Get to know Xiado’s history and its masterminds

Xiado da Xinela is the result of a dream shared by two friends that have incredibly similar values, tastes, needs and wants and a huge desire to share it with the world. 

All great ideas result from a problem. Ours was the lack of clothing options in the forró world that would take our dance to a whole different dimension. 

Because we work directly with dancers, we knew this was a common struggle, so we were committed to do something about it.

In 2019 we founded Xiado da Xinela with the huge support of the Forró community, our friends and family. We didn’t have any experience in fashion or owning an online business, but we learnt, we studied, we figured it out and here we are, trying to make a positive change in the Dance industry through clothes & accessories.

With Xiado we learnt that we can do more than we think. We are the CEOs, the photographers, the models, the social media managers, the web designers, the logistics managers, you name it! 

While doing all of that, we try to keep a relaxed mindset, we respect our own time and limitations, we dream big, we always give our best and we work with love, the only way to make things matter.

Our mission is to change the forró fashion and turn it into colours, shapes, patterns and textures that we all relate to, so we can all be whoever we want on the dance floor.

And this, dear Xiado lovers, is why we do what we do, always having YOU in mind!

Do you have any further questions? Read our FAQ’s or contact us.

CAMILA ALVES

A dancer since I can remember, it was finally at 17 years old that Forró came into my life. I soon started teaching and haven’t stopped since then, travelling the world and meeting wonderful people along the way!

In one of my Forró tours in Switzerland I met Rita. We vibed instantly and wished we lived in the same city to hang out more often and dance Forró together.

Besides dancing, playing with clothes and their endless possibilities is one of the ways I like to express myself the most. Seeing that women in Forró were always wearing the same things and had limited options to choose from, I decided something needed to be done, so I asked my grandmother to make some dresses and my plan was to sell them at festivals.

I needed a business partner to join this crazy ride with me and my head just shouted “RITA!”. Her enthusiasm, girl boss attitude and ambition to create something big gave me all the confidence I ever needed, so it was basically “hey look… Let’s make it happen, together? I get you, you get me, this will work and this can be something big!”.

Fast forward to 2019, we founded the shop and it was a success in Europe. A huge percentage of Forrozeiros in Europe have at least one of our sentence t-shirts in their wardrobes and they wear it proudly. Til this day I still get surprised when I see someone I don’t know wearing a Xiado piece. It’s absolutely mind blowing and so, so rewarding.

Working as an International Forró teacher and a dance store owner is a dream come true as these two creative careers are so incredibly intertwined. Watching you all dance always gives me the inspiration either for the content of a new Forró class or for a new Xiado idea. “Be whoever you want to be on the dance floor” is both Xiado’s slogan and the purpose of my Forró work and I’m happy it gets to inspire you all to be who you want to be, on and off the dance floor.

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RITA MORAIS

I’m a Product Owner working in an awesome logtech start up full time. I started dancing when I was 16, tried a little bit of everything, but stayed around in the european folk community for almost 10 years until I found forró. Or let’s say, forró found me.

I met Camila very early in my forró journey and we clicked right away, her strength and power really resonated with my Porto blood, and it was obvious, big things were about to happen.