Exclusive Interview with Viviana Gabeiras: Color Me Success!
Profile: Award-winning Fashion Designer. Businesswoman. Leader in Fashion Merchandiser.
MFS Magazine: Dear Viviana, how do you feel about being included in our special edition “Women Empowerment” and in our list “Top Real Women in Fashion & Business 2022-2023?
Viviana Gabeiras: It is a beautiful feeling after so many years and hard work to be recognized as an empowering woman and entrepreneur; my brand and life have been all about empowering myself to be able to empower other women. I’m happy to be among such amazing women and honored to be selected.
MFS: You’re not just an excellent fashion designer with many awards and nominations under your belt (including our favorite “Best Pret-a-Porter Style Award” from MFW 2012). You are also an excellent businesswoman, who has founded “Petit Pois by Viviana G”–a successful company. How do you coordinate fashion design with the administration and leadership of your company?
VG: Organizing everything ahead of time and preventing things from happening and I always say: “You need to surf it on top, not under”, you need to see things before to control any reaction and be ready. But my greatest advantage has been having by my side my partner Rafael Gabeiras, my husband and best friend, sharing the responsibilities; and he is also super in control to keep everything organized and up to date. All my children have been with me at various times, and having their support is an amazing feeling as a mother. The fashion industry has too many details in each division, including design, production, sales, administration, and marketing. Being overwhelmed can cause you to lose control and fail, so you should always have a backup plan in place. My husband and I are both like this, and we have been very protective of our company for over 22 years.
Her Passion for Fashion
MFS: Tell us the story about your passion for fashion. What inspired you to study fashion design?
VG: My passion since I was a little girl was playing with my barbies and making their handmade clothes. My mother’s closet was full of fashion and ideas; she was an actress and worked on television, and she used to take me with her to her seamstress; she gave me my first glam experiences and awakened my desire for fashion. Though “Petit Pois by Viviana G” is not my first company, I opened my first store in Venezuela in 1977, and I later partnered with Olga Bolanos Designer from Spain; today, I still stand strong and carry the exclusivity of my brand. We are like family. My desire to know more and truly become a fashion designer brought me to the States and studied and worked hard to be accepted to “Parsons School of Design in New York” graduating in 1984 class among today’s known designers Marc Jacobs, Tracy Reese, Issac Mizrahi.
Proudly Made in USA
MFS: You proudly produce your designs in the USA and have been a promoter of “Made in USA” forever. How have you managed to produce in the USA despite the recent post-pandemic events that we have experienced in our country?
VG: From the beginning, I’ve always wanted to manufacture here. “Made in the USA” has always been and will always be my first choice. This is because it allows me to control production costs relative to quantities, quality, and the safety of my designs from being copied; believe it or not, it’s also less expensive and more in my control. Our products were and still are the only weapon I had to fight back. People frequently pause to inquire about the manufacturing of our products and find it hard to believe that we handle everything in-house. Of course, my experience and background in fashion, made it possible to do this, especially when you have no backer to help financially, or money to buy and hire as you wanted. We started in my house garage, second mortgage our house, worked two jobs, and raised my children, but never lost track. I only kept my self-focused.
MFS: One of the characteristics that identify your line is the mix of daring colors very much in the style of Betsy Johnson, and Roberto Cavalli, to name examples. What is the story behind this unique mix of prints and multicolor that characterizes you?
VG: I use prints as solids, varying the intensity of the color shade to complement another color in the print. It is essentially the same principle of mixing colors and how they complement one another. For me, searching, developing, and choosing prints first, then the excitement of figuring out how to mix and blend them is to me like going on a treasure hunt. In addition, I am a strong fashion merchandiser as well as a designer—not all designers can say that! My true DNA is the result of years of practice fusing prints and colors to create new stories, new characters, new feelings, and new powers. I need more than a color to fuel my soul and inspire myself to design and create a 200-piece collection that will entice our customers to return season after season to see my new “Story”.
Empowering Contemporary Women
MFS: You always say that your collections empower contemporary women, and they are ageless. Tell us about this philosophy of female empowerment and how have you been able to stay relevant with that philosophy over time?
VG: I create for today’s active women who value cosmopolitan treasures with a distinct sense of practicality and comfort. The brand’s lifestyle offers a simple way to achieve glamour and style with forever essentials pieces to build a unique, limitless, and useful wardrobe that does not represent age but personality, adapts for the traveling woman, and you can wear anywhere at any time. My style is a crossover attitude between urban cool and classic chic. Our fabrics selection has the nature to adapt like an empowering layer of skin, and our pieces are all interchangeable, good for layering in winter and alone in summer. When you create a Lifestyle Brand that mirrors many empowering women for inspiration, you don’t think of age, time, or season–you only imagine power, light, energy, places, role models, and confidence! I want people to say: “There go the empowering women.”
MFS: You have also been celebrated, for being a pioneer in the contemporary market with designs in mesh fabrics. Tell us about this other leadership producing in this type of fabric.
VG: I always loved soft and romantic fabrics, fragile and magical, like peering into another world. While searching, I came across this fabric that hasn’t seen much use, but the touch and feel, as well as the stretchability, make me want to experiment and use it in new ways. In contrast to the intimate apparel market, I introduced mesh to the contemporary market by giving it a makeover with prints, tie-dyes, and colors, as well as styling that was completely opposed to the original true intention of nature to use mesh. I found a niche and grew from there, staying on course and focusing on what people were saying, reacting to,and buying to guide me and overcome all odds.
MFS: What makes Viviana Gabeiras, the businesswoman and the woman, feel empowered?
VG: When I see so many women wearing my Petit Pois by Viviana G brand and see their joy and confidence, I feel empowered. When I tell women they have the power to dress to show their strength and to be unique, I increase their sense of self-worth. I am brave enough to challenge and defy social norms through my brand and myself. An empowered woman is relentless, honest, and has integrity; she does not talk, but acts; her priorities are out of the ordinary; and she is a female hustler in a good way! And this is precisely who I am!
More information about Viviana Gabeiras, please visit: Mypetitpois.com
