Meet Veridiana Teng: The Brazilian Designer Bringing Bold Energy to Paris Fashion
What happens when Brazilian sensuality, Parisian craftsmanship, drag performance, and fearless self-expression collide?
You get Veridiana Teng.
In this episode of La Vie Créative, I sat down with the Brazilian-born designer now based in Paris to talk about her journey from São Paulo to the French capital, her early work designing for drag queens and burlesque artists, and how she’s now building Matadora Paris, a handcrafted slow fashion brand rooted in transformation, confidence, and claiming space.
Veridiana’s work sits at the intersection of fashion, performance, and identity. Her pieces are sculptural, sensual, and dramatic, yet deeply wearable for those who want clothing to say something powerful. In a city often known for muted palettes and understated chic, Veridiana is creating something different: fashion with presence.
From São Paulo to Paris: Following the Dream of Fashion
Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Veridiana always had her sights set on Paris. Like many designers, she was drawn to the city for its legacy in fashion, style, and craftsmanship.
She moved to Paris in 2019 to study fashion design and, after finishing her studies, decided to stay. What began as a dream of studying fashion in one of the world’s style capitals turned into building a full creative life here.
But her work was never going to follow the most traditional route.
While many fashion graduates aim for the classic path of working within established houses or following industry conventions, Veridiana felt pulled toward something more personal, expressive, and unconventional.
Fashion as Self-Expression and Survival
When I asked Veridiana what came first — the desire to create or the need to express something deeper about herself — her answer was beautifully honest: both.
That duality runs through everything she makes.
For creative people, ideas often feel abundant and urgent. There is a constant need to make, shape, and release what lives inside. For Veridiana, fashion became both an artistic outlet and a way of communicating identity, emotion, and power.
Her Brazilian roots also play a huge role in her aesthetic. She spoke about growing up surrounded by curves, color, warmth, sensuality, and body confidence — things that felt normal in Brazil but took on new meaning once she moved to Paris.
It was only by stepping outside her home culture that she began to fully understand how much those influences shaped her design language.
Today, that contrast is part of what makes her work so compelling. She appreciates the elegance and restraint of French style, but her own designs lean into something bolder: saturated feeling, stronger silhouettes, and a more expressive relationship to the body.
Designing for Drag Queens and Burlesque Performers
One of the most fascinating parts of Veridiana’s story is how she first gained recognition: by designing for drag queens and burlesque artists.
It wasn’t a path she carefully planned. In fact, it happened almost by accident during a deeply vulnerable period in her life after the loss of her best friend. As she was trying to find herself, find community, and figure out what direction to take after fashion school, she found herself surrounded by performers.
That world opened up something powerful.
Through friendships and creative collaborations, Veridiana began making pieces for drag artists and burlesque performers, often drawing on her training in corsetry and body-conscious design. What followed was not just a niche career path, but a creative education that traditional fashion could never have given her.
Designing for performers taught her how clothing can transform someone in real time. A garment is not just fabric. It can become armor, confidence, performance, fantasy, and identity all at once.
It also pushed her technically. Fashion school often trains designers around narrow body standards, but working with drag performers meant learning how to design for bodies outside conventional sizing and proportions. It challenged her to think differently — and more inclusively — about fit, structure, movement, and power.
What Drag and Burlesque Taught Her About Identity
Veridiana shared something that stayed with me: being around drag queens and performers taught her not to take herself so seriously.
That may sound simple, but it’s actually profound.
Many creatives are incredibly hard on themselves. They over-edit, overthink, and hold their work back out of fear that it is not ready or not perfect. Veridiana recognized that in herself. But in the drag and burlesque world, she found people who were bold, playful, self-assured, and unafraid to take up space.
That environment gave her confidence.
It also taught her that you belong in the room you are in.
That idea feels especially powerful for women, immigrants, and creatives who are constantly battling self-doubt. Veridiana spoke beautifully about the inner voice so many of us carry — the one that tells us we are not enough, not ready, or not deserving. Her work, and her journey, are a direct challenge to that voice.
Claiming Space in a World That Tells You to Shrink
One of the strongest themes in our conversation was the idea of claiming space.
