Learn about the strategy used by Ocksa, a five-year-old brand that has just shown at Cube Paris

Since 2015, when it decided to grow its export strategy, unisex apparel brand Ocksa has been a member of Texbrasil – the Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program, the result of a partnership between Abit and Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency). Now, three years after it started receiving support, the company is showing its collections and timeless aesthetic at the Cube showroom in Paris, France.

This is not a one-time achievement. At just six years old, four of which were spent focused on internationalization, the brand already has a brick-and-mortar store in Barcelona, Spain. “The strategy was to first set up shop in the city, where we looked for new partners, to then, after becoming more established, carry out actions such as participating in Cube,” explains Igor Crivellaro, founder of Ocksa.

According to Igor, the brand’s publicity strategy abroad is based on fashion events and expos, with a focus on fashion shows, to which the brand receives somewhat frequent invites. The brand has already had shows at Vancouver Fashion Week (2015), Antwerp Fashion Festival (2016) and at the Fashion Gallery during New York Fashion Week (2016).

Before becoming a Texbrasil member and showing at Cube with the Program’s support, Ocksa had already been asked to take part in the showroom, but it turned down the invitation since the label did not feel sufficiently prepared at that time. “In 2017, we received the invite again and accepted the challenge, much more confident this time,” Igor explains.

He says that initially the brand’s internationalization plan was focused on the European and Asian markets, but that participation in the showroom opened the label’s eyes to other possibilities: “we thought that, because Ocksa’s aesthetic is very similar to the look used by European and Asian women – who wear clothes without a distinctive silhouette – we should stick to these regions.”

“But at Cube, there was a lot of interest from the Middle East. Now we are expanding our strategy to countries like the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kuwait and Lebanon,” he adds.

Plans for the future

For the future, the CEO and founder of the brand has mentioned further participations at Cube and perhaps moving Ocksa’s headquarters to Paris in the long term. He also intends to continue to attend trade shows, an initiative that Igor sees as a major achievement: “It is very gratifying to see Brazilian fashion gain more and more attention and see the surprise of someone who never would’ve imagined that Brazil could have our kind of design.”

About Texbrasil

The Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program (Texbrasil) works with textile and apparel industry companies to develop strategies for success in the global market. Over more than 15 years, it has helped around 1500 brands to enter the export market, bringing in USD 3.6 billion in business. The Program is conducted by Abit in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil).