Textiles: young clothing companies grow with design and originality
With creative proposals and added value, many businesses boys in clothing grew during the pandemic and consolidated as an option for Mendoza and the country. In addition to having exclusive designs, these local companies offer different concepts, such as sustainable clothing, without a specific gender or with striking styles.
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In principle, it is important to remember that there are medium and large Mendoza companies that manufacture and sell clothing, such as Tres Gorditos, Cloter, Eva Miller and Rosenda Jeans, focused on items such as uniforms and urban or casual clothing (jeans, t-shirts and shirts). Although they do not work with the volume of factories in Buenos Aires, several are recognized within the Cuyo region and have stores in other provinces.
However, a striking phenomenon that occurred during the pandemic was the growth of small and medium-sized clothing businesses based on creative proposals and products that aim at added value, with special designs and materials high quality premium.
Adrián Alín, president of the Business Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Tourism and Services (Cecitys) recalled that in the hardest stage of the pandemic the arrival of products from Buenos Aires was complicated and this gave a boost to local clothing.
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“There are small and medium-sized houses that work their own clothes. Now many factories in Buenos Aires have reopened but, during the restriction, many decided to expand production. It was a hard-hit local sector that, with the pandemic, raised its head,” Alín analyzed. In addition, at Cecitys they believe that Mendoza is a strategic point to manufacture different products, such as clothing, and they want to help articulate actions to attract investment.
A company that grew with the pandemic was 8Q Indumentaria, which was born in 2013 targeting the retail public and, with the restrictions, decided to expand online throughout the country. Today this company has almost 20 thousand followers on the Instagram social network, more than 50 thousand on Facebook and sells sportswear from Jujuy to Santa Cruz.
“Many people who had their minds focused on Buenos Aires or Chile began to look around and found very good brands, with competitive products. Several were surprised when we told them we were from Mendoza,” says Paula Suárez, owner of 8Q.
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In his view, a business that buys and resells clothes is very different from another that wants to develop a their own clothing, whose clients also seek to be able to identify with that clothing. In this sense, although there is a segment of the market that focuses on low-cost clothing, Suárez is committed to designer clothing that is sold on a smaller scale but at a higher value.
Sustainable clothing
A trend that is gaining more and more followers has to do with sustainability and the circular economy, in order to generate an industry and consumption that are more friendly to the environment. This is reflected in ventures such as “RE.” which takes its name from the words reuse, revaluation and resignification.
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This was told by Rocío del Mar Muñoz and Martina Kretschmar, who devised “RE.” as a thesis project, they won a contest for designers and today, in their third year, they have nearly 15,000 followers on Instagram. The difference was creating a project that uses redesign based on the “upcycling” concept or supra-recycling (also called creative reuse) to create new garments and products.
“In this last period the brand took an important turn, production increased, both in the garments we make in the workshop and in the reused ones (they are unique garments that take a long production process) Munoz explained. Two challenges were making the process continuous and having good communication with the clothing sector, since each garment requires a lot of time because it is unique and cannot be done in a serial and fast manner.
In a similar vein, the venture Pedemonteña has been dedicated since 2019 to weaving and reusing garments, such as turning old jeans into shorts and using the rest of the fabric to create bags, purses or backpacks. Cecilia Martínez, one of its founders, believes that the main challenges in these years were to value and communicate her craft work, with an economic value that would allow covering costs and generating profit.
“The costs of raw materials, in the case of threads and wool, increase week by week, but the price of a fabric does not. Nor can we compete with the prices of clothing that was created in an industry at a lower value than what was made by hand”, explains Martínez. As for the Mendoza public, they consider that support for local businesses is growing and many people question who and how to buy.
In addition, the co-founder of Pedemonteña appreciates the work networks and support among entrepreneurs: "It has been super enriching to work collectively, since the purpose is the constant search for best practices, applicable to brands like life itself." With these networks they have obtained information, workshops, production processes and new alternatives.
Original proposals
To gain a place in the market, new initiatives must offer a different value that allows them to consolidate. In the case of the Alcurnia brand, it is promoted as “100% genderless” clothing and with exclusive designs. Sofía Quattrini is the designer of the venture and says that the idea was born from “the need to cover a sector of people who want to dress and feel different, who want to choose clothes that make them feel free”.
This is how they produce comfortable urban style clothing with all sizes. The inspiration and values of the brand are very much directed by punk, the oriental and the futuristic, creating a special fusion. The first difficulty was making themselves known (today they have almost 10,000 followers on Instagram) and initially they had to look for input suppliers from other provinces, such as Buenos Aires.
Quattrini stated that the volatile economic environmentgenerates fluctuations in sales and they must work "day by day", although the local public is increasingly open to the brand and receives several inquiries about their proposals. In addition, this designer wants to continue taking Alcurnia to the rest of the country and it is worth mentioning that a participant from Mendoza, in the television program "La Voz Argentina", used her clothes.
Another case is that of Tebeoteca, which at first opted for an art based on comics (or comics) and added a retro or vintage style with classic clothing, without following new fashion stereotypes. Its clothing, made entirely in Mendoza, includes images from comic strips and extroverted colors, with the idea of avoiding grey, white or black and “getting away from solid colors”, according to its founder, Victoria Tenti.
One difficulty that Tenti highlights is that “the situation for entrepreneurs is not easy” because, even though there are credits, the prices of raw materials vary very little between retail and wholesale value . It has even happened to see a price in the morning and that same afternoon it already costs 20% more. “There is a lot at stake with the entrepreneur. I continue because I have high expectations, but those situations hold me back”, acknowledged the founder.
Tebeoteca's path includes work with the image and quality of the brand and, little by little, it has gained its customers. Some people even asked him for his designs in black and white, reluctant to use bright colors. “It is all a job that has to be done. My brand is also adapting to situations that I see and within the niche that I like”, reflected Tenti.
What prospects do you have for the future?
Paula Suárez, owner of 8Q
We are committed to competing with a different design, designed for the consumer and with an excellent service: from the moment the person contacts us until they receive the product. We have to aim to build customer loyalty. We will achieve this if, at the time of purchasing an 8Q product, we manage to exceed your expectations.
Rocío del Mar Muñoz, co-founder of RE.
Over the short time we've been here, some ideas, concepts and strategies have mutated, changed and improved. We want to position ourselves at a national level, encourage conscious consumption, promote circular, designer and local fashion. Our goal is always to create versatile, timeless garments, with quality fabrics that last over time.
Cecilia Martínez, co-founder of Pedemonteña
We are learning in a sustainable fashion course about the production and life cycle of a garment, how each fabric was produced, what resources were used, what is its carbon footprint and what is its composition. Our perspective towards the future is to be able to create in a sustainable way in every sense, without cruelty to animals or the environment and to be able to communicate the importance of the paradigm shift that we need as consumers.
Sofía Quattrini, designer of Alcurnia
The brand has been working for three years and growing little by little. We are very grateful and surprised by the excellent and growing reception that the brand has had especially in Mendoza, but also in the rest of the country.
In the future, we plan to continue working on new collections incorporating new garments and visions, but always with the premise of presenting genderless and urban garments.
Victoria Tenti, founder of Tebeoteca
The prospects I have for the future with the brand are various, but for now I am taking steps. I would like, for the moment, to have recognition at the national level, for people to recognize Tebeoteca by name and for it to lead them to what Tebeoteca's image is: colours, fun, joy. It is a very happy brand and we want to be recognized in this way at the country level.
