Brazilian clothing designer Lino Villaventura, of national and international renown, started his career in 1982, when he opened his first store in the city of Fortaleza, the capital of the northeaster state of Ceará, in Brazil. He was one of the first Brazilian designers to look at the international market.
In 1989, when he was little over ten years into his career and was already a reference in Brazilian fashion, the native of the state of Pará, then living in Ceará, was invited by the Brazilian foreign office (Itamaraty) to represent Brazil in an international fair in Osaka, Japan, the "World Trade Fashion."
Considered an icon of Brazilian fashion, the designer has items catalogued in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and sells his creations in France, Spain, Portugal and the United States.
The brand, whose main source of income is custom-made clothing, has participated in the São Paulo Fashion Week ever since its first edition, in 1996. With strong presence in the media, Lino Villaventura has photographs of his work in editorials on the national versions of publications such as Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire, and in international publications such as Collezione, L'Officiel Homme, Maglieria Italiana, among others.
The designer is also known for the awards he was granted. He was recently honored with a tribute by the Secretariat of Culture of the State of Ceará for the importance of his body of work to the cultural development of the State.
In Rio de Janeiro, he received four nominations for the prestigious "Rio Sul Fashion Award" in 1997. He was awarded the prize for Best Fashion Show and the Special Jury prize, the most important in the event. Also in 1997, in Rio de Janeiro, he was awarded by the Senai-Cetiqt for his body of work. In 1999, he won the golden needle award at the "3rd Needles of Haute Couture."
Despite the predominantly female crowd, he dresses men too. The creations feature a combination of various materials such as dehydrated fish scales, rubber, goat leather, buriti straw, laces, muslin and taffeta.
He also works as a costume designer. In this area, highlights are the film "Bocage, the Triumph of Love," by Djalma Limongi Batista, and the play "Dorotéia, An Irresponsible Farce in Three Acts," by Nelson Rodrigues, which earned him a nomination for the 1996 Shell Theater Award.
Currently, Lino Villaventura is intensifying sales of his prêt-a-porter in stores in several Brazilian cities: Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Florianópolis, Porto Alegre and two of his own stores, in São Paulo and Fortaleza.
Villaventura first exported to the Arab market in 2005, while participating in a showroom at Hotel Crillon, in Paris, during the Fashion Week in the French capital. Ever since, he has maintained as steady clients the North American retail chain Saks Fifth Avenue branch in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and storeowners in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Syria.
"Orders are closed twice a year. In the beginning, they used to order longer dresses with décolletages only in the back. In the last collection, orders were placed using Brazilian standards for clothing sizes and no adaptations were made," said the designer.
According to Lino, the export volume to the Arab market is still not very large, however it has lots of added value, as most of the clothing is very elaborate. "I have a very good relation with the region and I am enjoying it a lot," he said. According to Lino, Arab women like lots of colors and rarely buy black dresses.
Service
Anba
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Brazilian stylist Faissal Makhoul is hoping for a hot summer in 2009. To create his collection for the next year he defined as his theme the California of the late 1970s, with many elements of the Middle East. Sun, camels and, mainly, marquetry of Arab furniture inspired the colors and forms of the checkers used by Makhoul, who owns brand Attention Deaf Disorder (ADD), in São Paulo.
Earthy colors, colors of the desert, yellows, greens and beiges mingle with white and mauve.
From California, where the stylist - who is also a surfer - lived for two years in the 1980s, came the prints and designs, which are not lacking in vignettes. Another characteristic from the region is the trousers, with slightly broader ankles, inspired on bell-bottoms, a global icon in the 1970s.
According to Makhoul, despite being so distant and different, both regions occupy the same meridian and the mixture of both worlds married perfectly in the collection. "I wanted to show a poetic message of peace between the East and West," he said. In a certain way, it also represents globalization and the Internet as a vehicle connecting people worldwide.
"I basically showed the eastern world through Arab furniture and the western world through the vignettes of the end of the 1970s," adds the stylist, who is of Syrian origin with strong tradition in the textile world.
