Headed by Lívia Campos from Rio de Janeiro, the brand gains ground here and abroad, with processes aligned with sustainability and freedom.

03.03.2021 by Karina Hollo

Lívia Cunha Campos is 31 years old, born and living in Rio de Janeiro. Her first contact with clothes was through her maternal grandmother, who was a pattern maker and seamstress. The story is common to many designers: "While she was at the sewing machine, I would flip through fashion magazines. At the newsstand, my magazine choice was bridal magazines." In addition, Lívia maintained contact with design, surrounded by art objects that her father always admired. In 2014, she began to create a business plan to make the project that would become Beira viable. "By the end of that year, I was already in the studio where I still am today. I held my first trade fair six years ago, selling to the Tomie Ohtake Cultural Center store, and in January 2015, I debuted an exhibition in Paris. That's when I started selling and exporting my products."

FASHION AND MEDIA
Beira was born from a research project focused on design, functionality, and the development of objects. "The word 'beira' embodies the notion of transition or intersection. And through the construction of the pieces, the experimental processes that happen in the studio can be explored in the clothes from the inside out, letting the exposed seams guide the modeling." Each new collection developed is based on the previous one, a continuous scheme of language development.
Graduating in product design from PUC-Rio, Lívia says that in the course she had project classes taught by professors from two disciplines – fashion and product. "During college, I had the experience of formatting plans in which the final medium would be the one that best fit its context." However, she recognizes that social media is challenging. "I chose to share on Instagram, for Beira's audience, something that brings closer the reality of my daily life and my personal life. I do all the posts myself, but this distances me from a more commercial place that also needs to be implemented."

PRODUCTION, SUSTAINABILITY AND FREEDOM
Lívia says she sees sustainability as a path. Currently, she uses software that reduces fabric waste, requests Azo-free certification from textile suppliers, and prospects for environmentally friendly raw materials. "In the latest collections, we use fabrics made from silk cocoons rejected by the industry, recycled PET, and artisanal dyeing." Furthermore, when it comes to sustainability, usually only the environmental issue is taken into account. "And, in fact, there is also the social factor. Therefore, respect and adequate remuneration are points that cannot go unnoticed," she ponders. Lívia encourages the use of Beira pieces by those who identify with them. "For this, most pieces use elastic bands and buckles to cover different measurement patterns in the same size. For example: size 1 corresponds to men's S and women's M in the international size conversion standard," she explains.

LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL MARKET
The designer analyzes that there is still a scarcity of suppliers and specialized labor for fashion production in Brazil, which makes competition with the foreign market difficult. "The export and import process in Brazil is also an obstacle. Another challenge here is the small number of commercial channels — multi-brand stores focused on unisex fashion," she says. Lívia exports to the United States, Korea, and Japan. The last two collections that will go online with the launch of the website were made in Portugal. Plans for 2021? Aiming at the new e-commerce beira.shop, with a line of shoes and leather belts produced in Portugal. To see is to want. 

Article originally published in L'Officiel Brasil Magazine #78

Styling: Lívia Cunha Campos
Photography: Personal archive; Dane Manary
Link: https://www.revistalofficiel.com.br/moda/forma-e-funcao

FEATURED PRODUCTS
Photo 1: Lívia wears Raglan T-shirt Tanguis Cotton.
Photo 2: Sarah wears Adjustable Waist Cotton Pants - Black; Loose Long Sleeve Cotton Shirt - Black; Loose Long Sleeve Chemise Dress Cotton - Black.