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Colorama is a Brazilian born nail polish company that has been around since I was little. They were recently bought by Us based cosmetic giant Mabelline, although I could not find more info on this online.

Colorama has great market share in Brazil, both on beauty salons as well as on retail. Their nail polish collections are hits amongst Brazilian women, so the Summer 2010/2011 collection is posed for success as well.

The collection brings 7 new colors that closely follow fashion international trend. It also has a more varied palette when compared to other nail polish collection from other major competitors, which are very much based on pinks and red hues.

Colors:
Militar (Military) – green hue based on the military trend on international runaways;
Jeans – deep blue hue that borrows from the denim
Hippie Chic – light blue hue
Tapete Vermelho (Red Carpet) – deep red hue
Clubber – vibrant pink hue
Rock – black with slight glittery effect
Clássico (Classic) – smooth and minimalistic whitish hue

Colorama also has a low retail price (like most of its large competitors like Risque): R$ 2,15 or U$1,15.

Thanks to our Dear Blogger Colleague and Fellow Fashionista Bachelor of Science, we are reposting her fab “50 Books Every Fashionista Needs to Read” book list.

The list is even organized by themes:

1. Fashion History Books

2. Fashion Books by Celebrities or Fashion Personalities

3. Books to Learn the Basics of Style and Fashion

4. Fashion Photography Books

Today, we start with Fashion History Books, which includes biographies and beautiful coffee table books on a powerful list of designers and fashion editors:

“Fashion history books are packed with information you may not know about a designer and explain the evolution of a brand.

1. The Yves Saint Laurent-Pierre Berge Collection: The Sale of the Century – Christiane de Nicolay-Mazery. A remarkable look at the spectacular collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge. There’s no other way to view their collection and this book has closing auction prices for the 2009 sale.

2. The World of Coco Chanel: Friends, Fashion, Fame – Edmonde Charles-Roux. The story of Coco Chanel’s rise to fame, including what inspired her and how her life took a turn nearly every time she fell in love.

3. Pierre Cardin: 60 Years of Innovation – Jean-Pascal Hesse. The great Pierre Cardin’s career is chronicled in this book that talks about the rise of the brand that reigned for decades.

4. Balenciaga – Marie-Andre Jouve . This fantastic hardback book showcases the history of the house of Balenciaga, from the voluminous pieces of the 1950s to the flawless structured separates of the 2000s.

5. Yohji Yamamoto – Francois Baudot . A peek at the world of Yamamoto, the avant garde Japanese designers who is still going strong with his namesake collection and diffusion lines like Y-3.

6. Poiret – Francois Baudot. Poiret was truly the first fashion designer (in the modern idea of the word) and isn’t discussed, even in hardcore fashion circles. Learn more about the designer from the ‘20s.

7. Chanel – Jean Leymarie. This book covers the history of Chanel’s life and the evolution of the fashion house after her death.

8. D.V. – Diana Vreeland .The late Vogue and Bazaar fashion editor lived life on her own terms. This is the biography that tells her story of a life lived in the world of fashion.

9. Alaia – Francois Baudot .A look at the designer that defined the 1990s and remains one of the favorite fashion houses of the “supers” like Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell.

10. Diane von Furstenberg – Andre Leon Talley . The Vogue editor carves out the life of the great DVF and the pivotal role she’s played in modern fashion.

11. American Fashion Designers at Home – Rima Suqi .A look at major fashion designers at home. This book proves that great style transcends clothing and usually makes its way to the living room and kitchen of true artists.

12. Front Row: Anna Wintour: What Lies Beneath the Chic Exterior of Vogue’s Editor in Chief – Jerry Oppenheimer. This book is, expectedly, filled with gossip and scandals and peppered with celebrity names and tales.

13. Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky – Chris Greenhalgh. This novel covers the affair between the designer that would go down in history and Stravinky, a Russian composer. It is a fictional account of a very real (though brief) love affair.

14. Yves Saint Laurent by Florence Muller. This is an amazing read that is part history lesson, part fabulous coffee table book. YSL started working under Dior in his early 20s and this book follows his career until his retirement.

15. Karl Lagerfeld: Chanel’s Russian Connection by Karl Lagerfeld. This book chronicles Lagerfeld’s fascination with ‘20s and ‘30s Russia, which was used as inspiration for the 2008 Chanel collection.”

Stay tuned for the Fashion Books by Celebrities or Fashion Personalities book list.

Don’t get me wrong, sales of luxury items are well and kicking in Brazil. What has changed is where Brazilian are buying.

Once upon a time, not that long ago Brazil got (in)famous due to Daslu, a mega luxury store that sold from Gucci dresses to helicopters on a humongos mall that was almost all closed to anyone who was not a customer. Its owner, Ms. Eliana Tranchesi is from a wealthy family from Sao Paulo and her mother used to bring luxury items from her trips aboard and sell them from her living room to her closest friends. Later on, Ms. Tranchesi grew Daslu to its mega store status (we are talking about 60,000 square feet).

Then in 2005, Eliane was indited by the Brazilian government for being part of a scheme that brough all these luxury imported goods without paying its proper taxes (note to readers: Brazil has one of the highest level of these type of taxes in the world and of course the local government takes it very seriously). Ms. Tranchesi and her brother were arrested (and then appealed and were realeased) and Daslu’s debt with the government  is around U$ 300 million.

Daslu has declared banckrupcy while Ms. Tranchesi searches for new investors. The Daslu space now belongs to the Iguatemi group (which is a family enterprise that includes many high end shopping malls throughout Brazil). Daslu will soon move out and anchor the newest Iguatemi mall to be opened later this year (it will have about 15,000 square feet now).

Even though business is not as brisk at it once was, I do not think that this is just due to all the legal problems Daslu has been facing. Many of the international luxury brands it sells are now opening their own stores in São Paulo, therefore serving the same customer. Diane von Furstenberg, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Burberry, among others are investing highly in Brazil this year. Daslu needs to really reinvent itself inside and out so it can be relevant during Brazil’s current fashion boom.

Recently the weekly magazine Veja (a Brazilian Time Magazine wannabe that belongs to the largest local publishing company), had and article explaining a new measure of economic growth for the country: the Louis Vuitton bag indicator (I kid you not!).

This is howthe mag did it: they measured the steep growth of LV bag being sold and and looked closely at who is buying them now. The magazine claims that this is a sign not only of Brazil’s economic prosperity but also of its economic stability. Most buyers are middle class, working women that until very recently in Brazilian history would not be able to afford such purchases.

Similar to what Dana Thomas reported about chinese working women in her book “Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster“, Brazilians LV bag owners are all about showing off that they are moving on up, the most coveted bags are the ones covered with monograms, so its owners can easily show them off.

Another important reason for the growth in LV bag sales is that they allow its Brazilian buyers to pay in installments (which is very common here). It works like a lay-away of sorts but customers do take the bags with them immediately and pay the monthly installments via their credit cards. One of the women mentioned is the owner of a beauty salon in the countryside of Sao Paulo state, who has purchased no less than 7 LV bags in the last 2 years (chances are she spent 24 months paying for all of them).  Also, interestingly enough, these women mentioned that they had already purchased cheaper knock-offs before being able to afford the real thing.

Also curious is that LV has been the brand of choice for these emerging customers, while of ther logo-covered options lag behind (Gucci, for instance). It either means that LVMH has been doing an amazing branding job on these markets, or the other companies are doing a rather poor one.

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society”