Marina Sarruf*
marina.sarruf@anba.com.br
São Paulo – Since she was a small girl, Renata Mahaz, born in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco and a granddaughter of Lebanese, liked to create and chose her own clothes. After taking a styling and fashion course at the National Service of Commercial Education (Senac), in Pernambuco, in 2005, Renata launched her first collection and decided to present her brand to Brazil. Now the young stylist, aged 27, wants to go further and has chosen the Arab market to begin with.
"As I am a patrician I think it would be nice to begin with the Arabs," said Renata to ANBA. She visited the offices of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce yesterday (21) to learn a little more about the market. According to her, many brands of female clothes that she likes are already present in the Arab countries. "I therefore think that I have a chance," she said.
Making use of the São Paulo Fashion Week, which ended yesterday in the city of São Paulo, the largest business centre in Brazil, Renata is exhibiting in a temporary showroom in São Paulo, to present her collections to national and foreign buyers. The space, to continue open until Friday, has already been visited by several European importers. It was not only in São Paulo that the stylist had the opportunity to show her collections to foreign buyers. In the second week of the month, Renata participated in the Fashion Business, a business week that takes place in the sidelines of the Fashion Rio. "So far we have only made contacts," she said.
According to Renata, her strongpoint is the creation of dresses. In wool, knit, cotton, plain, printed, chequered, coloured and loose. They are dresses for women aged 20 to 40. Her collection has around 60 different items, and also includes skirts and blouses. "My inspiration is not regional, it is global fashion," she said. According to her, her garments are high quality and well finished, and are therefore mostly sought by higher buying power customers.
In Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state, Renata has a workshop where she sells her clothes. Apart from that, her creations are also sold at multi-brand shops at shopping centres in Pernambuco, Sergipe (NE Brazil), Brasília (MW), Amazonas (N) and São Paulo (SE). In São Paulo, for example, her clothes are sold at Ellus 2nd Floor, which is in one of the most fashionable streets in the city, Oscar Freire.
According to Renata, her target for 2008 is to seek a route to enter the foreign market and, for this reason, she plans to participate in fairs and international fashion weeks. Currently the stylist has seven employees, among medallists and seamstresses. Her annual production is 400 items, but she may expand this volume.
Contact
Renata Mahaz
Tel. (+55 81) 3423-1019
Site: www.renatamahaz.com.br
*Translated by Mark Ament
