Producer launches project to represent Portuguese stylists in Los Angeles

Fashion producer Carolina Matos will launch a Portuguese stylists representation project in Los Angeles, starting at the end of May with the selection of a showroom in Beverly Hills.

The specialist, who took a master’s degree in fashion marketing from the Parsons School of Design in New York, told that the idea is “to bring our brands to a new audience, a new audience“, taking advantage of the appetite for niche brands and limited collections.

“We are in a time when small brands are in a trend,” said Carolina Matos, explaining that “niche brands have been successful with localized and sustainable production.”

An example of this trend is Supreme, which launches small collections that “not everyone can have“, with fashion produced locally.

“Beverly Hills housewives like to show they have an out-of-bounds, limited brand,” he said, adding, “It will not be difficult to find this audience.”

Although there is no direct presence of Portuguese fashion in Los Angeles, there is interest in the market: Alameda Turquesa is one of the brands that fit Sofia Vergara and Los Angeles Fashion Week invited stylist Micaela Oliveira to participate in the 2019 edition.

“The products and the talent we have are very good compared to what we have here,” said Carolina Matos, noting that the fashion market in Los Angeles is not as competitive as New York and not even celebrity influence.

The manager, who in March collaborated with LA Fashion Week as a producer and backstage coordinator, is finalizing negotiations to bring the first brand to Los Angeles and believes that the Portuguese fashion will suit the medium-high audience.

Part of his work will be to redirect marketing to adopt the Portuguese style to the West Coast context, which will include “photographing content in America” and “introducing the products to the American lifestyle.”

Despite the ‘glamour’ to which Hollywood is associated, Carolina Matos said she was surprised by the state of fashion in Los Angeles.

“People in New York know how to dress and be careful about them,” he said. “In LA everybody has spot-on make-up and flip-flops, but they’re either really in training or leggings, very basic stuff.”

At night, the style changes “from 8 to 80” and dominate the sparkles and the mini clothes, “everything exaggerated“.

Carolina Matos, 30, studied Fashion Design at the University of Lisbon and started her career with productions and fashion weeks in Portugal before moving to New York in 2017 with a scholarship.

The producer arrived in Los Angeles in November 2018 and specialized in social media management at a creative agency, Websites Depot, also receiving mentorship from the Portuguese presenter Iva Domingues.

The work of brand representation in Los Angeles will allow him to work between the United States and Portugal, where he left the family, although his friends are all over the world: “My generation left all at the same time, right after the crisis“.