Rio, Brazil, Finds Key to Sell Fashion Overseas: Invention

Rio, Brazil Cantão clothes maker One of the dresses is all printed. From afar, the white and black print looks like comic strips. From up close, it is possible to tell that they are emblems of Alice in Wonderland and Robinson Crusoe, with a few strokes of paint. It has ruffles and shoulder straps, pretty-and-happy-lady style.

The other dress is green-tinged, made of light cloth, and leaves one shoulder bare. It is short and gives a glimpse, almost unwillingly, of another dress underneath, of blue and red superimposed cloth, with a hood. She is a sensual young woman.

The two pieces described above are part of collections textile mills based in the southeastern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro and provide examples of the creative fashion style that Rio creates. Besides quality, it is the obsession with invention, lots of it, that warrants Rio-based mills the highest value added exports in Brazil.

The first dress is by Cantão, a company from Rio that exports to seven countries. The second one is by Espaço Fashion, also from Rio, which is now preparing to export its items to Portugal and Spain.

"The Rio lifestyle influences our creations. The feminine character, lightness and freshness are typical of our city, and feature in our collections," says Bianca Bastos, partner and managing director at Espaço Fashion.

The director at brand Cantão, Renata Mancini, asserts that lightness, comfort, and lots of color, which characterize Rio, are also present in the company's designs. The clothing items that Cantão exports, according to Renata, are precisely those featuring prints and embroidery. "The ones with the most artisanship," she says.

In order to stand out in the domestic and foreign markets, Cantão invests heavily in design. The company has a general direction, in terms of style, but it also has a specific designer for each of the segments in which it operates: jeans, blouses, cloth, footwear, and accessories.

Cantão exports since 2003 and its products reach Portugal, Australia, Japan, United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, Italy and United States. The company has an annual output of 1.4 million items, approximately 2% of which go to the foreign market.

Espaço Fashion, which has just closed its first export deal, is preparing to ship 15% of production abroad. "We are deeply concerned with associating design, quality and trends to our fashion products. At the same time, we are constantly working on our image, from merchandising to advertising campaigns, so as to reaffirm our position and, of course, attract gazes," says Bianca.

The company owns 16 stores and two franchises in Brazil, and also sells at 150 multi-brand stores.

The international success achieved by the two brands confirms a survey held by the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan). The study points out that the state has the highest average export pricing for the segment in Brazil.

The foreign market pays US$ 79.36 per kilogram of clothing manufactured in Rio. This is part of the state's strategy of making higher quality products, according to the advisor at the Firjan International Business center, João Paulo Alcântara Gomes.

Gomes explains that three factors contribute for the state's textile mills to sell higher value-added products: investment in design, product durability, and market access strategy.

The Firjan survey shows that 73.41% of fashion exports from Rio went to developed countries in the first four months this year. Considering only those markets, average price for one kilogram reached US$ 93.05. The European Union pays US$ 115.37 for each kilogram of products from the state of Rio.

This strategy has led the state to perform above the national average for fashion exports. Whereas Brazilian foreign sales decreased 12.21% in the first four months this year compared with the same period in 2007, mills from Rio increased their exports by 3.83%.

During the period, Rio answered to 12.24% of the country's clothing exports. According to Gomes, the textile industry in Rio is mainly comprised of small enterprises.

Anba – www.anba.com.br

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazil Starts New Campaign to Eradicate Foot and Mouth Disease

May 1st marks the beginning of another phase of the vaccination campaign against foot ...

Iron and Cars Bring State of Minas, Brazil, Record Exports

The state of Minas Gerais, in southeastern Brazil, exported the equivalent to US$ 1.49 ...

Brazil Looking Forward to Argentina Leader’s Visit

The president of Argentina, Néstor Kirchner, will arrive in Brazil on January 18 for ...

FIT 0/16: Fashion for the Little Crowd, Brazilian Style

The São Paulo Fashion Week ends this Monday, January 21. But the southeastern Brazilian ...

After Thieves Grab a Picasso Brazil Vows Better Security for Federal Museums

The director of the Museums department of Brazil’s National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute ...

An Explosive Situation in Rio: Manholes Detonating Like Bombs

Once again this week a manhole in the center of Rio, on the corner ...

Brazil’s Oil Production: Nothing to Call Home About

Petrobras reports that total gas and oil production rose to an average 2,075,000 barrels ...

US Commerce Secretary Goes to Brazil on a Mission: Opening Markets

Carlos M. Gutierrez, US Secretary of Commerce, will travel to Brazil and Uruguay starting ...

Despite Low GDP Brazil’s Economy Jumps from 15 to 11th Place in the World

Brazil became the leading Latinamerican economy in 2005, ahead of Mexico, and ranked eleventh ...

Pay-for-Vote Scandal: Brazilian House Absolves Two More

Since the beginning of the so-called "mensalão" (big monthly) crisis, in which there was ...