Putting the Brasileiro in Brazil Core

How does an entire country and their flag become an aesthetic? Over the past year we’ve seen the term ‘Brazil Core’ crop up on social media, mainly from TikTok. From Hailey Bieber to your local fashion girlie, everyone has been seen wearing Brazil emblazoned tank tops, caps and most importantly football shirts. Even the green, blue and yellow colour combination from the Brazilian flag has been going viral. 

A newer addition to all the TikTok aesthetics and cores. Brazil core is an offshoot of Blokette which came from Blokecore, which has come from the general Y2K revival in fashion. People taking inspiration from British trends from the 2000’s to the 2010’s, has resulted in the rediscovery of football mania in fashion. A staple of British fashion trends in the 2000’s to the 2010’s. And now in the 2020’s, where it’s resurfaced as Blokecore.

Blokecore is a tribute to the UK’s OG Blokes. Football shirts, sportswear and jackets paired with all types of denim and trainers. Basically, Gary-from-down-the-road’s wardrobe is being shown some love by the streetwear heads with this fashion trend. The fashion girlies quickly put their spin on Blokecore by ‘mismatching’ football jerseys with traditionally feminine accessories like hair bows, frilled bloomers and heels. Almost playing on the 2000’s WAG look, and Blokette was all you saw on fyp and explore page.

But why Brazil? There’s quite a few theories at play but if we’re looking at the exportation of this trend to non-Brazilians abroad it’s most likely through sourcing thrifted clothes and purchases from trips to Rio. The majority of vintage sourcing that comes to the UK and US is from places, like Spain, Portugal, Italy and South America. With football jerseys becoming popular, thrifters have been bringing in more jerseys from these places to meet demand. Resulting in thrifted Brazilian football jerseys circulating in the US, UK and Europe. 

To add to the hype, Nike released the Brazilian’s team national jersey and the Nike Dunks in the colourway ‘Brazil’, which brought Brazilcore out of TikTok.

But as someone who’s not Brazilian, it’s important to understand the cultural significance of this trend because it’s so heavily tied with a national identity, and how does this translate when non-Brazilians wear the Brazilian flag and its colours. The Brazilian flag is visually beautiful but it is undeniably linked with the country’s political situation. Wearing the Brazil flag was considered a symbol against corruption but in the escalation of political tensions, the flag’s meaning has shifted and became associated with a political party. 

Outside of politics, there seems to be a sentiment to bring back the symbolism of the Brazil flag to depolitcise and represent everyone in the nation. Harking back to the Nike campaign, the campaign featured public figures of opposing political views all wearing the Brazilian jersey. Focusing on the flag belonging to all Brazlians and unity.

So the next time you see someone wearing a Brazil jersey, it’s more than just a participation of the Brazilcore trend; it’s also a representation of the dreams cherished by Brazilians wanting political unity and peace.