São Paulo – With her focus on the high-end fashion market, São Paulo-based fashion designer Vanessa Montoro has created her brand with a unique style: crochet pieces made of pure silk dyed with natural pigments. Her collections include dresses, smocks, skirts and other items, all very delicate and fine. Now, Montoro wants to add to her portfolio the abayas, traditional clothing of Middle East women, and do business with Arab countries.
“Arab women are a group that spends in the quality of garments. They are extremely well-dressed. We did a market study to learn what they value and we thought it was interesting to create a pilot collection,” says Giovanna Pirozzi, marketing director of the Vanessa Montoro brand.
Pirozzi explains that six models of silk abayas were created. “For the abaya not to get too heavy, we decided it wouldn’t be full crochet.” The models will mix part of crochet and parts of silk fabric. The silk crochet is done using thicker silk yarns than those usually used in regular silk pieces.
Only one abaya, which was created to be a concept piece, was designed in full crochet. The dye of the pieces is done using elements such as yerba mate, coffee and beet. And the price of the pieces is set based on the weight of the silk. A long dress by the brand weighting 2.5 kg, for instance, can reach up to BRL 17,000 (USD 5,294).
On average, the Vanessa Montoro brand releases 30 to 40 models of dress in a year. According to Pirozzi, the brand has already done business with Germany and the United States, but currently does only spot sales abroad, scenario that should change in 2017. “We are focusing on internationalization this year,” says the executive.
The brand’s goal is to find partners interested in producing the abayas to be sold in the Middle East countries. “We created a macro project but, since it’s a sketch, it can change according to the country that shows interest,” she says.
In addition to the abayas, the Vanessa Montoro brand is also interested in taking its dresses to the stores of the Arab countries. “Our dresses, with high neck and long sleeves, would be interesting to this market,” says Pirozzi.
The Vanessa Montoro brand has been in the market for 13 years and is based in the city of São Paulo. The brand employs 20 fixed crocheters.
Contact info
Vanessa Montoro
Phone: +55 (11) 3057-2412
Email: contato@vanessamontoro.com
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani