São Paulo – Female clothes brand Ton Âge, which has a factory in Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, already exports to England, France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic. Now the brand wants to present its luxury party dress collections to Arab women.
"Every time I participate in a fair in the sector, buyers say that my dresses would be very successful in the Emirates," says Laís Pinheiro Machado, the company owner. "I have not yet made nor received any contact from Arab buyers, but I really want to learn about the opportunities for direct sales to the Middle East," added the businesswoman.
According to Laís, 20% of the production of 5,000 items is shipped abroad, and the rest is sold on the domestic market. Ton Âge currently generates 56 direct jobs and around 300 indirect ones. "We operate with some 150 embroiderers, plus another 150 or so outsourced seamstresses," explained Laís.
One of the company’s main strategies to increase sales is prospecting clients at fairs, like the National Fashion Industry Fair, in Gramado, in Rio Grande do Sul state, Minas Trend, in Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state, Fashion Business, an event that takes place in the sidelines of the Fashion Rio, in Rio de Janeiro, and also in the Female Fashion Meeting, in São Paulo.
According to the businesswoman, the Female Fashion Meeting is an event that, for the last 20 years, has been bringing the garment industry, retailers and buyers closer together. As the event receives national and international retailers and buyers, it currently includes 120 exhibitors and around 10,000 buyers. This year’s edition generated around 15 million reals (US$ 7.5 million) in business.
In the market female fashion market in Brazil for 30 years, Ton Âge exports to several countries in South America and Europe. The tendencies in Europe are the great inspiration for the brand. The destinations for research in streets and runways are normally London, Milan, Paris and Berlin.
Hub
Ton Âge is in the Garment Production Hub of the Metropolitan Region of Porto Alegre, which counts on the support of the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) and supplies 31 industries in the garment production sector in the cities of Porto Alegre, Gravataí, Novo Hamburgo, Ivoti, Estância Velha, Cachoeirinha, São Leopoldo, Campo Bom, São Sebastião do Caí and Canoas.
Contact
Site: www.tonage.com.br
Telephone: (+55 51) 3222-8988
*Translated by Mark Ament
