Creative/Lab – founded by partners Fernanda Simões and Rafaela Castro Neves, launched last year in New York, is a platform that shares specialized knowledge for creative fashion with the aim of helping companies internationalize their brand.
The project offers two online courses: Business Fashion and Creative Fashion, which debuted in January. The duration can be up to 12 weeks and are presented through videos and exclusive downloadable materials such as ebooks, templates, email lists, and reports.
However, the big idea behind this business model created by the two Brazilians is that the platform is facilitated by Twotwelve, a fashion organization that has been operating for 12 years, based in New York, and is responsible for the success of major Brazilian brands in the American and European markets such as Água de Coco, Cecilia Prado, FARM, and Moeva London, among others.
In addition, the platform also partners with the Brazilian Association of Fashion Designers (ABEST), which includes over 130 retail brands from all over Brazil that export products to 57 countries. This association has an agreement with the Brazilian Fashion Internationalization Program of Added Value, created over 10 years ago in partnership with Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Agency for the Promotion of Exports and Investments).
According to ABEST’s business manager, Renata Gouvea Meirelles, a large part of the companies that join the association and this export project have a product with high export potential. “There are many benefits to the internationalization of a fashion company. Whether it is not relying solely on the domestic market, and also the fact that a company that exports is better prepared to operate in any market, and that is why this training process is super important,” believes Renata.
Regarding this new platform, partner Fernanda Simões details that their clients come from a market demand, where, through the Two-twelve showroom, a significant demand was noticed from companies wanting to export, with money to invest, but lacking the necessary information for lasting success.
Fernanda adds that with the crisis in Brazil and the rising dollar, it is normal for brands to want to explore the international market.
“When a brand expands internationally, it gains increased profits, international recognition, appreciation of work in Brazil, increased production, diversification of clientele, among others,” she explains.
As the two partners already had the Two-twelve company in New York, the bureaucratic part of the new project was simple. “We created a new business unit within Twotwelve, which I believe is a simpler and faster process than in Brazil.
For 2020, the expectation is that in addition to the growth of students for the platform with the courses, it will also involve exporting for smaller companies and showing that exporting is not just for the big players. “Exporting should be treated as a new business, with its own investment and profit, and any brand willing to invest/focus on the international market can achieve success.”VIVIANE FAVERJournalistvfaver@gmail.com