The Tarrao Underwear show was far and away the highlight my third Colombiamoda.
And it came as a total surprise, since I hadn’t seen anything like it in prior years.
Vivek, a reader and buyer from France, made sure to reserve two seats for Ben and I at the 4 PM performance on the second day of Colombiamoda. The show was occurring about every hour and a half to two hours.
And while you could watch on the large video screen outside the tent, the views and photo opportunities were going to be way better inside.
By the time we went over to the tent, about twenty minutes before the start time, it was almost already full. Ben and I squeezed into the fourth and final row on the left side of the runway. It was a tight fit, but we were on the inside.
It was steamy in there, with little air circulation, and lots of club-style lighting further heating up the air.
We waited patiently for the show to kick off, which it did with Chelo, a model and singer, performing Pink’s “Please Don’t Leave Me.”
It was the first time I’d heard her sing, though she performs regularly on Wednesday’s salsa nights at the Envy Rooftop Bar.
For a little theatrical flair, David El Pollo, one of Colombia’s top male models (in addition to being an actor, and lawyer, according to his Twitter profile), came out on stage and played the part of the boyfriend.
If Chelo stole the show for the ladies, then El Pollo stole it for the men.
Beyond his physical appearance, he displayed lots of charisma on the runway, smiling at the audience and dancing with the models.
In short, he looked like he was having a lot of fun up there, while some of the other male models looked stone cold sober. You can see what I mean in the video above, which is set to “Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke. For the highest quality, watch in 1080 HD.
[Side note: I recently asked Viviana why a male model whose abdomen appears to be cut from stone would be nicknamed “the chicken.” She said it’s a saying in Colombia, that if a guy or girl is super hot, they’re tasty like pollo.]
Ok, there may have been another girl who stole the show.
I’ve been following Catalina Otalvaro, a model originally from Cali but living here in Medellin, on Instagram this year.
She’s been compared to Brazil’s Adriana Lima, and by all I’ve seen, she seems to be doing quite well for herself.
On the third and final day of Colombiamoda, Ben and I returned to the Tarrao tent, along with Jeremy, and an innocent conversation with the video guy turned into him getting us into the show for a second time.
After just a few minutes of talking, he walked over to security and told them to allow the three of us in as we were photographers. Which, of course, is true, since here I am sharing my photos!
This time, we had second row seats, and better angles for taking pictures.
While we were waiting, we briefly chatted with a young blonde girl, who we were told was the daughter of the company’s owner. She was very accommodating, helping to get us a few cups of the blue, vodka-spiked drink on offer.
Below are some additional photos and video clips for your perusing pleasure. Enjoy!
More Photos and Video
What does “on offer” refer to?
“She was very accommodating, helping to get us a few cups of the blue, vodka-spiked drink on offer.”
Exactly what I said, they were offering cocktails.