Arezzo&Co Continues Its Expansion While Caravana Americana Is Back in Full Force

Exciting news in the fashion world this month! Arezzo&Co, the Brazilian footwear and accessories giant, is making big moves towards expansion.

Meanwhile, I'm thrilled to share my latest article for The Business of Fashion, which delves into the delicate state of Fashion's Recovery in Latin America. I'm grateful to everyone who lent their voices for this, especially Gaba Najmanovich for her valuable insights and for sharing the piece with her community of readers. (BTW, she has an awesome newsletter called Exprimido de Tendencias, which is a must-read to be up to date with Latin America's consumer trends).

On top of that, Caravana Americana, Mexico's prestigious fashion and homeware tradeshow, was a great success last month. So much so, in fact, that it will now be participating in the upcoming Cities Summit of the Americas in Denver, Colorado, from April 26 to 30. Stay tuned for more updates on these exciting developments!

Read on!

At the beginning of this month Arezzo & Co Acquired Italian Footwear Brand Paris Texas.

The Brazilian footwear and accessories conglomerate paid 130 million reais ($25 million) to acquire a 65 percent share in the Milan-based shoe brand, signaling the company’s plans to continue expanding its global footprint. (Read more on BoF).

And last week, Paris Texas opened up pop-up stores at the NK Store in Jardins, São Paulo, and in Ipanema and Village Mall, in Rio de Janeiro. Earlier this year, Arezzo&Co acquired the Brazilian footwear brand Vicenza.

The Brazilian footwer giant also released its quarterly earnings and reported strong revenue growth for 2022. 

The footwear and accessories conglomerate recorded full-year 2022 gross revenues of 5.2 billion reais ($1.01 billion), a 43.5 percent increase from the previous year. Adjusted net revenues grew by 44.8 percent year on year, reaching 4.23 billion reais ($822.3 million)One of Latin America’s most important fashion and homeware tradeshows, Caravana Americana, is back in full swing!. (Read more on BoF).

If you haven't heard of it, Caravana Americana was created in 2016 by Regina Barrios and Alessandro Cerutti, who saw a need to promote regional design to the international market and provide opportunities for professional buyers to connect with emerging brands. The biannual event has also contributed to these brands' professionalisation through educational events.

"Caravana Americana showcases the best of Latin American design by focusing on the artisanal side of luxury," said Barrios to BoF. "I'm obsessed with quality and rescuing techniques and pushing this special fusion design culture here." Barrios is also the creative director of both the retailer Lago and her jewelry brand Ishi."

Since its creation, it has represented over 300 brands through 14 in-person events in Mexico City and two virtual events during the pandemic. The most recent edition, held in February of this year in Mexico City, featured 67 design proposals in fashion, textiles, furniture, and objects from various countries in Latin America such as Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico.

In my most recent piece for BoF, Barrios mentioned she welcomed back many international and local buyers absent in previous editions looking for niche products for their stores. “Luxury consumers survive economic downturns and so will designers able to cater to that audience.” Barrios said.

Although the continent has faced its fair share of challenges, the Latin American fashion industry keeos showing remarkable resilience and creativity.

Stay tuned for the next edition!

Thanks for reading!

Graciela