Cláudia Azevedo Lopes
Founded in 1956 and specialized in the production of ketten fabrics in artificial fibres, João Pereira Guimarães is alive and well, according to the Director Carolina Guimarães, 25, who took the reins of her grandfather’s company a year and a half ago and is operating a true revolution.
The company’s flagship product are mesh nets, in various diameters, although now the goal is to lean towards the more technical textiles, and in the future, functional textiles and athleisure are in the horizons. The company employs 13 workers, and in 2019 raked in 700 thousand euro in sales.
“My goal was to update the company without losing the traits that characterize it. In other words, to combine the old with the new”, reveals Carolina Guimarães, who just finished a post-graduation in Management from the Porto Business School and understood it was time to sort the house out once she took the helm of the company.
They transitioned from analogue to digital, which included the development of a website, sold unused meshes, organized inventory and researched their archives, bringing back models that were a success in the past and that now have renewed demand.
“That work resulted in new catalogues and a new collection, including some novelties. We are more invested on technical yarn, as is the case of the polyester yarn, which has the same feel to the touch as cotton, but is anti-odour, quick-dry, wrinkle free and breathable”, states the director. “We have many knits tailored for printing, knits for protective vests with the adequate colours and luminescence, and Velcro suitable for disposable sandpaper in construction tools, for example”, she adds.