His father, Badih Makhoul, was born in Syria and his mother, Afif Metne, is a daughter of Syrians. "It is important to say that I did not create the collection inspired on the Middle East because I am of Arab descent, but because it is the great theme of the moment. It is all connected to summer and to our idea of seeking inspiration in the warm meridians," he pointed out. The last collection was inspired on Mexico.
Always seeking new themes and ideas that may become fashion, the stylist is going to make use of a trip to Indonesia, scheduled for the end of August, to surf and seek references for the new collection. "I want to explore theme 'Man and survival alone in the wild'," he forwards.
Although he has already traveled very much, Makhoul has never been to Syria. The only Arab country he knows is the United Arab Emirates. For 2009 he is planning a trip with his French wife Catherine. "We want to travel from Turkey, crossing several Arab countries, until we reach Suez Canal and the Red Sea," she said.
Service
E-mail: add_1@terra.com.br
Telephone: (+55 11) 3081 1843
The fashion industry in the southeastern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro consolidated its participation in the international market. From January to November 2007, fashion exports from Rio surpassed US$ 21.7 million and were 12.78% greater than the result recorded in the same period of 2006.
Thus, the state of Rio increased its share in Brazilian exports in the sector, as it answered to 8.78% of total shipments and maintained the third position in the ranking of garment exporter states. In the same period of 2006, fashion from Rio answered to 7.22% of Brazilian exports in the sector.
The figures were supplied by the Fashion Business Forum, promoted by the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan), one of the organizers of the events Fashion Rio and Fashion Business, which began this Monday, January 7, at Marina da Glória.
The results of the sector's foreign sales show the reduced influence of exchange rate variations on the fashion sector in Rio de Janeiro. This is the result of actions conducted by the Firjan Fashion Forum, which besides organizing the schedule for the sector in the state, has disseminated the culture of design among Rio de Janeiro-based entrepreneurs since its inception, in the year 2000.
In comparison with 2002, when the first edition of Fashion Rio was held, the state of Rio de Janeiro increased its fashion exports by 79.61%, recording the best performance of all Brazilian exporter states.
During the same period, foreign sales by the state of São Paulo (SE) increased by 53.93%, and exports from the state of Santa Catarina (S), by 18.57%.
Furthermore, prices for fashion items from Rio de Janeiro are on the rise in the international market. This shows that the state has an export profile turned to higher value-added products.
The average price of fashion exports from Rio was US$ 70.65 per kilogram (2.2 pounds) between January and November 2007, whereas the national average stood at US$ 28.12 per kilogram.
CNI
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In approximately two months, the Cooperative of Cotton Textile Production of the State of Paraíba (CoopNatural) will launch into the market clothing made from the first Brazilian crop of organic colored cotton. The cooperative comprises companies and groups of artisans who manufacture clothes under the Natural Fashion brand, whose production is environmentally conscious.
The organic colored cotton was planted by farmer Renato Gadelha, in the municipality of Bonsucesso, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Paraíba, and the entire production was destined for CoopNatural. Now, the cotton is being ginned for later transformation into fiber, and then into textile items.
In January, Gadelha planted 40 hectares of organic cotton, half colored and half white, by request of CoopNatural itself. The crop was harvested between May and June. According to Maysa Gadelha, president at CoopNatural and Gadelha's wife, the price paid for the organic product was 30% higher than that of regular cotton.
The yield, according to her, was 1,300 kilograms per hectare. The organic white cotton yielded 2,000 kilograms per hectare. Maysa decided to ask her husband to plant the cotton due to the difficulty finding local farmers willing to cultivate it.
The product, which is different from the traditional one and grown in green and ruby colours, did not receive chemicals at the crop. "Therefore, there are no chemical residues in the fiber," explains Luiz Paulo de Carvalho, a researcher at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), who taught the farmer how to use the organic growing system.
In order to fight the two pests that usually attack cotton in the region, the boll weevil and the cotton leafworm, natural insecticides and biological combat were used.
The boll weevil, for example, lays its egg inside the cotton cocoon, which leads the cocoon to fall. In the organic crop, in order to solve the problem, the cocoon is manually picked off the ground before a new weevil is born from the laid egg.
