São Paulo – The necklaces are made in Armação de Búzios, a coastal and sunny city in the state of Rio de Janeiro. From there, they head to another sunny land, but in another part of the planet, the United Arab Emirates. Necklaces in aluminium are creations of the Argentine Monica Krexa, who has a shop and warehouse in Búzios, where she moved ten years ago. She exports to several parts of the world, among them to a beach fashion shop in the Middle East.
"I sell more carefully designed necklaces there, in larger and heavier style,” said the artist and businesswoman. Krexa decided to move from Buenos Aires to Búzios at the insistence of friends who lived in the city and believed that her work had a great chance of success in the city. In Búzios, on her first experience on the beach, taking her creations, she sold all she was carrying.
The business progressed from then on. She set up a workshop at home and opened a shop. She then sought the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) and started participating, last year, in the Rio à Porter Fashion and Design Business Salon. After the event, she started exporting to the Emirates. Krexa already sold to Argentina and also exports to Italy and the United States, as well as having clients in several parts of Brazil.
The artist participated in Rio à Porter once again early this year, where she found new clients and also requests to development products for large companies. With this, she is restructuring her business. She currently does almost everything alone, with one helper for the heavier part, like hammering and polishing, and hires another person to help in assembly during high season. The company is small and Krexa makes a point of that. She does not want to grow too much to be able to accompany everything from close by.
Apart from necklaces, her company produces other accessories, like bracelets, rings, earrings, sandals and recently also started producing handbags and belts. All products use aluminium, which is the main raw material. Some, however, include cotton straps, as is the case with the sandals, and leather, in the case of handbags and belts. Krexa uses silver working techniques in production. She once used silver, but decided to change the input to work on something more accessible. The selling price of the necklaces is between R$ 40 (US$ 22) and R$ 100 (US$ 57) and the handbags go for approximately R$ 80 (US$ 45).
Krexa is 43 years old and graduated in law. She has worked as a lawyer, but always kept her accessory production as a hobby. According to the Argentinean, the appreciation dates back to her school years, when she started becoming interested in tools. She currently works solely as an artist. She moved to Brazil with her two kids – a baby and a four-year-old – and her husband, and now has three children and does not aim to move away from Búzios. Her workshop is still at home so that she can take care of her family and of the creation at the same time.
Contact
Monica Krexa
Site: www.monicakrexa.com.br
Telephone: (+55 22) 9267-5848
Email: info@monicakrexa.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
