São Paulo – Fashion has always been part of lawyer Silvia Ferreira’s life. Although she chose Law as her college degree, clothing became her source of income with the creation of the brand Silvia Arabic Fashion in 2015. The Egypt-based company sells Arab clothing to Brazilian women.
“I’ve always liked fashion, since I was young and long before people started talking about the topic on social media. But I ended up choosing to study Law under the influence of a friend who had graduated in the field. I worked for many years as a lawyer, but when I got married and moved to Egypt, I had the idea that I wanted to work doing something else,” Ferreira recalls.
Because of her close ties with her husband’s relatives, who worked with clothing factories, the Brazilian decided to turn her desire to work in fashion into reality and created her own Arab clothing brand.
“From the very beginning I had good sales and strong acceptance from the public. As I realized from the start that there was a need in Brazil for genuinely Arab clothing, I’ve always wanted to sell to Brazilian women,” explains the São Paulo native, who lives in Egypt but focuses her business on the Brazilian market.
“The Arab community travels a lot and buys clothes abroad, but in Brazil there weren’t many brands focused on them. And even now, 10 years later, it’s been successul.”
Ferreira highlights the profile of her brand’s customers. “More than 60% of the people who buy Arab fashion pieces from my store are neither Arab nor Muslim. My clothing has been very well received. Many people like Arab culture and Arab fashion and wear these clothes to go to parties or the church.”
Although the clothes sold at the Brazilian’s shop are more suitable for everyday wear, as they are distinctive pieces with embroidery and sparkle, customers end up wearing them to parties.
“I believe what makes me stand out from other Arab fashion companies is that I study Arab fashion a lot. Every day, I spend hours and hours seeing what’s new and what’s being produced,” says Ferrreira.
“And in Brazil, I think I stand out a lot because I sell something that is truly Arab. Many people say they like Arab fashion but tend to lean more toward Turkish styles. Because I’m in Egypt, I’m able to stay on top of what’s modern in local fashion.”
In Brazil, the brand’s sales are mainly to the state of São Paulo, with a significant share of customers in the North and Northeast regions.
“Outside Brazil, I sell a lot to Argentina, which has a significant Arab community. However, I’m not interested in greatly expanding sales or moving into other countries. What I sell already meets my needs,” explains the lawyer.
To bridge the gap with buyers in Brazil, who are between 30 and 60 years old, Ferreira relies on an employee who handles all logistics and inventory control for the pieces kept in the country.
“Currently, I handle customer service and clothing orders and don’t have permanent employees. I hire a few people from my husband’s relatives’ factories when I need to develop the pieces. I sell through my Instagram page; however, I’ll soon have a website ready to carry out these sales,” she concludes.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
