“I almost fell backwards”, said a fan after discovering that he inspired Madonna’s look

In March, DJ and graphic designer Rafael Arena, 44, decided to create art to celebrate Madonna’s arrival in Brazil. He created a Brazilian version of the famous corselet designed by French designer Jean Paul Galtier for the artist and printed the art on a mural in Rio de Janeiro. He had no idea that his creation would inspire one of the looks worn by Madonna at the show in Copacabana this Saturday (5).

Fan and administrator of the Madonna Online portal, Rafael Arena created the art with the aim of recording the artist’s passage through the country. “My idea was to make something very elegant and not look like a Bolshominion. That’s why the choice of blue was more prominent than green and yellow”, he reported.

After creating the art and printing it on t-shirts, he decided to also place it on a mural in Rio de Janeiro so that fans could take photos. He got permission to print it on a wall in Copacabana, on Rodolfo Dantas Street.

“I re-adapted the art to a giant 2.5-meter lick and installed it during the week of the show”, he says.

The first surprise came during Madonna’s rehearsals throughout the week. An image from the early morning rehearsal on Friday (3) that preceded the show showed a new costume.

“It was the corselet with the colors and layout, as I had designed it”, says Arena.

At first, the designer thought it was a montage. Afterwards, he realized that the queen of pop was actually wearing a corselet that, until then, was very similar to the one he had designed.

Confirmation that he had inspired Madonna only came on the day of the show. Arena was in the VIP area, when a person from the artist’s team, known to him, came to talk. “We had already spoken to each other weeks ago by text and she had said that I would have a big surprise”, he explains.

Arana commented that he thought the corselet for the shoot was very similar to the one he had designed. According to him, the person on the team said: “She (Madonna) saw her art, loved the composition and said ‘let’s do it'”.

This Sunday (5), Madonna shared a photo in Instagram stories wearing the piece and thanked designer Jean Paul Gaultier, who made the Brazilian version of the corselet.

Rafael Arana also celebrated the surprise he received from the artist. “Being a fan of Madonna means being surprised all the time […] I could never imagine that a digital creation of mine would become real on your body. I don’t know how to describe what I feel. It’s impossible,” he wrote on Instagram. (Gabriela Bonin/ Folhapress)