Isaura Daniel*
isaura.daniel@anba.com.br
São Paulo – In the state of Paraíba (NE Brazil) her name is well-known in the fashion world. Celene Sitônio mixes the production of accessories with art. And now she wants to take her creations to women in the Arab world. The stylist, who is also an artist, produces belts, handbags and costume jewellery out of leather, wood, metals, natural stones and even some seeds. "My products have much to do with the Arabs, due to the riches, luxury and exoticness," explains the artist who lives in Paraíba state capital João Pessoa. In the city, Celene has a workshop from where she sells to the Brazilian and foreign market.
Last year, the artist exported to Italy, France, Portugal, Spain and Australia. She explained, however, that foreign sales are occasional and in small volumes. In the past, Celene even exported to countries like Iran. "At the end of the 1970s I went to a fair in Iran. My product was very successful there," she says. Now she is studying the fair calendar in Dubai to find some fair adequate to her business. Celene plans to explore the market in the Emirates with her product distributor in Italy. The intention is to produce pure silk handbags, as well as other articles, to show the Arabs.
Despite not exporting directly to the Arab market, Celene said that when she participates in fashion fairs in Brazil, like the Couromoda and Francal, which take place in São Paulo, her product generally attracts the attention of the Arabs who visit the fair. "I sell large volumes to the Lebanese. For this reason I feel like entering the Arab market," she said. The artist has a small company and trades her products under brand "Celene Sitônio". Both in Brazil and abroad, the products are found in sophisticated shops. A necklace costs between 35 and 120 euros for retailers. The products, however, are almost exclusive.
The artist plans to create, in the near future, a line that is a little more industrial, with quality similar to the present one, to be able to produce and sell larger volumes. The demand for large orders is normally an impediment for the artist to close larger orders. Currently, production at the workshop is executed by four employees, as well as Celene herself. When necessary, she outsources labour. Production, according to the artist, varies very much, according to demand.
Celene started operating in the fashion world at the end of the 1960s. In the beginning she produced furniture and decorations, garments and pictures, as well as the current products. Her entry into the foreign market, she recalls, took place after participation in a Brazilian product fair in Brussles, Belgium, promoted by the Brazilian Foreign Office (Itamaraty). At the time, Celene already worked with the philosophy of mixing art and fashion. That is because the artist is graduated in Fine Arts at the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB).
She also has five specializations in the area of fashion design, by the International Polytechnic Institute for Industrial and Economic Development (PISIE), in Italy. Celene is a retired professor from the Arts department at UFPB. She currently teaches fashion design at the Federal Technical School of João Pessoa, and some disciplines at the Anglo-American University of Campina Grande. She also teaches a private design and modelling course.
Contact
Celene Sitônio
Telephone: (+55 83) 3247-3340
E-mail: celenesitonio@hotmail.com
*Translated by Mark Ament