Zuzu Angel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zuleika Angel Jones, known as Zuzu Angel, (June 5, 1921 – April 14, 1976) was a Brazilian fashion designer.
When she was a child, she moved to Belo Horizonte, later living in Bahia. Bahian culture and colors significantly influenced the style of Zuzu's creations. In 1947, she went to live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's cultural capital.
In the 1950s, Zuzu began her work as a seamstress, usually making clothing for close relatives. At the start of the 1970s, she opened up a store in Ipanema, at the same time beginning to exhibit her fashion down American runways. In her fashion expositions, she always harnessed the joy and richness of the colors of Brazilian culture, making a name for herself in the fashion world of her time.
A pioneer in Brazilian fashion, she found success with her style the world over, principally in the United States. In the 1970s, her son Stuart, activist against the military regime, was taken prisoner and killed by agents of the DOI-CODI. From then on, Zuzu would enter into a war against the dictatorship for the recovery of her son's body, even involving the United States, native country of her ex-husband, Stuart's father. This battle only ended with Zuzu's assassination in 1976 by members of the military regime; Zuzu's assassins staged an automobile accident in Rio de Janeiro, in the tunnel that now bears her name. Stuart's body was never found. Zuzu is also mother of journalist Hildegard Angel.
In homage to Zuzu Angel, Chico Buarque, Brazilian composer and singer, wrote the song "Angélica".
In 2006, a film based on Zuzu Angel's life was released in Brazil. It was titled Zuzu Angel.
