São Paulo – The fashion business week event Fashion Business, which begins on Tuesday (13) at Marina da Glória, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, is expecting importers from 15 countries, among them a distributor from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The event, which happens on the sidelines of the Fashion Rio shows and will continue until Friday (16), is going to count on 200 companies, of which nine are brands with strong presence in the international market.
The aim of the 14th edition of the Fashion Business is to be an international display of the Brazilian fashion market. For this edition, 30 buyers from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas have been invited. “This is the first time that we receive only one Middle Eastern buyer. We used to have more of them in past editions,” said João Paulo Alcântara Gomes, manager at the International Business Centre of the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (CIN/Firjan).
According to him, the low number does not represent a slowdown of exports to the Arab market. “There are phases. In each edition there is one region that stands out," said Gomes, who believes that independent Arab buyers may show up at the event. According to the organisers, approximately 50 international buyers are expected at the Fashion Business.
In the 2008 autumn/winter edition, the event recorded sales of 370 million reals (US$ 161.8 million) to the domestic market, representing growth of almost 12% compared with the 2007 autumn/winter edition. In turn, exports reached US$ 15.5 million, growth of 10% over the previous edition, according to a survey held by the CIN. “It was an excellent result,” said Gomes, who expects to maintain the result in this edition. “We do not know how the market is going to react in the first event of the year after the crisis," he added.
The exhibition space for companies in this edition is going cover an area of 15,000 square metres, 5,000 square metres more than in the previous edition. The number of exhibitors is also higher than last year, with 50 new companies. In addition to brands based in Rio, such as Alessa, Totem, Redley, Lenny, and Salinas, the event also brings fashion brands and hubs from other states of Brazil.
Fashion for the Arabs
Brazilian exports of clothing and accessories to the Arab market grew 10.5% from January to November 2008 in comparison with the same period of last year. Brazilian companies sold US$ 6.72 million in dresses, skirts, blouses, among other items to the Arab countries.
Of the more than 30 brands that will feature in the fashion shows at Fashion Rio, which started yesterday (11), approximately one third already exports to the Arab market. The brands include Lilica Ripilica, Walter Rodrigues, Apoena, Cantão, Coven, Mara Mac, Alessa, among others.
Inspired by Lapa
The theme of this autumn/winter edition is Rio, Brazilian Cultural Caleidoscope , and was inspired by the traditional neighbourhood of Lapa. According to the Fashion Rio website, the area is an example of cultural and artistic renewal; democratic coexistence of several languages; point of convergence for different generations and multiple attractions. The Arches of Lapa, featured in many of the city’s postcards, have also been emulated in order to create the settings for the event.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