For Veridiana, this is deeply personal. As a woman, an immigrant, and an artist, she understands what it means to enter spaces where you may feel you have to prove yourself. But she also believes that if you are in the room, you belong there.
That mindset informs both her life and her work.
Her designs invite people to be seen. They do not apologize. They do not shrink. They celebrate the body, amplify confidence, and encourage the wearer to move through the world with presence.
In that sense, her fashion is not just aesthetic. It is emotional. It is political. It is a statement.
The Visual Language of Matadora Paris
Veridiana’s brand, Matadora Paris, has a distinct point of view.
The pieces feel sculptural, sensual, and at times almost ritualistic. There is a strong sense of drama, femininity, and symbolism. She described being raised in a religious mixed household, and that influence shows up in the visual tension of her work — a kind of sacred irreverence, religious reference, and dark glamour woven through bold silhouettes and striking details.
She also designs through the lens of the female gaze. These are pieces made to make the wearer feel powerful, beautiful, and self-possessed — not to satisfy outside expectations.
That intention matters.
In a fashion city like Paris, where style can sometimes feel more subdued, monochromatic, or uniform, Veridiana is offering a refreshing contrast. Her work brings color, theatricality, and sensual structure into spaces that often favor restraint.
Why Slow Fashion Matters to Her
Matadora Paris is a handcrafted, made-to-order slow fashion brand, and that is central to Veridiana’s philosophy.
After spending years creating custom pieces based on other people’s visions, she realized she needed a space to fully express her own. Matadora became that vessel.
It is not about chasing fast production or trend cycles. It is about creating pieces with soul.
Veridiana spoke about the long journey each design takes: the notebook sketches she carries with her, the repeated drawings, the prototypes, the fittings, the fabric sourcing, the tiny adjustments, and the obsessive attention to how a piece feels on different bodies.
That process is slow because it is thoughtful. It is rooted in craftsmanship, experimentation, and intention.
In a world of disposable clothing, that kind of care feels radical.
Designing for Different Bodies and Expressions
Because of her background in corsetry and custom design, Veridiana brings an especially nuanced approach to bodies and fit.
Many of her pieces are adjustable, structured, and designed to work across sizes and expressions. Rather than forcing people into a rigid standard, she creates garments that adapt. Corset-inspired lacing, boning, and flexible shaping allow wearers to define the fit in a way that feels right for them.
This is one of the reasons her work feels so powerful. It acknowledges that there is no single ideal body and no single way to wear confidence.
That approach also reflects her deeper values around identity, femininity, masculinity, and self-presentation. Her pieces are meant to support transformation, not limit it.
Can Clothing Change the Way We Move Through the World?
According to Veridiana: absolutely.
And honestly, I agree.
Clothing is often dismissed as superficial, but the truth is that what we wear shapes how we feel, how we carry ourselves, and how we are perceived. Veridiana sees fashion as both personal expression and a kind of quiet protest — a way of saying, “This is who I am.”
When we feel good in what we are wearing, we move differently. We speak differently. We show up more fully.
That is the power of clothing at its best: not just decoration, but transformation.
Why Veridiana Teng Is One to Watch in Paris Fashion
Veridiana Teng is not just designing beautiful pieces. She is building a world.
Through Matadora Paris, she is carving out a space in the Paris fashion scene for bold femininity, slow craftsmanship, body-conscious design, and artistic self-expression. Her journey from Brazil to Paris, from custom corsetry to a growing fashion label, is a reminder that the most exciting creative paths are often the ones that do not follow the expected script.
She is designing for people who dare.
And in a city as style-conscious as Paris, that kind of fearless originality matters.
Where to Find Veridiana Teng and Matadora Paris
You can explore Veridiana’s work and connect with her here:
Matadora Paris
Website: matadoraparis.com
Instagram: @matadoraparis
Veridiana Teng
Instagram: @veridianateng
Listen to the Full Episode
This conversation is full of insight on fashion, identity, confidence, creativity, and what it really means to claim space as an artist.
Listen to the full episode of La Vie Créative to hear more of Veridiana Teng’s story and discover how she is bringing a bold new energy to the Paris fashion world.
