In Milan, Brazilian fashion promotes sustainability and circularity

(PRESS RELEASE) MILAN, 18-Sep-2022 — /EuropaWire/ — The fashion platform Brasil Eco Fashion (BEF) will be on the international circuit with sustainable fashion shows and a showroom at Fashion Week Milan, which takes place from September 20 to 26, in Italy. Considered the most traditional fashion week in Europe, the event in Milan brings together global brands, especially the luxury Italian brands that are referenced in the sector. The city presents the world with trends in modeling and textures, attracting buyers, influencers, and the specialized press.

The 6th edition of Brasil Eco Fashion Week (BEFW) guarantees space in Milan with seven sustainability-oriented Brazilian companies. Among them, six will be on the catwalk: Catarina Mina, KFBranding, Libertees, Ateliê Mão de Mãe, Menino Rei, and Vestô (see annex). The Simple Organic brand signs the beauty of the event and participates in the showroom.

The brands are supported by Texbrasil, the Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program, maintained by the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (Abit), in partnership with the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil).

The event is produced in partnership with the Italian Fashion Vibes, which has already secured space in line with the purpose of the brands involved. Societá Umanitaria, in central Milan, is a former Franciscan convent from the 400s, where there is a hall with frescoed ceilings. The institution is recognized for its social struggles and for supporting the inclusion of people through training, work, and education, also holding seminars and cultural meetings.

Rafael Morais, executive director and creator of BEFW, comments that the event is a turning point. The exhibition goes beyond an action to internationalize the brands, as it tries to change the tone of the conversation in this luxurious setting in Milan. “The idea is to present materials, indicate solutions from the Brazilian industry, and create dialogues and connections with the international market”, he says. The fact is that fashion has been identified as the main villain in the climate crisis. This is because it is the second most polluting industry in the world due to high CO2 emissions and waste generation. For Rafael, it is necessary to find alternatives to guarantee the future of the sector itself. “Fashion guided by sustainability and circularity is the only way. BEFW’s mission is to help Brazil’s pioneering brands thrive in this new consumer market”, he justifies.

The theme of sustainable fashion has been gaining strength, guided by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which have goals to overcome environmental and social challenges in Brazil and the world by 2030. Abit, through the Texbrasil program, is engaged in supporting actions from cleaner production, energy transition, social responsibility, upcycling, water reduction, and reuse. “We even bring together companies in a group that only grows, the Sustainability League, where we bring information, collect data, and share good practices. This includes producers of yarns, fabrics, and even clothing. We work the entire chain”, explains Lilian Kadissi, Executive Superintendent of Strategic Projects at Abit.

This is the second time that BEFW has taken brands to Milan. In 2021, there was a great repercussion, but it is necessary to insist on building Brazil as an icon in the sustainable fashion market. “The result takes time. You need to have consistency. Maintaining a presence in Milan is essential to build relationships and trust with international buyers”, concludes Morais.

About the Brasil Eco Fashion Week event
The sustainable fashion week is one of the annual actions of the Brasil Eco Fashion platform. The event is free and open to the public, features themed spaces and educational and inspirational content, fashion shows, workshop, showroom, business roundtables, exhibitions, interactivity, and entrepreneurship activities. The event brings together topics such as organic crops, material certifications, conscious consumption, Amazon fashion, bio-design, upcycling techniques, textile recycling, business models for circular fashion and collaborative fashion, practices of transparency, diversity, activism, inclusion, and commerce. fairness, innovation, and technologies for sustainability.

Entries for brand showrooms and the fashion show lineup are defined through public notices. Companies are selected by curatorship. In 2022, BEFW has master sponsorship from Lojas Renner S/A and Mercado Livre. The event has been held in partnership with Unibes Cultural since the first edition and continues to look for new partners.

The special edition Milan in September takes place before the national edition (November). The trade mission in Italy involves showroom and fashion shows between September 20th and 22nd.

