IV. Marcos Florentino + Kelvin Yule
"Born, raised, and based in Latin America, they are a creative duo, formed by Marcos Florentino and Kelvin Yule, who have achieved what was once considered nearly impossible: building an internationally recognized career in fashion and visual arts without abandoning their roots. In a context where global recognition often required Latin American professionals to relocate abroad, they chose the opposite path — developing a powerful and original body of work from within the region, on their own terms. Their photography has become a cultural bridge between Brazil and the world, capturing some of the most influential figures in fashion, music, sports, art, politics, activism, and cinema — including Viola Davis, Tilda Swinton, Gisele Bündchen, Rebeca Andrade, Lewis Hamilton, Erykah Badu, Gilberto Gil, Ashley Graham, Alton Mason, Taís Araújo, Camila Pitanga and Zaya Guarani and many others.
Marcos was born in the state of Piauí, in a small village in the northeast part of Brazil. He started experimenting with drawing at a very young age and tried other medias as he grew up. Living his childhood in such a remote place, he found in the fine arts and in the books a way of dreaming with different and fantastic realities, helping him to accurate his vision, while watching his mother sew his sisters’ dresses for traditional Brazilian celebrations and graduations, which may have been his first contact with fashion. At 18, he moved to São Paulo and got a degree in graphic design through a scholarship. There he began to use photography as a form of expression and also expanded his art through experimenting with sculpture, ceramics, textiles, drawing and oil painting, all of which he incorporated into their work as a duo.
Kelvin is from the coast of Bahia, also in the northeast region of Brazil. He developed an inquisitive personality, mainly during his childhood as a queer kid growing up in a small town with a religious familly. At the age of 17, he went to university to study Journalism, where he directed his first short film and did some exhibitions exploring photojournalism, which led him to develop his interest in storytelling, using photography as a tool to creatively reinterpret and reshape perspectives. Fashion appeared to Kelvin as a world of possibilities where he could express himself in multiple ways, telling untold stories through his own eyes. After meeting Marcos in 2016, he moved to São Paulo to develop his work in fashion, at which point they decided to unite their visions and creating the duo.
As frequent collaborators with Vogue and ELLE Brazil, over the past nine years they have played a key role in transforming the global perception of Brazilian fashion — from the inside out. Their ability to bring local narratives to a worldwide audience has earned them recognition on platforms such as Business of Fashion (BoF), The Washington Post, Essence, FFW, VOGUE Brazil, and Models.com. They were finalists in the inaugural Latin American Fashion Awards in the categories of Fashion Photographer of the Year and Fashion Film of the Year — a recognition that positions them not only as artists but as influential voices of Latin America’s new creative generation. They were included in the prestigious NEW WAVE: Creatives list by The Fashion Awards, organized by the British Fashion Council (BFC), alongside 50 global talents shaping the future of the fashion industry.
Their work has been exhibited in countries including Brazil, the United States, France, Belgium, Benin, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
Clients: DIOR, DIOR BEAUTY, LVMH, Netflix, Globo, Vogue Brazil, O Boticário, Natura, Absolut, Melissa, Calzedonia, Renault, Meta, Facebook, Sephora, Schutz, Vivara, Riachuelo, C&A, C6 Bank, QDB, Restylane, Vult, Eudora, Colcci, Renner, Arezzo, among others.
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