Who's behind Ellie Goulding's glam Cannes Film Festival makeover? Meet Patricia Bonaldi, the Brazilian designer behind Ellie Goulding's show-stopping amfAR gala gown at Cannes. All eyes were on Ellie Goulding in Cannes last week as she opted for a red carpet dress more suited to a Monaco-residing heiress than a typically-trainer-clad popstar - but who was the designer behind such a glamorous gown? IN PICTURES: Stars dazzle at amfAR gala Step up one Patricia Bonaldi, the Brazilian fashion designer leading the surge across the Atlantic. International brands have been targeting Brazil for a while - Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Armani have all recently opened stores there - but this year reciprocity has been established. Parisian department store Le Bon Marché is currently promoting over 120 Brazilian brands; Harrods have picked up Bonaldi and Brazilian swimwear designer Adriana Degreas; and Lucas Nascimento has been making waves at Matches. READ: São Paulo Fashion Week luxury report "Brazilians are style hungry," says Bonaldi, when we meet in London. We are experiencing a huge boom of international brands, it's massive. But there's also a strong feeling of appreciation for our own potential and success. Brazilians generally aren't shy to mix international and local brands - they like the best of both worlds. Designs for the spring/summer 2013 collection, inspired by India. Photo: Patricia Bonaldi They also like social media - a trend which Bonaldi has been quick to tap into. Facebook has some 65 million users in Brazil, and Twitter have opened an office in São Paulo to cash in on what they say is their second biggest market after the US, with over 40 million users. Bonaldi has close to 300,000 instagram followers, and each picture she posts garners hundreds of adoring responses. "Brazilians are very friendly," she explains. This translates well with social media in terms of sharing content - we like to know what's happening and what people are doing in other cities and places. IN PICTURES: Street style from São Paulo Bonaldi was born in Uberlandia, a city in the state of Minas Gerais, famed for its thriving textile industry. She studied law for four years at university, before realising that fashion was her calling. In 2002 she opened a multi-brand fashion boutique in Uberlandia, and began designing her own range of glitzy dresses after clients started commissioning bespoke designs a year later. She opened her first own-brand boutique in 2011, and produces her hand-worked line of evening dresses in a factory in Uberlandia. Hand-embroidered gowns at produced at the factory in Uberlandia. Photo: Patricia Bonaldi. "I'm passionate about the hand-made aspect of fashion," she says. Last year we founded a school of embroidery, offering women the opportunity to train in traditional embroidery techniques at no cost to them, with the chance to then get a job with us at the factory. The result is sequin and crystal covered evening gowns fit for a princess - or a popstar. Of her link-up with Ellie Goulding, she says: "Ellie has been on my radar for a while - she has such special energy and talent. It was an honour to dress her when the opportunity for the amfAR Gala in Cannes arose. It takes a special type of woman to be able to walk the red carpet so elegantly and then give such a powerful, animated performance on stage, all in the same evening gown. READ: Ellie Goulding interview - "I do have a dark side"