Fashioning a global style comes naturally to 29-year-old designer Rafael Varandas (@rafaelvarandas), and it all started when he was 10. Growing up in São Paulo, before the Internet broke open the doors to other cultures, he devoured American skateboarding and surfing magazines for inspiration. “We were miles behind everything and seeing those guys and bands from outside of Brazil was really a turning point,” he says. “They dressed like nothing I’d ever seen. They were an inspiration, not only because of their clothes, but because of the way they behaved,” says Rafael. Today, as creative director of his own indie fashion line, Cotton Project (@cottonproject), his style is still all about attitude. “We are young adults. We have our responsibilities and jobs, but we are not dead. We want to have fun, maybe not quite like when we were teenagers, but we do want to explore possibilities.” Photo by @rafaelvarandas