Farmers in the region had the opportunity to know the organic colored cotton crop, and should also start planting it in upcoming crops. Gadelha himself will increase the area to 100 hectares and plant the cotton again this month. In the second half of the year, though, the cotton requires irrigation, different than in the beginning of the year. Once again, the product will be destined for clothes manufacturing by Natural Fashion.
"Our goal is to expand," says Maysa. The fact that the cotton is already colored, besides being organic, ensures that it does not receive any chemical products, neither during farming nor during the clothes' manufacturing process, as it does not require dyeing.
Maysa claims that there is a market for this type of product, mainly comprised of environmentally conscious people. The focus of CoopNatural is on offering products as pure and natural as possible. The cooperative makes pieces of its own brand, and for third parties as well. This year, for instance, it will manufacture male underwear of the Zorba brand using organic cotton.
CoopNatural makes clothing for men, women, and children, accessories such as caps and purses, textile toys, and decoration items such as table towels and bed spreads. The cooperative produces 10,000 items per month.
The products are exported to Europe and the United States, and are also sold in 250 points of sale in Brazil. The pieces made of colored organic cotton should also be exported, according to Maysa.
Contact
CoopNatural
Telephone: (+55 83) 3337-7077
Website: www.naturalfashion.com.br
Among prominent names in national design and handicraft to exhibit at the 11th edition of Paralela Gift, a fair for retailers and professionals in the sector that began, yesterday, March 16, in the southeastern Brazilian city of São Paulo, a small group deserves special attention: the artisans of project Talents of Brazil.
The undertaking was established in 2005 by Brazil's Ministry for Agrarian Development in partnership with the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae).
Five groups that are part of the project – which counts on 12 groups from nine states in Brazil – will be exhibiting their products during the event, which ends on Tuesday, March 20.
This is the third time that the project participates in the fair. The last edition of the event, in August 2006, generated business of over 58,000 reais (US$ 28,000) including exports to London, Brussels and New York.
"Apart from generating good business, Paralela Gift is good to generate fidelity among buyers," explained Patrícia Mendes, the project coordinator.
As an example she gives a group of artisans from Port of Sauípe, which sold on average 5,000 reais (US$ 2,400) worth of products at their shop. After the event, the contacts generated 40,000 reais (US$ 19,000) in business. The cooperative in question makes handbags and accessories out of piassava fiber (made from a Brazilian palm).
In this edition, three groups of newcomers will be present. One is made up of artisans from the city of Carvalho, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, who are going to present their embroidery in line Maior Idade.
From the state of Piauí, in the Northeast of the country, come the artisans who make products in silver with opals, extracted from mines in the north of the state. The line to be presented is called Pedra I de Pedro II.
Also debuting is a group of artisans from Paraíba. The handbags, clothes, cushions and other articles are made following an embroidery tradition that is passed on from mother to daughter in Serra Rajada, in the interior of Paraíba.
"Here, any eight-year-old girl knows how to do this kind of handicraft," stated Terezinha Matias Cristovam, who organized the Association of Rural Artisans from Serra Rajada.
She herself, a professional embroiderer, will be producing her articles during Paralela Gift for buyers to see how it is done. "Only those who see us doing it can understand the difficulty of making the product," she said.
The embroiderers are from five different cities in the Serra Rajada region, 95 kilometers away from state capital João Pessoa. Before participating in project Talents of Brazil, the artisans had almost given up the work.
"Our only market was in João Pessoa. I, for example, sold my products at public departments in the state capital. We now receive orders from all over Brazil and our work is appreciated," stated Terezinha.
According to Marielza Araújo, handicraft coordinator at Sebrae Paraíba, in all there are seven groups in the state that are involved in Talents of Brazil, benefiting 300 families.
The product line made by the artisans from Paraíba is called Dois Pontos and was developed by designer Renato Imbroisi considering typical characteristics of the region, with drawings that show the fauna and flora of the northeastern Brazilian savannah.
"We know how to make the products, but we don't know how to create. It was very gratifying to see the work that Renato did for us," she says.
