While researching the Brazilian identity for his final thesis at the European Institute of Design (IED), in São Paulo, Iron Martin became aware of himself. The black maternal grandfather and the European paternal grandparents were part of his miscegenation, but not only of him, but of all of Brazil. The search then led to the emergence of Misci, a Brazilian design brand that spans everything from clothing to furniture.
Originally from Sinop, the inner city of Mato Grosso, the 28-year-old was named by Forbes magazine as one of the most promising names of “Under 30”, a list that highlights prominent professionals under 30 years of age.
“I grew up in a family of women,” he said in an interview with Noosa. “This creation has always been focused on fashion. About dressing up and ‘getting ready.’ I think it’s overkill. Since I was little, I’ve been by her side all the time and discover the importance of clothes.”
The sexual culture of the time was such that Airon distanced himself from wanting to work in design: “I could never say that I wanted to work in fashion. Imagine the career of a man who doesn’t work in fashion,” he says, reproducing some of the speeches. that surrounded him.
His path was different: he began to study law, dropped out and moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to be a doctor: “My family expected me to be a doctor,” he jokes.
The curved road ended up returning him to his initial passion.
“He lived in the Palermo neighborhood. There I had a lot of contact with designer furniture stores. I was always fascinated by wood, decoration and fashion from my upbringing”, he recalls.
Driven by his past, Airon decided to leave everything behind and move to São Paulo, where he began studying design in 2014.
“I needed to support myself,” he says, “I didn’t have the luxury of studying.” “He studied in the morning and in the afternoon he worked in a store on the street that sold Brazilian furniture, recommended by a university professor.”
So Misci was the project he chose for TCC. In it, the Mato Grosso man created an approach to personification through design, customizing clothing and furniture to do so.
“It bothers me a lot what we have as a national aesthetic that we see around the world. My research goes further, when we mix forms and materials”.
The design goes beyond tropical typography, Brazil deserves to be recognized abroad for our true diversity”.
Misci Behind the Fashion
The Brazilian brand made its debut in 2020 at São Paulo Fashion Week. However, in the words of the creator, he prefers not to have the title of “fashion brand”.
“Fashion, for me, was born from a lack of resources. I started a brand with few resources, but I’m not the person who says if I do fashion or not. It’s the community,” he says.
I don’t mean to say that I like fashion, because the term itself means more than we admit today. I prefer to say that design”.
One of the pieces that translates this is the 100% wool patriotic sweater painted by the artist Paola Scafazzini. With this collaboration, the artist made clear her vision of the creative process of the “Brasil Impúbere” collection, presented at São Paulo Fashion Week.
“This piece is very special, it says a lot about the brand and its evolution,” she says.
The rest of the pieces, in which neutral tones and the use of tailoring prevail, are intended to be something “old-fashioned”.
“I really believe in themed projects, without going overboard. It’s taken from the more elaborate parts of the design, for those who like something a little more sophisticated, but overall, it’s a themed collection. The same product does a lot of things.”
Recognition from Brazil
Airon comments during the conversation that many of his customers say that his store, located in the Pinheiros neighborhood, in São Paulo, looks like a “gringa.” The praise (from his point of view) is, in the designer’s opinion, a consequence of the devaluation of the national culture -which has led to his work from the very beginning of his career.
He comments: “This whole issue of valuing what is ours is a political issue for Misky.” “The Brazilian consumer does not appreciate our products. Many people think that I am happy that the brand is recognized as gringo, but that is because some of them do not realize the richness of our country.”
We have many gringo clients, because Misci is a brand that talks about Brazil like others don’t usually do.”
With 40% of sales in the online store, one of the biggest challenges facing the brand today, and even more so in times of a pandemic, is the lack of incentives to produce local raw materials.
“People run as best they can,” he says. “In Brazil, in general, we export many products that are also made here. With the raw materials we have. This is the result of our economic policy, since we have a government that lives on raw materials.”
