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Direct from Market: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts and Dec, 9/19/2011 10:07:50 AM

Gifts & Decorative Accessories recently visited Sao Paolo Brazil to attend the HoSao Paulo Expo Center North held the House & Gift Fairuse & Gift Fair, as well as serveral surrounding events.

We first visited the ABUP show, a high end interior design show housed in the Biennial, a modernist building reminiscent of New York's Guggenheim and situated in Ibirapuera Park, Sao Paulo's own version of Central Park. There, in addition to many well-known international names looking to sell imports to Brazilian retailers, we found several Brazilian companies that American and other overseas retailers should consider.

Uniquely Brazilian

Oxford Crystal, a Brazilian company which also makes porcelain dinnerware, debuted at the show Linha 250 Cidade Da Garoa, a line of stemware inspired by Sao Paulo itself. The cut crystal is inspired by Oxford Crystalthe railings on a city bridge; the stems themselves are inspired by the city's decorative lampposts. And the stems vary within a single place setting to represent the diversity and complexity of the city and how it adds up to something beautiful. (Linha 250 Classic pairs the same stems with plain, uncut bowls.)

To embody the extremes of what Brazil has to offer, pair the crystal with Rosenbaum de Coracao's Mesa Brasileira dinnerware, inspired by the flora and fauna of the Amazon region.

Origin Eco Logic produces eco-friendly solid wood housewares Origin Eco Logicproducts with good design that have been treated with anti-microbials to inhibit bacteria. Abitare Home featured handmade, embellished pillows with interesting fabric contrasts such as tweed and lace, also made in Brazil. And finally Cristiane Machado's quirky bathroom vignette shadow boxes would be perfect for decorating their larger cousins.

Plastic Changes Shape

Next we visited the House & Gift Fair, where our hosts, Brazil's Export Plastic council, introduced us to several exhibiting manufacturers. Among the most interesting offerings was Ou's environmentally friendly plastic dish drainers and other housewares. The material is made with 60 percent polypropylene and 40 percent sugar cane (for the brown colorway) or wood (for the colored). The line costs 20-25 percent more to produce, according to Juarez Martini, Ou eco plasticcommercial director of Ou, but the company finds that it is worth it because it attracts a more upscale customer.

Also offering environmentally friendly plastics was Coza, whose offerings contain 40 percent coconut fibers. Coza is also working with an even newer, 100 percent potato plastic which is biodegradable, though Coza president Manuela Zatti told Gifts & Dec the material is still in its infancy and she is not yet satisfied enough with the results to bring them to the show.

Coza's motto, Democracy of Design, also fits with the aim of the Export Plastic Council, which aims to convince its member companies of the importance of design as a competitive advantage. Export Plastic provides business intelligence, capacity building and qualification and operational help, as well as promotional assistance to Brazil's plastics manufacturersKarim Rashid delivers the keynote speech. Though Brazil's currency is over-valued, which presents a challenge for companies looking to export to the U.S. and European markets, executive director Marco Wydra points to Brazil's competitive advantages over China, including that the country has the entire supply chain from raw oil to finished product in a single location, and that companies can rest assured their contractors don't employ children or slaves.

To encourage a greater emphasis on design, the Export Plastic council brought in an import of its own: well-known designer Karim Rashid, who delivered the House & Gift Fair's keynote address. He spoke to a packed house, despite a rescheduling forced by Hurricane Irene's travel delays. Among Rashid's messages to manufacturers is that working with a designer does not mean a more expensive or complicated product: many times they can reduce the cost of production and help it work better, as well as looking good and evoking an emotional response in the consumer. He also emphasized that design is not restricted to the high end, and that consumers are embracing truly new products as long as they make their lives better: they no longer have to reference the familiar to be accepted.

Vaca and Cia

Unique Finds

Beyond plastic, we found several design-forward, home grown Brazilian offerings at the show, despite the language barrier. Sister companies Vaca & Cia and Milktech Co. build their unlikely yet charming theme around milk and cows (vaca), with everything from quirky plush cows to spare, modern milk drop vases. Ludj uses bright colors, cute graphics and modern designs, sometimes paired with messages, to appeal to the young and the young at heart; while Portuguese items would be a stretch for import, adorable panda lap desks and ingenious cardboard speakers speak to everyone. Bleckim 's Samba line gives a cartoony spin to Brazil's famous dance on pouches and greeting cards, while the quirky Uatt? line of impulse gifts operates 12 of its own retail stores in addition to 5,000 wholesale accounts. Papo de Pano plush features monsters and pillows that read Pow and Smack, as well as more traditional puppets. And on the more elegant side, Passione offers metal mesh accent lighting that looks like roses or water lilies.

Ludj Ludj

On the Streets of Sao Paulo

After the show, a retail tour of one of Sao Paulo's many malls took us to kitchenwares, fine tabletop, fine linens and apparel and a gift shop, many of them filled with the same American and European brands we see at home from Fred to Le Creuset: albeit augmented by local needs such as Brazilian cookbooks and specialty cookware for the local black bean and pork stew and Caipirinha cocktails. Coisadadoris was an unusual gift shop that made the most of not only a small footprint but a space shape that most would consider unworkable. The long, shallow shop is basically one huge window A Brazilian gift storedisplay with a cashier tucked in the corner. (For those seeking more uniquely Brazilian goods, the Via Magdalena district - Sao Paulo's bohemian neighborhood - boasts shops for local artisans and clothing designers as well as recycled and vintage goods and the footwear for which Brazil is famous.)

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