Why a T-shirt hiding in a hit movie is trending with Brazilian progressives: Almost every day they sell out'

"It is glimpsed in just a few scenes in The Secret Agent, the Brazilian film nominated for four Oscars and two Baftas, but that has been enough exposure for a vintage yellow T-shirt to become the latest object of desire among Brazilian progressives. The garment, worn on screen by Wagner Moura, was first produced in 1978 by Pitombeira dos Quatro Cantos, a carnival group in the coastal city of Olinda, which until recently would sell just a few dozen a month."

"But since the release of the gripping political thriller set during a brutal two-decade military dictatorship and especially since Moura won best actor at the Golden Globes the shirts have been selling out daily. We never expected so many people to be after it. Dozens of new shirts arrive from the factory almost every day, and almost every day they sell out, said Matheus Camarotti, Pitombeira's director of communications."

"Given the frenzy it is generating among leftists across the country, some already believe the T-shirt will still be prominent in October, when the leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, will seek re-election. Lula himself recently received one of the T-shirts, which some see as a reaction to the appropriation of Brazil's green-and-yellow national football shirt by far-right supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is behind bars after being convicted of attempting a coup."

The vintage yellow T-shirt appears briefly in The Secret Agent, a Brazilian film set during a two-decade military dictatorship that earned international nominations and awards. The garment was first produced in 1978 by Pitombeira dos Quatro Cantos, a carnival group in Olinda, and sold only a few dozen a month. Since the film's release and Wagner Moura's Golden Globes best actor win the shirts have sold out daily, prompting near-daily deliveries from the factory. Sales rose to more than 10,000 since November compared with fewer than 3,000 in a year previously. The shirt has been adopted as a leftist symbol and was given to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

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