«Our product doesn’t need to be tested and, therefore, it sells very well online», explains Inês Fortunato, founder of Caia, to Portugal Têxtil. However, the brand has a showroom in Lisbon, which works by appointment and sells to more than 30 stores from the north to the south of the country.
Besides Portuguese stores, there are also outlets abroad and on the brand’s website it is possible to know the world map of Caia – Spain, Geneva (Switzerland), Fortaleza (Brazil), Singapore, Toronto (Canada), Australia and Dubai have the beach pillows “made in Portugal” for sale, including online shops and brick-and-mortar stores.
«In love with the sun and the beach, well-informed and, in most cases, a fan of the offers of the market for summer leisure with your feet in the sand», Inês Fortunato could not find pillows that satisfied her. «The beach “pillows” on the market did not respond to my needs: the sand ones were not practical or comfortable and the inflatables ones were not resistant nor interesting from an aesthetic point of view», she analyses.
Based on this findings, Caia’s offer was born, «with beach pillows different from all the others», in 25 patterns and prices between 19.90 and 24 euros.
With over 5,000 orders in Summer months – coming from countries like Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Dubai – the beach pillows’ brand in cotton with 100% polyester filling is in its fifth summer and, with a certain degree of confidence, has decided to dive into a new range of products. «In addition to the pillows, we have launched a limited edition of 20 clutches, a very handy accessory to carry the essentials to the beach and to combine with Caia», reveals Inês Fortunato.
In the future, the founder aims to «strengthen and establish new partnerships in the distribution of the product, nationally and internationally», promoting a continuous exchange of ideas. In the design field, for example, Caia has two active partnerships. «With Irene Filipe, an illustrator who drew a wonderful print that resulted in Caia Irene. And, for the third year in a row, with Cantê [a Portuguese beachwear brand], by which it is possible to buy bikinis or bathing suits to match Caia Kemala, Caia Eka and Caia Rafi [pillows of the brand]», she says to Portugal Têxtil.
Nor even on vacation Caia forgets its social responsibilities. The Caia Solidária project, «a social responsibility campaign for a better world, more supportive and humanitarian», initiated in 2014, «selects every year an institution and donates 1 euro for each Caia Solidária pillow sold», in addition to «drawing attention to the issue in question and actively disseminate it as a form of society awareness for the problem», explains Inês Fortunato. In recent years, the Portuguese brand has helped Associação Laço and Ajuda de Berço and, this year, is Comunidade Vida e Paz who has Caia’s support.
