Type to search

In-Brief

Puerto Rico debuts national fashion brand, opens store

Designer Norma Domínguez shows pieces to Puerto Rico's First Lady Wilma Pastrana and Puerto Rico Trade and Export Executive Director Francisco Chévere during the store opening earlier this week.

Designer Norma Domínguez shows pieces to Puerto Rico’s First Lady Wilma Pastrana and Puerto Rico Trade and Export Executive Director Francisco Chévere during the store opening earlier this week.

Ten successful Puerto Rican designers have joined forces under P.ERE, the island’s first national fashion brand, which will promote the growing fashion design market.

Through partnerships made with local textile manufacturers, The Fashion Group produces the ready-to-wear designs on the island. Initially, designers will market their creations at the P.ERE store located in Plaza Las Américas, through November.

Puerto Rico is already an established textile manufacturing destination and entrepreneurial incubator, making P.ERE an ideal opportunity to support local economic growth.

P.ERE, whose namesake stems from the phonetic pronunciation of “P.R.” in Spanish, combines the talents of designers Ámbar Sánchez, Andrés González, Jaer Cabán, Lisa Thon, Norma Domínguez, Richard Cotto, Yanira Maldonado, Wilberto Pérez and Tatzy. The first collection includes an accessory line designed by Ivelisse Nieves.

Aligned with Puerto Rico’s five-year economic roadmap, P.ERE is supported by the Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company and Puerto Rico’s Department of Economic Development and Commerce. Both government organizations are focused on fostering an entrepreneurial ecosystem to strengthen Puerto Rico’s well-established industry sectors, including fashion and textiles which has a long history of contributing to the island’s business economy.

For example, Puerto Rico’s apparel industry employs more than 10,000 highly skilled workers in 80 plants.

“P.ERE will help us create jobs in an industry that already has exceptional homegrown talent,” said Francisco Chévere, executive director, Puerto Rico Trade and Export Company. “Puerto Rico is a global leader in the fashion industry with local designers having received international recognition, including Stella Nolasco and Luis Antonio who showcased their designs at New York Fashion Week 2014.”

The collection available at the P.ERE store includes fashionable, comfortable pieces for everyday use, at reasonable prices. All pieces and accessories are available for wholesale or retail distribution and Economic Development and Commerce expects to make the collection available worldwide and export goods by 2015.

“We are promoting our well-recognized fashion industry as an opportunity to put Puerto Rico on the map in a key growth market and put our strong skilled workforce to work,” said Economic Development and Commerce Secretary Alberto Bacó.

“We are establishing production alliances with local apparel manufacturing companies to increase our exports, add jobs and become a key player within the multi-million dollar fashion industry,” he said.

Author Details
Author Details
This story was written by our staff based on a press release.
Tags:

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *