There are few places where fashion, body and landscape coexist as naturally as Rio de Janeiro.
For Paraíso, Brazilian creative Leonardo Loreto and British artist Patrick Church take that relationship and turn it into a colorful celebration of Brazil — photographed beneath the unmistakable light of Ipanema Beach, where swimwear is never simply something you wear. It becomes attitude, identity and freedom.
The collaboration brings together two very different perspectives. Loreto approaches the project through the intimacy of being Brazilian: the colors, symbols, sensuality and cultural references that come from actually growing up within the country. Church brings his instantly recognizable artistic language, where painting, clothing and the human body have always existed remarkably close to one another.
Together, they create their own Brazilian dream.
Welcome to Paraíso
Paraíso is a compact six-look beachwear capsule encompassing swim briefs, bikinis, tank tops, drawstring T-shirts and denim, with Brazilian-inspired prints and details interpreted through Patrick Church’s expressive aesthetic.
But for Fashionably Male, naturally, our eyes go directly to the sunga.
Few garments communicate Brazilian beach culture quite as efficiently as the fitted swim brief. On Ipanema, the sunga feels almost democratic: athletic, unapologetic and completely comfortable with the visibility of the male body.
Paraíso understands that energy.
Rather than treating the body as something that needs to disappear underneath clothing, the collection allows skin and fabric to work together. Church’s prints become flashes of artwork against the body while Rio supplies the sun, sand, movement and sensuality.
Suddenly, the body itself becomes part of the composition.
The Brazilian Body as Fashion
That’s perhaps the most compelling element of Paraíso.
There is an ease toward physicality here that feels distinctly connected to Rio. Bodies aren’t presented as something provocative merely because they’re exposed. They’re simply allowed to exist.
Beachwear leaves very little distance between clothing and skin, and Loreto described the body to Galore as a form of expression — emphasizing the freedom of feeling comfortable being exactly who you are. Church similarly framed the collection around confidence, connection, love and acceptance.
It makes Paraíso particularly interesting in an era when menswear continues to renegotiate ideas surrounding masculinity, sensuality and body confidence.
A tiny piece of printed swimwear can say considerably more than expected.
From Brazil to London — and Back to Rio
The collaboration began through mutual admiration.
Loreto had previously worn Church’s work, while Church had long been fascinated by Brazil and wanted to experience the country himself. Their conversations eventually evolved into a shared collection, developed through moodboards, samples and exchanges of cultural and visual references.
Importantly, Paraíso doesn’t attempt to flatten those perspectives into one.
Loreto brings Brazil from within.
Church approaches it through the eyes of an artist encountering its visual energy.
The contrast is precisely what gives the capsule personality.
For Loreto, returning home also carries personal significance. In his Galore interview, he discusses coming from the favelas and acknowledges how his experience as an LGBTQ+ Brazilian helped form his creative perspective. At the same time, he rejects the idea that there can be one definitive representation of a country as enormous and culturally diverse as Brazil.
That distinction matters.
Paraíso isn’t attempting to package the entirety of Brazil into six outfits.
It’s their Brazil.
Their fantasy.
Their paradise.
Ipanema Is More Than the Backdrop
And where else could it happen?
Photographed by João Falcão at Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, the campaign allows the Cidade Maravilhosa to function almost like another collaborator. Galore’s feature describes Rio as effectively becoming a third creative presence in the project — supplying its light, sensuality and distinctive relationship between bodies and public space.
That idea comes through beautifully.
Ipanema has never needed elaborate fashion staging. Sand, ocean, bodies, sunlight and movement already provide one of the world’s greatest natural sets.
Paraíso wisely works with it rather than against it.
The resulting imagery feels joyful, sensual and wonderfully Brazilian.
Art You Can Take to the Beach
Patrick Church has spent years collapsing the distance between artwork and clothing, bringing his expressive drawings and paintings onto garments and objects. Paraíso feels especially suited to that philosophy because swimwear provides such a direct relationship between artwork and its wearer.
There is almost nothing separating print from skin.
It’s fashion becoming body art without ever having to be permanent.
And through Loreto’s perspective, those recognizable Patrick Church gestures are pulled somewhere new: toward Brazilian beach culture, national symbols and the particular freedom associated with a summer afternoon in Rio.
Paraíso ultimately isn’t about escaping to an imaginary paradise.
The paradise is already there.
It’s Ipanema.
It’s art.
It’s a sunga under the Brazilian sun.
And, most importantly, it’s the freedom to inhabit your body exactly as you choose.
The Paraíso collection by Leonardo Loreto and Patrick Church is available through Patrick Church’s official store. The complete conversation with both creatives can also be read in Galore Magazine.
Editor in Chief: Prince Chenoa
Creative Direction: Leonardo Loreto & Antônio Ferreira (@leonardoloreto @antonicoferreira)
Photography: João Falcão (@falcao.ft)
Photography Assistant: Vitoria Santos (@asantos______)
Production, Video & Writer: Gillian Caetano (@gilliancaetano)
Glam: Igor Carvalho (@igorcarvalhomua)
Models: Kathy Alex, Lucas Thomaz Mendes, J. Junior, Marlon Lopes, Allana Lobão & Carlos Paret
(@kathyalexx @lucasmthomaz @jjuniorig @eumarlonlopes@allanalobao @paretcarlos)
Music: Antônio Ferreira (@antonicoferreira)
Special Thanks: Raro Hotel (@raroipanemahotel)
