São Paulo – The 18th Rio-à-Porter Fashion and Design Business Salon, due from May 30th to June 2nd in Rio de Janeiro, will be attended by 25 international buyers, among them the businesswoman Dina Ghorayeb, a partner of the “Praias” (beaches) store, which sells Brazilian bikinis in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
According to the press office of the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (Abit), Dina is interested in importing basic women’s clothing, casual wear and beachwear. During the event, 169 Brazilian brands will showcase their products in a space of 8,750 square metres. Rio-à-Porter takes place parallel to Fashion Rio, one of the leading events in the Brazilian fashion week calendar, featuring 29 parades by national brands.
The business meetings at Rio-à-Porter are part of Projeto Comprador (Buyer Project), promoted by the Abit in partnership with the Brazilian Export Promotion Agency (Apex). Brazilian brands attending the event will include Natural Cotton Color, Basthianna, Bianca Marques, Datskat and My Philosophy, which will promote parades during the business salon.
The event will also feature a cycle of talks that will approach matters such as “Innovation in Design,” “Macro Trends in Behaviour and Consumption,” and “Branding and Sensorial Marketing in Fashion,” among others. In addition to the businesswoman from the Emirates, Rio-à-Porter will also receive buyers from countries such as New Zealand, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, Germany, the United States, Ireland, Peru, the United Kingdom and Spain.
From Brazil to Lebanon
Another Brazilian enterprise that will participate in this edition of Rio-à-Porter is Mali, owned by businesswoman Ana Moretti. For seven years now, she has been selling her beachwear and fitness items to multi-brand store Symbiose, in Lebanon. The company ships approximately 3,000 bikinis and clothing items to the Arab country each year.
Ana explains that the items exported to the Lebanese store are all sold to Arab women within a four-month period. The models exported are the same ones made for domestic sale. “They buy all of our catalogue, including 20 to 25 different prints and plain colours as well,” says the businesswoman.
Aside from Lebanon, Ana also exports to Spain, France, Argentina, Portugal and the state of Hawaii, in the United States. The latter two are her top foreign clients. Presently, she exports 40% of her monthly production of 20,000 items, but claims that the share has reached 80% in the past. “In 2001, we won the prize for leading exporter of beachwear in the Mercosur, in terms of volume,” she says. The prize is awarded by the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan).
The businesswoman claims that she has keen interest in expanding her sales to include other Arab countries. “Our product is well accepted in that region,” she says. Her items are exported at an average price of US$ 40 per bikini and US$ 52 per robe. “Each bikini has an item that complements it,” she claims.
From January to April 2011, fashion industry exports to the 22 Arab countries reached US$ 8.55 million, an increase of 18.47% over the same period of 2010, when export revenues reached US$ 7.21 million.
Contact:
Mali
Telephone: (+55 21) 3333-5877
E-mail: financeiromali@globo.com
Site: www.malibeachwear.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum