Slum teens strut stuff in fashion week

As the setting sun casts an orange glow over the Sao Paulo slum of Paraisopolis, a dozen aspiring models sporting towering heels strut up and down an improvised catwalk.

"Posture, attitude! Walk straight, stop. Again, walk!" shouts their coach, who is teaching the teenagers the tricks of the trade as part of a project to spread the glitter of the Brazilian megacity's famous fashion week, which ended on Friday, to some of its poorest residents.

They are far from the cameras, footlights and glamour of the main event, the largest fashion show in Latin America. But these youngsters are taking the idea of couture into their own brightly manicured hands.