Minas Trend: event bets on new brands and Texbrasil companies do USD 262,000 in business

From October 29 to November 1, the city of Belo Horizonte hosted the 23^rd edition of Minas Trend. Nine member brands of Texbrasil (Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program) – held through a partnership between Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency) and Abit (Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association) – took part in the event, with sales of USD 262,000. Additional business of USD 704,000 is expected over the next 12 months.

T. Arrigoni, Fabiana Milazzo, Victor Dzenk, Manzan, Thays Temponi, Liziane Richter, Juliana Sanmartin, Patricia Motta and Maria Pavan are the Program brands that welcomed international buyers Ayal Robert Zaum (Pistache, Israel), Valentina Danaila (Per Lei Couture, Qatar), Vanessa Whitley The Whitley Boutique, England), Leonor Cypriano (Senato 13 Showroom, Italy) and Luciano Emerick de Andrade (Emerick, Germany). The international group also included journalists Anderson Zapata (El Pais, Colombia), Pablo Uribe Ruan (El Nuevo Siglo, Colombia) and Matias Nicolas (Revista Vos, Paraguay).

According to Luciano Emerick de Andrade, the owner of German store Emerick, the event is worth the investment. “I think it’s a wonderful event. There is quite large diversity of apparel, costume jewelry and footwear and this year was very rich in that sense,” he says.

The F/W edition of Minas Trend showed collections from 191 apparel, bags, footwear, costume jewelry and jewelry brands over the four days of the event. According to FIEMG (Federation of Industries of the State of Minas Gerais), the organizing institution, around 15,000 people visited the event, including 3,700 buyers.

On the runway

Diversity was also one of the main threads in the theme for this edition of the event, developed by the Creative Director, Ronaldo Fraga. During a press conference, Ronaldo explained that his strategy was to value new designers in Minas Gerais and “breathe new air into the business showroom.” For him, originality is in the DNA of the fashion in Minas Gerais and of Brazil. “Here, fast and slow fashion walk hand-in-hand. But I really feel that the heart of our fashion is handmade and small-scale,” he explains.

That is why original brands opened the show on October 28: Lucas Magalhaes (Texbrasil member), Anne Est Folle, Box 19, Camila Akemi, Candê, Diwo, Fe-Lis, Heleve, Jardin, Jessica Andrade, LED, Libertees, Meniax, Miêtta, Moda Moon, Nouveau Jour, NotEqual, Nuu Shoes, Tatiana Marques, Virgilio Couture and Virginia Barros.

On October 29, the Alagoas, Victor Dzenk and TrendBijoux by Sindjoias brands showed their latest. Patricia Motta, Denise Valadares, Chris Gontijo and Manzan held F/W shows on October 30. Matias Nicolas, a journalist from Paraguay with Vos magazine, was impressed by the diversity. “I really saw a lot of brands going for responsible and hand-made products, making genderless clothing, creating new things. An excellent surprise.” And he adds that: “I am delighted by Brazilian fashion.”

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 nearly 20 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).