National fashion star, Patricia Viera celebrates 50 years of career

It was in her intimate space in Leblon, on a sunny Saturday, that the designer spoke about her life and her work, in a face-to-face meeting. During a two-hour conversation, full of tears and laughter, he looked back over 50 years of his career, touted his influences, analyzed his relationship with his famous sisters and discussed the process of passing control of the brand to his eldest daughter.

Daughter of Leblon, daughter of a businessman, Carlos Alberto Vieira, and a yoga teacher, Vera de Magalhães, Patricia was born into a large family: among the couple’s five children, three are women. And what women. She is the younger sister of former models and jet-setters Andrea Dellal and Cristina Viera-Newton. Andrea, a fashion and social icon, has been married to English businessman Guy Dellal for over 45 years. They are the parents of designer Charlotte Olympia Dellal, of the shoe brand of the same name, of model and photographer Alice Dellal, of gallery owner Alexander Dellal (who, in 2011, dated Charlotte Casiraghi, daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco), and of Max. DJ Harley Viera-Newton is Cristina’s daughter. “They were always very interested in fashion and I looked up to them. We are very proud of each other, but I never wanted to be like them,” she says. Thanks to his mother, he learned very early to avoid the traps of life. “I’m quite cross-eyed. Once, I was harassed at school, I was called cross-eyed. My mother told me: ‘My love, only those who are very intelligent, like teachers, wear glasses’. What she told me was so serious that I internalized the concept. Then, when they called me that, I thought: ‘Poor people, they are jealous of my glasses, of my intelligence'”, he remembers. Vera’s elegance, in all its aspects, opened the doors of perception. “She looked chic in jeans and a t-shirt. We listened to classical music at home, and my mother taught without imposing. ‘Look, listen to this, it’s Vivaldi’s Four Seasons,'” he says. “I lived with these strong women who dressed up all the time, but I didn’t think I would work in fashion. My dream was to study history.”

After her childhood and adolescence in Rio in the 1960s and 1970s — “The city was glamorous” — in which she imbued herself with the chic and effortless style typical of Cariocas, she embarked on a great adventure, which marked a turning point: being an independent mother. “I landed in London when I was 18. My sisters were already successful there. My son, Augusto, was born at that time. They were very protective, they pampered me constantly,” he says. Andrea admits to having a “maternal instinct” for her younger sister. “We are only a year and a half apart, but, perhaps because our parents separated when we were children (Patricia was 4 and Andrea, 6), I accepted the mission of being the older sister. Augusto was the son of all three of us,” she says. Cristina adds: “In London, our bond of protection grew even stronger. Even today, we look at each other and already know how the other feels. When I need Patricia, she arrives at the exact time.”

It was also in the English capital that the designer felt an angel whispering in her ear: as soon as she realized, in 1975, she was working in the workshop of Sally Mee, designer of custom clothing. Before long, she became his assistant. Memories of the period in which his career began served as a repertoire for the Summer 2026 collection, based in London in the 1970s. “I feel at home every time I arrive at Heathrow Airport. The city welcomed me and refined my identity.”

After spending six years in the English capital, a very Carioca character and fundamental in his career comes on the scene: the businessman and fashion designer Mauro Taubman. A partner at Company, he revolutionized and spread the style of Rio’s golden youth in the late 1970s and 1980s. “Mauro was a friend of my sister Cristina. During one of my trips to Rio, he asked me to speak,” he recalls. “I arrived at Garcia D’Ávila and he was in a meeting. I waited. Then I started tidying up the store and I didn’t stop. I have the evil eye… When Mauro came down, he asked: ‘Do you want to go back to Brazil?’ Mauro’s right-hand man, who demanded that everything be impeccable. Perfection is also very important to her,” he analyzes. In addition to excellence, the designer identifies with another trait of the entrepreneur. “He and the company were one. I can’t distinguish myself from my brand either.”

In the mid-1990s, having recently separated from the father of her two daughters, Andrea and Marina, and away from the business, she performed another double-twist jump. “I first entered a tannery. I started developing leather accessories in a factory in São Paulo and supplying them to brands like Maria Bonita,” he says. However, one fine day, this factory failed to deliver a certain order for the defunct Water Proof label, and Patricia had to scramble to produce countless jackets. “At that time, I was already going out with Luiz (Moreira, her husband of 30 years), a leather supplier. We set up an improvised factory. What I started doing, I took a liking to it. That’s how Patricia Viera was born.” States. Another turning point was meeting international buyer Robert Forrest in 1998. “My sister Andrea called me to tell me that she had a friend who was in Rio with Mario Testino (photographer), Robert. He ended up accompanying me to my clothing factory in Penha. As we were leaving, he said to me, ‘Can I take some pieces?’. Ten days later, Augusto, my son and I were in New York, for a meeting with of Barneys shoppers.” Recognition came at a gallop and Patricia took her meticulous craftsmanship, in which leather unfolds in textures that resemble lace and is sometimes embroidered, with applications and studs, sometimes printed and painted by hand, around the world. Clients included names such as Colette (France), Paul Smith, in England and Joyce, in Hong Kong. “She’s a genius at what she does. Imagine if I worked at Hermès, without the stress of Brazil… I wear her clothes in Europe and women fall all over me. Patricia does what she wants with leather,” praises Andrea Dellal.

Currently, the Patricia Viera brand is present in the workshop on Rua Dias Ferreira, in Rio, and at Shopping Iguatemi, in São Paulo. The designer, during the summer 2026 fashion show, named her eldest daughter director, with the aim of succeeding her. “It’s a natural process,” he says. Andrea, in turn, feels responsible and proud to carry on her mother’s legacy. “I was never just Andrea. I was always Andrea, Patricia Viera’s daughter. To the point that I had to leave Brazil. I also did a lot of therapy,” he admits. “Over time, I realized that I would not be 100% fulfilled if I did not return home. In 2022, after comings and goings, I officially returned to the company,” he explains. The personality of the matriarch is an inexhaustible source of subjects. “I come from a woman who does not shy away from the norm. She does not want to hold back: she demands the best from others because she always gives the best of herself. But those who take care of her today are her grandchildren,” he says.

The stylist Felipe Veloso, whom Andrea calls “moderator” because he is a kind of link between her and her mother, highlights certain traits that he considers admirable in the designer: “First, the rigor and ethics with things and people. This rule that she establishes is very powerful. Her inner strength, due to her life story, is inspiring. And the care she takes for everything and everyone. With every little piece of leather she keeps, with her family and friends. That’s why we call her mom,” he said. “Our friendship is work-related, we have mental intimacy. We may not speak to each other, but nothing changes that channel. There is a ‘tube’ that connects us.” Stylist Andrea Marques, who has known Patricia since the 1990s, also emphasizes her integrity. “She’s friendly even underwater.”

Returning to the rosary at the start of this report, Patricia is keen to emphasize the power of faith, exercised diligently when she suffered a heart attack, in 2023. “You know when you ask a father for help and he listens? Jesus heard me,” she said. And she’s not alone. “I have a group on WhatsApp. I’m the one who ‘pulls’ the rosary at dawn.” Does anyone doubt this?