A graduate in communication design by FBAUP, the founder of Nazareth Collection worked on some design and communication agencies before opening doors to her own venture in 2003. Ten years later, she decided not to delay further the dream that she had been fuelling in her free time: to combine photography and fashion.
Photos to wear – this is the motto of the brand, which features thematic collections, as art and design objects. «The textile printing of themed photographs allowed the creation of its own language, highly visual and cultural in the fashion world, by applying photographic standards on high quality textiles and with the right fit», explains Márcia Nazareth to Portugal Têxtil.
In the brand, motivated by art, everything has multiple interpretations, except the name. “Nazareth” is the family name of the founder, who uses it as a trademark because she sees it «as a form of accountability» for her work. “Collection” was added later because «all proposals of the brand are displayed as collections devoted to a theme», which already portrayed the cities of Oporto and Lisbon, fado [the Portuguese song] or the beach.
To turn the clothing collections for woman and men into reality – which include products such as tops, t-shirts, tunics, shorts, dresses and scarves – Márcia Nazareth selects topics that have interest for her to explore, «by its variety or originality photographic», she says, and all the photos that she shoots are then selected «according to that works better on the frameworks chosen for each piece of clothing».
Nazareth Collection’s founder is also the soul of the brand, whose first-half sales grew by 30% over the same period in 2015. «Nazareth Collection is really focused on me. From the start to the end of each proposal. I am the one who chooses the themes of each collection, who shoots and selects. I’m also responsible for the fashion design and the entire production process», an endeavour that can be tiresome, but that she not gives up, so that everything happens as she imagined. «For now, that’s the only way I can put into the market, which fortunately is growing, the proposals as I want», she believes.
Communication, marketing and sales are André Coelho responsibilities, who personifies, together with Márcia Nazareth, the core of the brand, being that after there is the help of a manufacturing team. «The production was the most difficult path», says the founder, stressing, however, the importance of living in the North of the country, a region that gave her all the necessary textile knowledge. «[In the North] I have found the ideal production team that I wanted to Nazareth Collection, with respect for the quality of materials, finishing, delivery times… among many others, of course, a very thorough process until the end proposals», she reveals.
The pieces of clothing of Nazareth Collection began to be on polyester, but soon Márcia Nazareth realized that customers were looking for other materials. And even if those could hinder the printing process, the solution eventually emerged, via viscose, a non-natural fibre «which combines a superior comfort and high photo quality», she acknowledges.
Exclusivity is one of the brand’s pillars and, together with limited collections, are only produced 20 to 25 pieces per style. Currently, only Air and Beach Collection are available, with sales in the brand’s online channel and in several multi-brand stores (physical and online), in Oporto and Lisbon.
In the online platform, orders come from destinations as «Northern Europe, but also from Hong Kong, USA and Brazil», with prices ranging from 30 to 70 euros.
Meanwhile, Nazareth Collection also offers its first international collection – the Berlin Collection. «Berlin is an exciting city. It is vibrant, unique, creative and challenging. It seemed to me the right choice for the first international collection of the brand, because the city, besides being very visual and offer iconic images, these are simultaneously full of meaning, which is always different for each person who wears them», tells the founder on products that were recently presented in the German capital, where they are sold exclusively in selected stores.
And if the target consumer of Nazareth Collection is composed of people who «enjoy being the zoom», with ages between 16 and 46 years – with the exception of proposals for the little ones, as shown in the range Green Collection –, the founder confides to Portugal Têxtil she would love to see fashion’s “rare bird”, Iris Apfel, with a piece of clothing of the brand. «She is a lovely lady, full of style and already with 90 years … I’d love to see her dressed in Nazareth Collection», she confesses.