The other two groups in Talents of Brazil who will participate in Paralela Gift are from Rio Grande do Sul, in the far south, with collection Crioula, and a group from Novo Horizonte, in Minas Gerais, which is going to present collection Linha do Horizonte.
According to Patrícia Mendes, this year the main focus of the project will be training in business management. The objective is to make the groups sustainable and to make them export more.
In a year and a half, Talents of Brazil has already been to six fairs and has just been invited by the Brazilian Foreign Office (Itamaraty) to participate in an event in El Salvador, in June. Still this year, there are also invitations to a Jazz Festival in Italy.
Paralela Gift takes place twice a year and is only for retailers and professionals in the decoration sector. The fair takes place at Ohtake Cultural Complex, in São Paulo.
There are five floors of exhibition space, being one entire floor for communities supported by the Sebrae. Around 90 professionals are going to show their items that go from furniture to textile design.
Learn more
Site: www.paralelagift.com.br
Association of Rural Artisans from Serra Rajada
Terezinha Matias Cristovam
(+ 55 83) 9114-2851
Anba – www.anba.com.br
]]>Two blue jumpsuits, two pairs of trousers, five polo shirts and a leather jacket are part of the baggage. The jumpsuits, which were made according to North American military norms, are already being worn by Pontes during his training.
The company from São Paulo that is responsible for his clothes is Flytex, which is specialized in garments and accessories turned to aeronauts, policemen and professionals of other tactical activities.
This is the first time that the company has made an astronaut jumpsuit. "I am very pleased with the story," stated Marília Fajardo Oliveira, who is responsible for production of the garments.
According to her, the first contact with the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) took place in November last year, when a representative from the AEB saw a pilot wearing a jumpsuit made by Flytex at a shopping mall in Brazilian capital Brasília.
"The first order they made was for the emblems to be stitched onto the jumpsuit," stated Marília, who made three emblems: the Brazilian flag, the symbol of the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association and of the Centenarian Mission, an honor to the first flight by Brazilian aviator Santos Dumont.
After that, the AEB asked Marília to see whether it would also be possible to make the jumpsuit for the astronaut, as he was wearing a North American one and they would like him to wear a Brazilian uniform.
"I went after the necessary information and made it," she said. Production follows North American standards. She explained that the norms are similar to those used in the production of garments for pilots, which the businesswoman already sells.
"Initially the jumpsuit was only going to be worn for training and press conferences, but I have heard that the astronaut is also going to wear it at the International Space Station," she commemorates.
According to Marília, the jumpsuit is navy blue and was made out of a fabric that protects against ultraviolet light and which does not fade. Another detail that differentiates her jumpsuit from the North American ones is the zipper on the sleeves, making it possible for the astronaut to wear the clothes with or without sleeves.
"I created this differential because of the Brazilian tropical climate," she said, adding that she also produces this model of jumpsuit for pilots.
Pilot Husband
Experience with production of garments for pilots began as a hobby of her husband’s, Marcelo Silva Oliveira, who is a pilot and a collector of American military uniforms. "Every time we travelled abroad, people asked us to bring uniforms. That was when I had the idea of producing jumpsuits," stated Marília.
Flytex arose four years ago and produces around 500 items a month. Apart from the jumpsuits, trousers, polo shirts and jackets, the company produces waistcoats with pockets, bags for helmets and other accessories.
Flytex garments may be found over the whole of the national territory. At the beginning of this year, the company made its first exports to Italy and Switzerland.
"Now my interest is in the foreign market. With the astronaut wearing our clothes, attention is being drawn to us," she stated.
Marcos Pontes, who is also being trained in Russia, is going to be the first Brazilian to travel to space. The flight is going to take place on March 30, headed towards the International Space Station, 400 kilometers away from the Earth.
On board of the Soyuz spacecraft, Pontes is going to travel accompanied by a Russian and a North American. He is going to take Brazilian scientific experiments for the execution of tests in an environment of microgravity.
Contact
Flytex
Telephone: (+55 11) 3501 3380
Site: www.flytex.com.br
Anba – www.anba.com.br
]]>Brazilian clothing exports should grow only 3% this year, due to the heavy depreciation of the dollar in the last 15-16 months, estimates the presiding director of the Institute of Industrial Studies and Marketing (Iemi), Marcelo Prado.
