With more sales overseas than in the domestic market, Daniela Barros continues to bet on the internationalization of her eponymous brand to assert herself in fashion.
“Atha” is the latest collection by Daniela Barros for the upcoming spring-summer. «It is a collection inspired by egos, by the subconscious, by what we really are without any kind of barrier or filter», explains the young designer, a graduate from the Porto Fashion School. «It also has a geometric component, inspired by the Pythagorean tetractys», she adds.
The usual black is joined by white and ice-grey. «There are some lighter colours. The prints also make the collection lighter», she considers. The materials are also flowy, as opposed to other more rigid ones, and include knitted pieces – «70% of which are handmade» -, silks and suedes.
Internationalization is the big goal of the young designer and that’s what she has been working towards, year after year, ever since she started to integrate the Bloom platform in 2010. At age 28, she has already exhibited in one of the most prestigious Parisian fashion salons, the Who’s Next, and also in the Zip Zone showroom, during the Paris fashion week in 2012, always with the support of Portugal Fashion. In September last year she exhibited at the Vienna fashion week – a positive experience that could attract new markets. «I’m probably going to get some customers in the Austrian area», she believes.
It is in international markets that she has otherwise had greater commercial success. «My work has been selling better outside Portugal», says Daniela Barros. «Although we’re young designers, we’re often asked for consignment [in Portugal], which for us is a kind of death, for we can’t spend a value that we don’t know if we’re going to get recover», she justifies.
«At this moment my strongest market is Toronto», points the young 28-year-old designer. «I’m selling online to Japan and have also sold to Australia, London, Europe and Asia», she concludes.