Mena Fiala (1905-2001)

Earlier this month, I noted the importance of Carmen Miranda for Brazilian fashion. The article that I quoted in that post - “Identidade Brasileira na Moda - As roupas dos Anos 40 e os fatos mais marcantes da década” (“Brazilian Identity in Fashion - The clothes of the 1940s and that decade’s most notable facts”) - goes on to talk about another grande dame of style in Brazil, who is not nearly as well known as Carmen:

[It is during and after WWII] that Brazilian fashion starts to exist. Or at least a more conscientious adaptation of what was dictated by Paris. Luxury houses, like Casa Canadá (which occupied the position of greatest note in Brazilian fashion in that period), due to the difficulty of importing imposed during that period, start to produce exclusive fabrics and patterns for the economic elite, totally copied from European templates. …

Mena Fiala, a descendant of Italians, was born in Petrópolis, where she learned from the Falconi sisters the art of making hats. Around 1929, she moved to Rio de Janeiro and met Jacob Feliks, founder of Casa Canadá, with whom she started to collaborate. …

To meet customer demand, in 1944, Canadá de Luxe opened, the first big haute couture house in Brazil. On July 17 of that same year, the first runway show with models, trained by Mena [and her sister Cândida Gluzman*] happens. This is the inauguration of the tradition of runway shows as a way to present trends to the press and the consumer public. Mena and Cândida were also responsible for the first prêt-à-porter in the country. …

In 1967, the building where Canadá operated was expropriated and the store closed its doors. Mena and Cândida continued directing runway shows until 1972.

*About whom even less information is available than about Mena. Both Mena and Cândida definitely merit more investigation and exposure to modern audiences.