“There has been a deceleration in export growth, which was expanding at a much faster pace,” he assesses.
The objective of the Brazilian textile sector is to recover the 1% share of the international market it once had, in the decade of the ’80’s, reveals the supervising director of the Brazilian Textile and Clothing Industry Association (Abit), Fernando Pimentel.
The country’s share currently represents only 0.4-0.5% of world textile and apparel trade, which totals around US$ 400 billion. A 1% share of the world market would mean annual exports of US$ 4 billion for Brazil, instead of the US$ 2.08 billion exported last year, Pimentel observes.
He affirms that the way to recover this position involves exporting garments rather than raw material. Pimentel explains that a kilogram of exported cotton is worth US$ 1.20, whereas a kilogram of exported beach fashion apparel fetches as much as US$ 55.00.
Prado informs that Brazil’s current share of this line of products in world trade amounts to 0.02%, due to factors such as fragmentation of the market, which lacks the structure to accept big orders, export, and compete for consumer markets. 85% of world imports are concentrated in Europe, North America, and Japan.
Pimentel underlined the need for Brazil to negotiate regional or bilateral agreements to enter these markets with competitive advantages, as it has done in other regions, such as Central America, North Africa, and Eastern Europe.
“International negotiations are crucial for Brazil to gain space in this 85% of the world market that is currently composed of the rich countries.”
ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br
]]>A survey by the Abit (Associação Brasileira da Indústria Têxtil e de Confecção – Brazilian Textile and Clothing Association) has found that sector prices had a very small influence on inflation since the beginning of the Real Plan in 1994, when Brazil changed its currency and brought inflation under control.
The director superintendent of Abit, Fernando Pimentel, says that while consumer prices (as measured by the IPC-Fipe) rose 161.48% between July 1994 and May 2005, clothing prices rose only 12.72% . “That works out to around 1% per year,” he said.
According to Pimentel, the clothing-textile sector is an “inflation anchor,” where investments in productivity and quality have “resulted in a high level of competitivity,” while prices have not gone up.
He points out that there are 30,000 firms in the sector, producing some 1.2 million tons of fabrics (800,000 tons of cotton) and investing US$ 1 billion annually. Total sector revenue reached US$ 25 billion last year, with exports worth over US$ 2 billion.
Pimentel said most of the clothing used in Brazil is produced domestically. The country is the world’s seventh biggest clothing producer, its second biggest denim producer and third biggest producer of knitted goods.
ABr
]]>The company Malhas Kyly, from the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, specialized in fashion for children and teenagers, wishes to expand their exports to the Arab countries. The clothes of the Kyly brand are already sold to Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Exports to the Saudi market started in 2003 and to Lebanon last year.
“The volume shipped to the Arab market is still very small, but we have positive prospects ahead of us,” said the company’s president, Salézio José Martins.
The executive believes that the fact the Arab countries have high temperatures may increase sales.
“We look for markets where it is hot all year round, because our clothes are light,” he stated. He plans on selling to the other Arab countries as well.
According to Martins, of the Arab countries, Lebanon imports the greatest volume, although its still not more than 1% of the 25% of the total exported by Kyly.
“The Arab countries have potential to import Kyly products, we are looking for the best way to reach the region,” said Martins.
The contact with importers from Lebanon happened in 2004 at the Texfair, international trade fair of the textile industry, in the city of Blumenau, in the state of Santa Catarina.
“Last year we shipped twice to Lebanon. This year they will not be able to come to Brazil, but we have already sent catalogues of the spring summer collection for them to place their orders,” explains Martins. According to the Kyly president, the strong colours are the most popular in the Arab market.
The company also exports to Spain, United States, France, Israel, countries in the Caribbean, Central America, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela and Bolivia.
Last year, Kyly’s revenues were of US$ 31.1 million. Martins believes the volume exported should remain stable in 2005.
“Our main objective is to start exporting more of our own brand,” states the president. Some countries buy the pieces without brands. The monthly production varies between 700,000 to 800,000 clothes.
