Chic Carnival gains space on March 25 – 02/15/2023 – Market

Stores with their own atelier, where pieces are handcrafted, in a limited series. Order of customized models, following the suggestions and inspirations of the clientele. A curation of the best accessories, composing exclusive looks.

At first glance, it looks like something from a boutique, but the setting is the area of ​​Rua 25 de Março, in the center of São Paulo, nationally recognized as a center of popular commerce. During carnival season, when colorful tulle skirts (tutus) proliferate at street vendors’ stands for R$25 and long earrings made of colored ribbons for R$15 are featured in large accessories stores, spaces such as Bendita Seja and Le Charme Store differ from this profile.

The stores offer exclusive items, ranging from earrings for R$40, to tiaras for R$130, to tops for R$300 and dresses for R$500.

“We work with differentiated pieces, which are not usually found elsewhere”, says the manager of Le Charm Store, Aline Alves, 31. to reach all audiences”, says she, who runs the store opened a year ago. It is Le Store’s second in the region: the first, closer to the São Bento metro station, is larger and more generalist. It was opened in 2011.

According to Aline, even at a time when budgets are tight, the public wants to experience this carnival “like never before”. “We went through two years of the pandemic locked up at home, many people faced difficult times”, says the manager. “But now they think: ‘It’s expensive. But I want to look amazing and I’ll take it!'”.

Among the most desired pieces is a golden top with rhinestones and openings, at R$299. It was the choice of Bárbara Fagundes, 31, who is going to enjoy the carnival in Salvador and Rio. “It’s expensive, but hardly anyone is going to have a piece like mine,” she says.

According to Aline, some customers want exclusive pieces, inspired by an actress or influencer. “Pantone Brasil posted one of our pieces on Instagram, a top with a heart in the color chosen for this year, magenta, which has been a sales success”, she says, referring to the company responsible for standardizing colors for the graphic industries and textiles on a global level.

In addition to accessories, Le Charm offers lines for personal care (creams and soaps) and home care (home sprays, aromatic candles).

No selling items per ‘bowl’

Bendita Seja also has its own studio and limited edition accessories. But even imported items don’t come “off the shelf”, according to store manager Karina Theodoro, 43. “The most expensive items in the store are a pink sequined dress and a pair of white dress wings. They are imported items, but I I only have four units of the dress and two units of the pair of wings”, she says.

According to her, the store has been at 25 for ten years, distinguishing itself through its more sophisticated profile. “People are plural and 25 de Março is a region for all audiences and all prices”, says Karina, who hopes to surpass the sales of the 2020 carnival, with items such as the shoulder pad (R$ 129), the crystal (R$ 299) and the metallic open top (R$ 379).

Among the accessories, the highlight is the fishnet stocking with stones, at R$ 99.

“Now people are vaccinated and very excited”, Karina says that, at a certain point, she needs to ask the security guard to stop the flow of customers at the entrance to the store.

Public approves, but continues to choose by price

Teacher Camila Pereira, 36, was at Bendita Seja looking for accessories, such as earrings, shoulder pads and visor. But she would improvise the costume with what she already has at home. “I don’t pay dearly for clothes for Carnival”, says she, who came from the interior of São Paulo, from Águas de Lindóia, to 25. “There are so many days of festivities that you can’t have something new for every occasion”.

The couple Alessandro Linares, 41, manager, and the visual artist João de Souza, 46, think the same. “You can find better prices at street vendors, but it’s always the same thing,” says Linares. “Here, they have variety, they are differentiated products”, says Souza. Together, they intend to spend up to R$ 400 to increase the costumes they will parade in Belo Horizonte blocks.

Analyst Natália Proença, 29, was finding Bendita Seja less expensive than Le Charm. “In these stores, we pay for curating the pieces”, says she, who was looking for a “different” earring.

At Mundo Encantado das Festas e Fantasias, next to Bendita Seja, earrings are much cheaper, at R$15.50. The manager, Luiz Gustavo de Oliveira, 52, is enjoying the movement this year.

“Last year, it was very weak, because it mixed the parties”, he says, remembering the carnival released only in the middle of the year by the city of São Paulo, due to the pandemic. “But they are the blocks that encourage sales and they almost didn’t come out last year”, says the Executive.

At the 2023 party, the highlights are the shoulder pads and tulle skirts. “People from the North and Northeast of the country come to buy here,” says Oliveira. Specialized in costumes, with four stores in the region of 25 de Março Street, the company has sales concentrated in Carnival and Halloween.

In front of Mundo das Fantasias, friends Natália Tomé and Lirian Bom, both 28 years old, were trying out options at the street vendor stand. The model chosen was the set of hot pants (top and high-waisted panties) at R$50. But they also took tutu and black top (about R$60) and a Wonder Woman leotard (R$30) from street vendors. . They also invested around BRL 50 in glitter, pebbles and tattoos.

“Our last carnival was three years ago, in 2020. In 2022, we only went to a closed party, there wasn’t much. Now the expectation is high”, says Natália, in jumping the carnival in the blocks of Rio, next to her friend and shopping companion. “It doesn’t work to pay dearly to use it only at Carnival”, says Lirian.

100,000 cans of foam to animate the blocks

Who is also excited about the profusion of blocks, but in the capital of São Paulo –there will be more than 500, according to the City Hall– is the general manager of Armarinhos Fernando, Ondamar Ferreira, 51.

“This is the first carnival in three years, without the restrictions due to the pandemic”, says Ferreira, who is betting on the strength of the blocks to consume cans of foam and hair dye. “Our expectation is to sell 100 thousand cans of foam this year”, he says. The price is popular, as is traditional at 25: R$ 7.99. The hair dye costs R$ 8.99.

A regular at Armarinhos Fernando, where he has worked for 34 years (he joined as an office boy), Ferreira is suspicious of the “gourmetization” of 25 de Março. “For us, who live off a type of trade that is the opposite of what they offer, it is not good, because it makes March 25th lose its identity”, he says.

The region has always been a reference in fabrics, bed, table, bath and accessories. “But today 70% of stores are taken over by electronics, a category that also had its traditional space, Santa Ifigênia.”