Ipanema 2000 Gallery Rebounds as Author-Driven Brands Flock In

Retailers at Rio de Janeiro's Galeria Ipanema 2000 now face waiting lists for space, as author-driven fashion brands (labels whose identity functions as a signature) turn the 1980s-era arcade into the city's densest cluster of independent design. The gallery sits at the corner of Visconde de Pirajá and Aníbal de Mendonça streets in Ipanema.

The revival follows decades of ups and downs since the gallery's inauguration in the 1980s. Art director and stylist Mariana Salim credits location, tourist foot traffic and a curated mix of brands. "Não tem 'vibe' de shopping e proporciona mais segurança do que o comércio de rua," she said — no mall vibe, and more security than street retail.

Why are brands choosing the gallery over malls?

Designer Mimi Coelho opened the first Ipanema store of her label Lola Feita à Mão in July. "Foi uma luta, mas valeu a pena. A galeria está superfresh e tem a cara do lifestyle da cidade," she said. Sisters Tina Teixeira and Cacau Pettena moved their brand Manas T in five months ago. "Saímos de um ateliê e o crescimento está maravilhoso," Tina Teixeira said.

Anna Katharina Clark of Palha Nordestina said she declined an invitation from a luxury mall to stay: "Recebi convite para ir para um shopping de luxo, mas recusei. O mix está incrível." Eduarda Moreira of Holi Home pointed to character over scale: "Preserva o charme do comércio de bairro."

Naná Paranaguá, who runs Glorinha Paranaguá, said the brand's founder left a store on Nossa Senhora de Paz street ten years ago to move into the gallery. "O Ipanema 2000 é um charme e ficou ainda melhor com marcas que vieram do Rio Design Leblon e a chegada, no ano passado, da paulistana Botti," she said.

São Paulo label Botti picked the gallery for its first Rio store largely because of the address's history. "Lá foi berço de muitas marcas autorais com DNA carioca," said Bruna Botti, founder and creative director. "Quando a gente começou a procurar um ponto, queria um lugar assim, com frescor e que também valorizasse o estilo de vida da cidade, em que as pessoas andam muito a pé." Tatiana Schott, co-founder of Zsolt, put it more bluntly: "O carioca aderiu à galeria."

What is the gallery's retail track record?

The address has launched Rio brands before. Salinas, the beachwear label created by Jacqueline De Biase in the 1980s, opened its first store on the gallery's second floor. "Formava uma fila imensa na porta," Mariana Salim recalled. Eclectic and Leeloo both launched there in the following decade.

Designer Ciça Friedheim of Anas has watched the cycles since 2016, when she took a second-floor unit. "Uma semana antes de tudo fechar na pandemia, assinamos contrato para irmos para o primeiro andar," she said. The pandemic (the 2020–2021 closure period for physical retail) did not kill the plan. "No fim de 2020, consegui. Sempre acreditei no Ipanema 2000, um ponto tradicional e importante para a moda carioca. Estou feliz em ver o fervo que virou, cheio de marcas legais e gente descolada," she said.

The caveat for observers: the quotes come from tenants with a stake in the gallery's success, and the source offers no occupancy or sales figures to test the enthusiasm. Even so, a waiting list, a mall refusal and a São Paulo expansion in one address point to momentum that independent retail in Rio has rarely shown since the pandemic.