Cláudia Azevedo Lopes
It wasn’t the masks, gowns or any other personal protective equipment: RDD, the textile company of the Valerius Group, doubled its turnover in 2020, reaching eight million euros, a feat that in the midst of a pandemic year was achieved with sales made exclusively for fashion.
“For us, 2020 was a superb year. We managed to double our turnover, and it was not due to personal protective equipment. We never went into that area. It was all in our sector, which is the fashion sector”, reveals, satisfied, Elsa Parente, CEO of RDD.
As the cause for that success, the businesswoman points out the company’s great know-how in sustainability, its central pillar, and the fact that at a time when the market turned to the online and to slow fashion, the company knew to stand out from the competition.
“When the pandemic hit and everyone turned online, we were already well-prepared. In addition, the online customer is very much in tune with our values: as a rule, they are more informed, more demanding, more concerned with what they are buying…”, explains the CEO, adding that the demand for European products established during the pandemic was also vital. A very important paradigm shift for the Portuguese industry, which, according to Elsa Parente, is definitely here to stay.
“Then we just joined forces with business partners that have the same values as us, and that were equally prepared for this model, and everything went very well. We have been in the sustainability business for a long time, and when a customer comes to us and asks “Do you know how to do it? Do you know this fibre?” we are already familiar with the materials and the processes. Customers like that because they can start working right away”.