FABRICS "MADE IN PORTUGAL" CONQUER JAPAN
Eight Portuguese companies – Arco Têxteis, Lemar, Riopele, Burel Factory, Somelos, Teviz, Têxtil de Serzedelo and Troficolor – present in Tokyo the best European fabrics, irreprehensible in design and quality, always adapted to the taste and preferences of the Japanese clients.
Eight Portuguese companies – Arco Têxteis, Lemar, Riopele, Burel Factory, Somelos, Teviz, Têxtil de
Serzedelo and Troficolor – present in Tokyo the best European fabrics, irreprehensible in design and quality,
always adapted to the taste and preferences of the Japanese clients.
Lemar bets for this edition of Jitac in its golf line, fabrics for streetwear and printed nets, «but with graphics and sober colours, which is what the market asks for», justifies the company’s CEO, Manuela Araújo. Specialized in fabrics with yarn dyed stripes, the company is already selling to Japan «and we’re doing new exclusive developments for Japan, which is quite sui generis. It’s a market of great prestige and a very good one to work with», emphasizes.
In shirting fabrics, Teviz’s collection for Spring/Summer 2014 enhances the ethnic patterns and summery colours. «Many ethnic graphics were taken from our archives of the 60’s and 70’s», unveils the commercial manager, Paulo Loureiro. The colour palette is joyful and vivid, with orange and yellow tones, as well as a variety of blue shades. The geometric drawings, on its side, continue to be in fashion, specially the medium plaid. Regarding raw materials, the company reinforced its bet on linen, besides the traditional 100% cotton.
The vivid tones also rule the colour palette of Arco Têxteis for next year’s warm season, where punctuate small graphics and dobbies in shirting fabrics. The Portuguese company also presents some trousers’ fabrics, which complete a vast collection, able to please the most demanding customers.
Têxtil de Serzedelo, on its side, debuts with innovative products, where blends with cotton and technical fibres, elastane or linen combine to create sophisticated fabrics «to differentiate ourselves in the competitive Japanese market», explains the administrator Camilo Almeida. A quality and diverse offer is also available at Riopele, which maintains its bet on the brand Çeramica – with easy-care and wrinkle resistance properties – and at Somelos Tecidos, which proposes an eclectic and sophisticated portfolio, with top qualities, yarn dyed fabrics and innovative finishing. Burel Factory, on its side, shows the power of the tradition allied to the design with the burel fabric, a symbol of the age-old wool industry of this European country, right on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.
Specialized in denim, Troficolor proposes a vast array of indigo knits and selvage denim, as well as light denims, with delicate constructions. «Perhaps it’s not a mass market as we wished, but at this time it is a mature market for us. We have been learning that it is necessary to have well organized shipments to have the trust of the Japanese clients. And now we are starting to have some return of that time investment», states the marketing responsible, Flávio Dias.
The participation of the Portuguese companies at Jitac is an initiative promoted by Associação Selectiva Moda with the support of European funds (Qren), under the project From Portugal. This project includes more than 60 international actions planned for 2013, which cover the entire textile and fashion chain, from yarns to fabrics, apparel, home textiles and technical textiles, divided by four continents: Europe, Asia, Africa and America.
