Down in São Paulo, Brazil, the Paulistas completely stripped their public spaces of all advertising including neon signs, electronic panels and billboards as of the start of 2008...

As the corporate media peels back its in-your-face advertisements the city is finally allowed to define its own beauty. Outside of communism, a city this large and expansive has never before been given a blank slate. Over-materialized citizens around the world are watching closely to see how the Paulistas, not the media, will exemplify their city.

In the meantime, as the city cleans up its image, there are heaps of propaganda garbage piling up with no place to go. A collaboration between TOUCH and StraaT turns the forbidden into fashion. Hundreds of banners have been reclaimed from post-consumer São Paulo and are ironically ushering their way out as tote bags. They are highly durable, one of a kind, limited edition relics of what is now history to Brazil's largest economy."

www.re-nest.com/re-nest/ne...-ban-046075