The pieces manufactured by Kyly vary from blouses, T-shirts, training outfits, dresses, jackets and trousers. The company’s public is formed mainly by children from zero to eight years old. Last year, however, they developed the line Kyly Next, aimed at teenagers from 12 to 18 years old.
Malhas Kyly is located in the city of Pomerode, in Santa Catarina, and was founded in 1985. In the beginning the production counted only on two looms used to manufacture fabrics in roles to be distributed to small clothes makers in the Blumenau region, where the company was located. In 1987, the company moved to their current headquarters and started producing their own clothes.
Currently, Kyly has 350 seamstresses and the expectation is to increase this number to 500 professionals before the end of the year. In the beginning of 2005, more than US$ 777,400 was invested in new equipment. The company has the capacity of producing more than one million pieces a month.
Malhas Kyly
www.kyly.com.br
ANBA – Brazil-Arab News Agency
www.anba.com.br
Brazilian brand Spezzato is getting ready for a new project: selling clothes to the Arab nations. The door of entry should be Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
The first contact with the buyers took place at the beginning of this year and a meeting has been scheduled for a few weeks time.
“In mid April, businessmen from a shopping center in Dubai are going to visit the company so as to decide how they can work on a partnership. They are interested in being franchisees of Brazilian brands,” stated Andrea Kurbhi, one of the partners of Spezzato, who is responsible for the administrative area.
Andrea, who is of Lebanese origin, is optimistic with the possibility of exporting to the Arabs. According to her, the women in the country are very elegant and like to wear attractive clothes at home, to please their husbands.
“Although most of them cover themselves during the day, they always like to look good and well-dressed at home,” stated the businesswoman. Her Arab origin also helps in the negotiations. “I know the culture, I know how things work,” she stated.
The company currently exports to countries in the European Union, among them Italy, France and Portugal, and to the United States. The first sales took place three yeas ago, after the businesswoman participated in a fair in Paris.
Despite not publishing figures, Andrea states that the company has been managing good results on the foreign market. The buyers, in general, come to parades at the São Paulo Fashion Week, to see the collections, and to purchase the clothes.
According to her, the most customized products (which include handicraft), with stonework – one of the differentials of the brand – are the most sought by foreign buyers.
“I believe that this should also be true of the Arab market,” she said.
For this purpose, the businesswoman is also considering taking customization studios to Dubai, like the ones there are at the Brazilian Spezzato shops. “The clothes have a special appearance,” she said.
From the Crib
Andrea and Roberta Nahas – her partner and niece – never studied fashion, having learnt everything with their family, which has always worked in trade.
“We were born breathing textile,” she explained. At the store of one of Andrea’s sisters, she and Roberta discovered that they could make money doing what they liked most: creating modern clothes and talking to customers.
“We liked what I call ‘putting your belly on the counter’,” she explained. They also noticed that the market needed a brand for women between 20 and 30 years of age. Time showed that they were right.
Spezzato was born in 1986, as a supplier to a family store. In one year they already had a strong name on the market. There are currently 16 stores and 400 points of sale throughout Brazil.
Of these, two belong to the company and the rest are franchises that, according to Andrea, have been successful due to the care the company pays to customer attention.
“We have camouflaged clients who visit the shops to see if they are well served,” she said.
The brand makes four collections every year: summer, high summer, winter and high winter. There is an adult line and a teen one – the latter released in 1990 with the participation of another partner: Cristiane Rocco.
“After the brand for adult women became well established, we noticed that there was no differentiated brand for young girls: we then created Spezzato Teen, which currently sells very well,” stated Andrea. The teen line shares spaces in the store with those of the adult clothes.
With each season the adult line, signed by Roberta, who is in charge of style and production, wins famous new consumers such as popular singer Ivete Sangalo, and TV program presenter Daniela Cicarelli (who recently married Real Madrid football player Ronaldo) and singer Preta Gil. Soap-opera characters are also Spezzato “clients”. Many actresses use brand clothes. This “window” has increased sales.
Spezzato
www.spezzato.com.br
Translated by Mark Ament
ANBA – Brazil-Arab News Agency
www.anba.com.br