Funk, Clothing Ecosystems, and the Democracy of Fashion
A Q&A with Pedro Andrade, founder and director of Piet and P_Andrade
Pedro Andrade, the visionary behind Piet and P_Andrade, built his fashion brands on the premise of sharing Brazilian culture. Piet started out as a project that helped pay his rent, but Pedro’s brands are now at the forefront of sustainability, innovation and uplifting urban subcultures of Brazil.
Q: Why did you start Piet and how did creating the brand change you?
A: Fashion was the best way I found to express myself artistically in a “democratic” way. Honestly, when I created Piet in 2012, I made a T-shirt brand to make some money and help me pay the rent. Not long after, I saw that it could really change my life, so from that moment on I dedicated my life to fashion. I came from a poor family, from a small town in the countryside where life prospects are very different from the big centers. Fashion completely changed my future.
Q: What aspects of your culture have inspired and shaped your brands?
A: Today my brands talk about Brazil, but from different perspectives. Piet talks a lot about urban subcultures, regionalism and communities — things I experienced in my childhood and youth that shaped the way I think, dress and see the world. Through Piet, I access the affective memories of Brazilians.
At P_A, I use Brazil as a resource to find new solutions for the fashion industry, through biomimicry, studies of beings, vegetation, biomes, etc. My goal is to spread the culture and wealth of my country to the world. We are a magnificent source of resources and a boat of creators. I believe that Brazil is a key to socio-behavioral change for the planet.
“We don’t necessarily choose our target audience, but those who wear Piet are certainly looking for something irreverent.”
Q: What do you feel is controversial or unexpected about Piet?
A: Talking about Brazilian subcultures is a bit polemical, especially when we talk about funk¹ and favelas². In general, people like it because it’s a very real subject that we translate with a lot of delicacy and sophistication.
And if someone doesn’t like it, that product isn’t for them hahaha
Q: In what ways do you incorporate a sense of humor and sophistication in your pieces? What do the clothes say about the people who wear them?
A: Our sense of humor is very subtle, it’s not necessarily to make you laugh, but at the same time it brings lightness. We do that by putting a hidden pocket in our shoes, the phrases on our T-shirts, or recreating a luxury version of a product known in Brazil for being used by bandits. We don’t necessarily choose our target audience, but those who wear Piet are certainly looking for something irreverent, want to question order or even want to attract attention on the streets.
Q: What is your brand philosophy and what impact do you want to make in the fashion space?
A: Our philosophy is to be a regenerative brand. We believe that the next stage of sustainability in fashion is to help the industry become a regenerative economy for its ecosystem. We preach the sustainable concepts of Union-Made and Cradle-to-Cradle in our products, so that we can benefit our entire production chain — improving the local economy and the quality of life of our employees. We use fashion to improve our ecosystem.
- Brazilian Funk music was born from the favelas of Brazil and touches on a wide range of themes like struggles of the working class, sex and romance, and desires to climb the social hierarchy. Starting in the late 2010s, a movement that aimed to criminalize and suppress funk music gained widespread attention, but it did not succeed.
- Favelas refer to working class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term is often used interchangeably with the terms “slum” and “ghetto”.
This article was originally published in the Issue 01 of Asterisk Fashion Magazine, Spring 2024. Find Asterisk Magazine on Instagram @asterisk_mag
