Airon Martin

Airon Martin is the founder and designer behind the São Paulo-based label Misci, which has been worn by everyone from Brazilian first lady Rosângela Lula da Silva and Oprah Winfrey to entertainers Rosalía and Indya Moore. 

Martin’s designs, which aim to convey the complexity of Brazilian identity, similarly play on plurality: prints portray typical household items and collections are dedicated to the matriarchs of Brazil, while embroidered accents reference local religions Umbanda and Candomblé. The designer has not only called upon Brazilians to support local creatives but is outspoken about social and environmental issues. Through Misci, which rejects the traditional fashion cycle, Martin raises funds for tribal communities fighting for the Amazon rainforest’s protection, and supports a network of certified local producers of materials like silk, hemp and arapaima leather as well as cooperatives maintaining a lower carbon footprint.

Born and raised by his mother and grandmother in Sinop, Mato Grosso, Martin pursued more conventional careers in law and medicine before studying design at São Paulo’s European Institute of Design. He worked as a furniture designer before pivoting to fashion and in 2018 launching his brand Misci, a reference to a Portuguese term that draws on the diverse ethnic heritage that he and many other Brazilians share. The brand’s profile soared in Brazil after Martin’s work was worn by the first lady on national television, and rose overseas after Oprah famously purchased three of his Bambolê handbags at his boutique during her visit to São Paulo.