long-form features on the techniques, cooperatives and clusters that make Brazilian fashion materially distinct — and on the people who keep them alive.

Craft · People · Sustainability · 23 September 2026

STITCHED DREAMS: THE WOMEN BEHIND PATBO'S EMBROIDERY

Every hand-beaded PatBO piece — including the ones worn by Beyoncé — starts at a free embroidery school in the interior of Minas Gerais, where designer Patrícia Bonaldi has trained more than 500 women since 2015. This is the craft story behind the celebrity headlines: the atelier, the techniques, and why Bonaldi calls handmade work "the foundation" of her business, not a marketing detail.

8 min read

2 articles tagged “Sustainability” · page 1 of 1

Production map

Where things are made

Denim & jeanswear

Toritama & Caruaru, PE

One of the highest-volume denim ecosystems in the Americas, built on dense networks of small workshops.

Knitwear & jersey

Blumenau & Brusque, SC

Technically advanced mills with strong finishing capability and growing low-impact dye infrastructure.

Footwear & leather

Franca & Novo Hamburgo

Historic shoe clusters serving both mass and premium markets, with established export logistics.

Cotton & agroecology

Ceará & Paraíba

Organic and naturally coloured cotton grown by family farming cooperatives with certification pathways.