English Version | Let it burn

The Fire & The Freaks, the new brand of the model Carolina Minchetti, wants to be electrifying and global. The creator spoke to Vogue about being different and making a dream come true.

There is one more brand to join the excellent Made in Portugal repertoire, which links Fashion to electronic music. It's called The Fire & The Freaks, and it came to set our wardrobe on fire, ending all conventionality. And because a little madness never hurt nobody, Carolina Minchetti - Brazilian model who lives in Portugal since she was a little girl - offers pieces that deviate from the norm and wants to provoke a “wow factor” to those who share the sidewalk with her customers. Crop tops, lycra pieces that accompany the silhouette, sparkles, fringed jackets, fluorescent colors, transparencies, chains, flames designed with sequins. Nothing is too bold or excessive. Nothing is too alternative. Nothing is too provocative. Nothing is too much. The brand breathes freedom and involves us in its intoxicating offers that seem to come from another galaxy. It all started precisely with the costumes that Carolina used to create to wear in music festivals around the world (namely Burning Man, in the United States, Universo Paralello in Brazil, or Tomorrowland, in Belgium). “I started to realize that people liked my costumes, the accessories I wore. There were a lot of people asking why I didn't sell them. When I realized that there was a demand from unknown people, I analyzed the hypothesis of creating something that was a middle ground, that had both fantasy and casual. That it wasn't just to wear on very specific occasions,” says Carolina sitting in front of her prototypes. She is dressed in one of the tops of the collection where you can read “Freaks: cool people who are liked for their individuality and natural weirdness”. 

This inspiration came from her experiences and her own iconography, which is quite familiar to the more than 40 thousand people who accompany her on her adventures, through Instagram. Why this name? “I love fire and I really believe in the energy of the elements. It has to do with my sign. I am an Aries (and I am very Aries!) ”- pause to research Aries sign: it is the most dynamic of all the signs of the Zodiac. The natives of Aries are born leaders and are always willing to break new ground by being pioneering and determined. We're cleared up. She continues: “I thought to myself ‘I don’t know what the name will be, but it’s going to have to have the word fire ’because fire for me means will. Something I always tried to have in some way. And the freaks ... I look for different things, out of the ordinary. Obviously here in Portugal it is difficult to find the style of clothing in which I fit my brand. Clothes without limitations. For people without limitations. Who care very little about what others think. As my top says, for people who don't follow a pattern, who don't have a defined style, wear what they want, do what they want ... and I wanted to reach out to those types of people. It turns out to be a niche, but it is with these types of people that I want to communicate.” In conversation, she also mentions two popular culture muses that inspire her: the American singer Billie Eilish and the Spanish stylist and DJ Sita Abellán. Both with a very peculiar style - which basically embraces any and all weirdness, which the public loves. Rules and trends are not part of the equation. Fashion is something fun, that does not hold them, that they are not slaves of, that does not make them suffer. As in The Fire & The Freaks.

The pandemic delayed the process a little, which was not as brief as expected, but Carolina is confident. She tried and succeeded. It was a dream come true, it was a personal victory. She wants to have an impact, she wants people to look and think: "This is different". For the future, the desire is to go international. “I want to go far. I want to partner with brands and people. To have Sita wear my pieces would be incredible. Each day I learn more and discover a little more of my recent passion. I can either say that nowadays I am following a certain idea as I am then introducing something completely different, because I have no labels. I go on adding what I think makes sense. I am constantly changing.” These are the last words of Carolina, who says goodbye to us with a proud smile. Rightfully. Futuristic, with a touch of magic. The Fire & The Freaks doesn't think inside or outside the box. There is simply no box. And it invites everyone to enter this mindset and creative lifestyle, without constraints or commitments. Because this contagious energy can destabilize, inspire, revolutionize and change the world.

Translated from the original on the "Pink Issue", from may 2021.Full credits and story on the print version.