About Texbrasil
The Texbrasil Program by ApexBrasil is management by ABIT, works together with companies in the textile and apparel sector in the development of strategies to conquer the global market. Over the course of 20 years, it has helped around 1,600 brands to get on the export trail, doing USD 9 billion in business. The Program is conducted by Abit in partnership with ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency). In 20 years, Texbrasil has carried out more than 7 thousand actions, including almost 450 editions of international fairs.

Press Contacts and Invitations: imprensa@befw.com.br
Uiara Andrade – WhatsApp: +55 11 94573-7923
DATE: September 20th to 22nd, 2022
Parades: 20th – Showroom: 21st and 22nd
LOCATION: Via San Barnaba, 48 – Societá Umanitaria – Milan – Italy

Link for Photos Disclosure: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18wUysQw4H_QQnX0JxMQy276JdnJOCYBI?usp=sharing

ATTACHMENT
Brands present at the fashion show in Milan

Catarina Mina – the 15-year-old brand was born in Ceará under the leadership of Celina Hissa. From the manual making of accessories to the making of clothes, he created the project “Olê Rendeiras” with QAIR Brasil to promote the rescue and appreciation of the Bilro Lace technique, which is threatened with extinction. The cause helped to insert young people attracted by the fashion theme and the craftwork involves 100 artisans. In Milan, it also presents pieces of organic colored cotton from Paraíba, whose feather is already born in shades of beige and brown. The raw material is cultivated by family farming in rural settlements in the semi-arid region. As it is grown without irrigation and does not require dyeing, the final product saves 87.5% of water in the production process.

Atelier Mão de Mãe – The Bahia brand is formed by Vinicius Santanna, Patrik Fortuna and Luciene Santana. The basis of creation is crochet. The production started two years ago and involves a collective of 25 women crocheters. This work, made 100% by hand, allows you to put feelings and exclusivity into the pieces. The proposal is to value art and artisanal work, contributing to the maintenance of local knowledge. There is an ongoing capacity building that helps to engage women by promoting a sense of collaboration and community, thus strengthening cultural expression and collaboration.

KFBranding – On the market for four years, the brand born in Bahia and based in São Paulo, produces clothes with sustainable materials and aims to tell stories and encourage conscious consumption. Kel Ferey works in the context of the circular economy to reinforce the importance of the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle). In this collection, the pieces are the result of the reuse of fabrics and materials from individual outlets and cooperatives. Therefore, the “Reciclar” collection highlights resistant, high-quality fabrics that would become waste in landfills. The purpose is to value the work of cooperatives that do important socio-environmental work, generating thousands of jobs in Brazil, especially for women.

Libertees – Founded by Daniela Queiroga and Marcella Mafra in 2017, in Minas Gerais, the brand brings social transformation through fashion as one of its biggest causes. For this, it works with the labor of women in deprivation of liberty, in partnership with the State Prison System. In Milan, she presents “A Prosa da Rua”, a collection inspired by the Hip Hop movement, developed by creative directors and stylist Ana Paula Sudano. The collection contains versatile, comfortable pieces made with ecological fabrics and exclusive prints. The urban aesthetic has a young, modern, sensual, and romantic feel.

Meninos Rei – With bold models and Afro-urban creations, Meninos Rei, from Bahia, pays homage to ancestry, exalting local culture and expressions. The brand was created eight years ago by the brothers Céu Rocha and Júnior Rocha with the proposal to break the standards of men’s clothing and promote the state’s production chain, giving voice and space to local suppliers, especially artisans. Meninos Rei dresses with authenticity, representation, and originality. Among its social responsibility actions, it donates clothing waste to the community, encouraging the development of new products.

Vestô – The brand was born in Rio de Janeiro in 2017. Led by Najat Hassan, it uses natural and handcrafted raw materials with organic fabrics and/or sustainable fabrics, always prioritizing suppliers and raw materials with certifications. The clothes are hand-dyed using natural ingredients with pigments derived from minerals and plants harvested from roots, stems, leaves, and flowers. The inputs are supplied by cooperatives and family farming associations that live in the Brazilian regions of the Cerrado, Campos do Sul, Sertão, and Amazon, respecting forest management standards in areas of sustainable development.