I'm Fernanda Paisley, fashion designer and owner of Freak Flag. In fact, my name is Fernanda Barros, but I adopted "Paisley" for Instagram since 2019 and has become a kind of identity. I was born and raised in Maceió, Alagoas and currently live in Curitiba, Paraná, both in Brazil. I fell in love with the culture of the past when I was only 12 years old, in 2014, after listening to the Rolling Stones for the first time. It was love at first sight and from then on I began a great passion for music, fashion, cinema and history of the different decades of the 20th century, especially the 60s and 70s, which built my identity. In 2015 I started sharing my style and tastes on Instagram and meeting different people with the same passions all around the world, feeling part of an amazing community.
I have always been passionate about all types of art, I took courses in photography, painting, sewing and patternmaking and even studied Advertising in uni for 2 years, before having the opportunity to study Fashion Design. I started selling in my second-hand shop in 2017, initially reselling items from my own wardrobe, evolving my retro curatorship with time and becoming officially specialized in vintage when I moved to Curitiba. In 2019 I started to dedicate myself more to creating content on Instagram, which became something very special for me, as it is the place where I feel most safe and comfortable to express myself and use my creativity.
I developed Freak Flag and my first collection, Cidade Geométrica, in my final year's project in university. I showed the pieces at Boqueirão Fashion - Curitiba Fashion Week in July and presented the project in November 2023. In 2024, I started producing some of the pieces for sale. Starting an authoral and slow fashion brand from scratch is not easy and I faced challenges and unforeseen events that ended up postponing our launch, which is finally happening.
"Freak Flag" is a slang that emerged in the 60s, used by young hippies of the time to designate something eccentric and unconventional, a characteristic that distinguishes someone from others . “Wave your freak flag high” is a quote of resistance and pride in your individuality and going against the flow. And this concept summarizes what we want to represent as a brand.
Freak Flag was born from the dream of a 60's and 70's enthusiast who loves creating and sharing her passions with other vintage and retro fans. We want to bring eccentric and creative pieces to those who are not affraid of being different and expressing themselves. Bringing the essence of the past, without leaving aside the needs of the current market. Through slow fashion we will prioritize quality over quantity and durability over speed. We will create things that you can enjoy regardless of trends and that will not tend to be discarded next season.
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