Uxua Casa hotel

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NYLON USA
May 2009

When Diesel creative director Wilbert Das needs to relax, he jets down south to the UXUA Casa Hotel in the Brazilian fishing village of Trancoso. Das, who has been designing the Italian label for more than 20 years, was so inspired by the area that he bought and restored an old fisherman’s house there. Then he bought eight more. “I just completely fell in love with the place,” he says. “In the 80s, it was kind of a hippie commune, and the people are still very much into preserving the nature and beauty of the town – keeping the culture alive and the corporations out.” Das also hired local craftsmen to build the hotel by hand, using recycled wood (one room is actually a treehouse). Add gardens of tropical flowers and cocoa trees, swimming pools, a restaurant, lounge, library, gym, spa, and a beachfront annex constructed of fishing boats grounded on ocean mangrove – and the result is a retreat that juxtaposes traditional Bahian influences with modern indulgences. Das also envisions UXUA as a creative escape. “The houses have rooms that can be converted into studios – be it for painting or photographing,” he says. “I brought a lot of the Diesel designers over to test out the place. But it became a holiday, because we’ve worked enough already!”

SAMANTHA GILEWICZ
uxua.com