Brazilian textile industry launches branding program
By Susan M. Andrews -- Furniture Today, November 4, 2002
Sao Paulo, Brazil — In the face of tough global business, Brazil's textile industry has launched its own brand, Texbrasil, and is promoting it across all textile categories from home furnishings to apparel.
The brand is intended to identify products as having Brazilian origins and being environmentally friendly. The aim is to boost Brazil's textile exports to over $4 billion by 2005.
The textile industry in Brazil currently includes about 30,000 companies of all sizes accounting for nearly 1.5 million jobs, with total sales of $22 billion and exports of $1.3 billion annually.
The brand was conceived by the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Assn., or ABIT, to unite all the links in the textile chain and show Brazil's product to every country in the world, said ABIT President Paulo Skaf.
ABIT said that in the past eight years more than $7 billion has been invested in Brazil's textile industry for modernization, improved productivity and human resources, and another $12 billion will be invested by 2008.
"By choosing the Texbrasil brand, our client will be selecting products of a high quality, with competitive prices and the security that he will be dealing with companies committed to environmental protection," Skaf said.
A group of ABIT members were exhibiting at the fall Textiles d'Interieur show in Brussels, Belgium, where they presented a well-organized and carefully edited overview of the brand as related to home furnishings colors, trends and motifs.
Three themes were presented for upholstery fabric: Metropolis, inspired by Brazil's multicultural influences; Grains and Seeds, with natural textures, colors and delicate prints; and Multiracial, featuring harmonizing colors and textures that aim to be new, modern and multi-functional.
