São Paulo – Investing in innovation and design to gain competitiveness in the foreign market. Such is the strategy of the Brazilian footwear and textile industries to stand its ground against foreign competitors. Faced with the need to stand out in a market as competitive as the fashion one, the leading industry associations in Brazil have come together to carry out joint actions to improve aspects ranging from product development to their advertisement in foreign countries.
The group comprises the Brazilian Association of Shoe and Leather Components Industries (Assintecal), the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (Abit), the Brazilian Association of Shoe Manufacturers (Abicalçados), the Brazilian Clothing Designers Association (Abest), the Confederation of Brazilian Hides and Skins Industries (CICB) and the National Fashion and Design Institute (In-Mod).
“The group operates on two fronts,” explains Ilse Guimarães, a superintendent at Assintecal. “The first one is led by the Apex (Brazilian Export Promotion Agency) and works to create a brand that will identify Brazilian fashion on the international market,” she reveals. According to Ilse, a survey has been conducted to create the brand, and presently the group is discussing the placement that Brazilian fashion should have at the international level.
The second front, says Ilse, is to work on the inspiration of Brazilian fashion. For such, the group has backing from the National Industrial Education Service (Senai) and the National Commercial Education Service (Senac). “We already have 20 design consultants working in the companies,” she reveals. The consultancy work began with the leather-and-shoe industry, and now is being integrated to the textile industry.
Ilse explains that the work alongside the companies started in 2002, with 17 companies. At present, there are already 137 of them and the target is to reach 240 by the end of 2013. Regarding what led the associations to join each other, Ilse says: “We started feeling that we had to add value to the product so as to be able to compete.”
She claims that it is difficult to define the concept of Brazilian fashion, but she gives opinion on the matter. “Brazilian fashion, in my opinion, is fashion that conveys the Brazilian lifestyle,” she claims. “What we are seeing today is massified Italian fashion. The people are beginning to yearn for something that has a (defined) origin,” she explains.
The work of the associations also counts on backing from organizations such as the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae), the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Culture.
Regarding the figures involved, Ilse claims that the Assintecal maintains a two-year agreement with the Apex, in the value of 18 million reals (US$ 11.5 million), to promote international actions; and an agreement of 4 million reals (US$ 2.5 million) with the Sebrae to promote international and design-related actions. As for the target markets, the superintendent informs that they are still being selected by the organizations.
Concerning the depreciation of the dollar against the Brazilian currency, which is harming Brazilian exports, in particular those of manufactured goods such as footwear and clothing, , does not complain. “There is no use in struggling against something that is irreversible. We must seek other ways to be competitive,” she declares.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
