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‘From Portugal’ committee and CITEVE described the atmosphere at Febratex as a surprising flood. The fair happened in Blumenau (Brazil) between the 23rd and 26th of August. After four years without what is the largest fair in Latin America, buyers are eager to explore the news and have turned their attention to Portuguese products.
“I have no memory of being at a fair with such a large flow of visitors. We have information that the number of exhibitors has also grown since the last edition”, says Cristina Castro, public relations at CITEVE. “This is the third time we have participated in Febratex, the first with the iTechStyle Green Circle forum, and the balance is excellent. We receive people interested in knowing how we work and very interested in the products on display,” he says.
MaSo Studio has an identical opinion on the success of this edition: “Considering the dimension, it will not be as big as some European fairs, but the amount of stands and people is brutal”, confirms Tomás Soeiro, co-founder of the company. “We were at the Startup Corner, but due to the number of people who came to the fair, it was difficult to talk, so we went to CITEVE, and other Portuguese companies, together with Febratex Conecta, where sampLess and Smartex AI were also at”, he situates.
sampLess presented prototype visualizations in augmented reality at the fair. “It has been going very well. We have already aroused the interest of large companies and young designers, who are looking in 3D technology for a more sustainable and efficient means to combat high costs and waste in the development phase of new products”, summarizes Paulo Salgado, the CEO.
On the 24th of August, the Febratex Summit lecture space featured two Portuguese interventions: CITEVE left its contribution with a presentation on the evolution of the Portuguese textile sector, and MaSo Studio delivered a presentation on ‘The Power of Normalization in Textile’.
The participation of Portuguese SMEs is the result of yet another initiative by Selectiva Moda and ATP – Associação Têxtil e Vestuário de Portugal, within the scope of the From Portugal project, which aims to promote the internationalization of Portuguese companies in the Fashion field. From Portugal is co-financed by Portugal 2020, within the scope of Compete 2020, through the European Regional Development Fund.