A mega fashion event in Rio de Janeiro begins next week. The Fall/Winter season of Fashion Rio will take place in the city’s Modern Art Museum from January 11 to 15 and is expected to attract a public of 80,000 people.

According to FWD, organizers of the event are encouraging designers to take on a more original, avant-garde approach to staging the shows, especially when using the Museum’s Arts Hall.

“We are suggesting this innovation at the castings of the collections, without catwalks. At this hall we can experiment alternative, freer formats,” says Fashion Rio’s coordinator and driving force Eloysa Simao, from Dupla Assessoria, the organization that founded the season.

This, the 19th fashion week in Rio de Janeiro, will include some 30 runway shows, as well as introduce new brands like Animale from Rio, designed by Karila Girotto and Super Lucy in the Sky by Lucy Goes.

Operating with a $2 million budget and backed by the local fashion industry - Rio de Janeiro Industries Federation (Firjan) and Brazilian Association of the Clothing Industries (Abit), Fashion Rio also includes a series of ancillary events - Accessory Brazil Hall, presenting some 20 labels, Jewelry Brazil and Rio Fashion Hype, featuring emerging, younger talent.