We recently connected with Paulo Josepetti and have shared our conversation below.
Paulo , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.
PAULO JOSEPETTI I began drawing fashion sketches before I was old enough to attend school, thank you to my grandfather who taught me how to draw sketches of women. My mother took note of my fascination with design and gifted me a sewing machine when I was 6, telling me that it was a toy. From that day forward, I began creating.
As a child, I loved to spend time outside creating life-size designs on the street with chalk. One day while I was playing outside my mother went to deliver a gown to a client’s house. Upon leaving, my mother told me that she would lock the front door so that I wouldn’t enter the house and wake my sleeping brother. Shortly after she left, I ran out of chalk and headed to the kitchen door in the back of the house intending to quietly get more chalk from the bedroom. The kitchen door wouldn’t open at first, but I knew that it would often get stuck and remembered seeing my mom and dad use force to pry the door open. So, I attempted to do the same by stepping on a short wall to get more leverage and leaping at the door with both arms out to push it open. Upon impact, my left arm smashed through the glass outlook, slicing one of the veins in my arm. Two neighbors found me running in the street screaming for help and covered in blood and took me to the local hospital in Jussara. The doctors put a tourniquet on my arm but didn’t have the expertise to perform the required procedure. I was sent to a much larger hospital in the neighboring city of Cianorte. The doctors at Hospital Santa Casa de Cianorte attempted to seal the wound on my arm. They decided that amputation was the best alternative to save my life and began to prep me for surgery. My mom arrived at the hospital shortly before the doctors began operating. There, she encountered an unfamiliar person in white who told her “If I were you, I wouldn’t let that man touch your son”. My mom ran into the operating room screaming and instructed the doctors that no one at the hospital was permitted to touch me. When the doctor asked her who instructed her to stop the surgery, my mother instinctively responded “God.” I was then transported to a third hospital in the city of Maringa. The doctors immediately began operating, surprised that I had survived to the trip to the hospital in Jussara, then Cianorte and finally Maringa. They grafted and transplanted my arm’s vessels using veins from my legs. The scar in my arm reminds me everyday that I am able to create and fulfill my purpose thanks to my mother, who is not only my inspiration, but also my savior.
At the age of 10, my mother moved us to Cianorte, also known as the clothing capital of Brazil, in pursuit of more work. I helped my mother sew until the age of 14, when I was old enough to take an industrial sewing course at Senai, one of the largest institutes in Brazil. I studied drawing and sewing at Senai for a year and a half. One day my class visited the city of Curitiba, the capital of the largest state in Brazil, Paraná, for the Senai knowledge Olympics. When I arrived in Curitiba, I instantly fell in love with the architecture, particularly the Senai building. I decided in that moment that I would attend college there to get my fashion degree though, they didn’t offer a degree in fashion at that time. After my 18th birthday, I moved to Curitiba with Aunt. Within a few days I got a job as a salesman at a luxury department store, Richards. I didn’t particularly like sales, but I enjoyed helping people pick the clothes
best suited for them.
Luckily, The Senai Institute launched the fashion design undergraduate program when I was 21. I left my job at Richards and I enrolled in the first-year program, excited that I would have the opportunity to get the education necessary to pursue my dreams. Though I lived economically, I ran out of money after the first 9 months of taking classes. I decided to pause my education and reenter the workforce. I would need to work for a few more years to save the money I needed to complete my undergraduate certification.
A few months later, on the shelf at the house of Wander Fernandes’ advisor and personal friend of actress Juliana Paes, I stumbled on a book called “The Power of Kabbalah”. It reminded me of the power within each of us to reach our highest potential and accomplishing our dreams. Within a few hours I finished the book and decided that I would not hold off on my ambitions. The next day I called my father and asked to borrow the money I needed for tuition, promising to pay him back within a few months of starting classes.
At the Senai Institute, I had the opportunity I needed to refine my craft and develop my perspective on fashion while also working as a fashion consultant for two renowned brands in Brazil, Izabel Brides and Farm. After graduation, I received an offer to lead commercialization for a new up and coming brand, Lafort. During my tenure from 2016-2019, I grew the company’s revenue by over 14,000%, and expanded the national storefronts from fifteen to one-hundred and fifty locations, including Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, Paraná, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Goiânia, Cuiaba and Recife, the largest cities in Brazil. This transformed Lafort from a developing brand to a nationally renowned brand.
I made the tough decision in June 2019 to leave the comfort of Brazil and expand my career in the United States, taking a position as head designer for a developing brand, Ley Swimwear. In the last few months, I have expanded the Ley Swimwear collection from 13 to nearly 100 pieces including women’s apparel. I have also positioned the brand well for national sales in Brazil.
In the United States, the fashion industry thrives on constant innovation and fresh perspectives. Consumers are not satisfied with the status quo. As a result, the industry constantly needs pioneering talent that will bring new ideas to life. The consumer behavior expertise and innovative design approached that I’ve developed will enable me to make significant contributions to the fashion industry in the United States.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Paulo Josepetti was born in Brazil and currently resides in New York. He is a graduate in fashion design from Senai and homds an MBA in marketing from the FGV Institute.
MARKETING
BRANDING, BRAND VISION, POSITIONING, BRAND DIRECTION SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK STRATEGY, IDENTITY ACTIVATION, PURPOSE CLARIFICATION, PHOTOSHOOT, AND CONNECTION.
SALES COMMERCIAL
COMMERCIAL DIRECTORATE, STRATEGY INFORMED BY FASHION INDUSTRY TRENDS, COLLECTION ORIENTATION FOR FASHION MARKETS, RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT WITH CLIENTS AND SHOWROOMS, PROSPECTING NEW CLIENTS, STRATEGIC EXPANSION ALIGNED WITH BRAND’S ESSENCE.
FASHION
WITH MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY, I DEVELOP STRATEGIC POSITIONING FOR BRANDS, ASSISTING AND GUIDING FASHION COLLECTION DESIGN BY INFUSING LIFE AND NEW CREATION INTO THE BRAND STYLE.
COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT FROM START TO FINISH. BRINGING NEW CONCEPTS AND VISIONS OF FASHION AND SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT OF NEW SHAPES AND PRINTS.
I’m designer to, so I develop to brands and people clothes.
I’m artist to, I’m Pinter and I’m fashion illustrator
I do styling to some clients in nyc to.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Yes, I want a Store When I can help kids to learning fashion arts and dancing.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
It’s connecting with something much bigger than us! a deep and overwhelming energy, something inexplicable but that fills me with emotion and pleasure! I feel excited Ablaze
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: @paulojosepetti
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulo-josepetti-0a444354
Image Credits
https://instagram.com/jefftakesyou?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=