PAPAIŸO launches virtual showroom, secures first-ever Caribbean Showcase
Caribbean luxury brand portal PAPAIŸO has been rapidly expanding its marketing and sales reach. This summer, PAPAIŸO launched an innovative virtual showroom to showcase select Caribbean brand partners to global industry buyers. This move comes on the heels of its 2020 launch of a discovery platform targeting individual consumers. The virtual showroom now allows PAPAIŸO to expand its reach to global industry players, consistent with its mission to enhance how Caribbean brands enter global markets. To kick off this new expansion, on July 10-12 PAPAIŸO will present seven of its brands at leading resort wear and lifestyle trade show Cabana, where some of the industry’s top buyers will be gathered. At Cabana, PAPAIŸO will combine a traditional showroom concept with its virtual showroom to drive sales at a time when COVID-19 has reduced in-person interactions.
Included in the Cabana line-up is Carolina Socías Beachwear from the Dominican Republic, OCHIE and Meiling from Trinidad and Tobago. “As an emerging Caribbean-born brand, we are excited to collaborate with a beautifully curated marketplace such as PAPAIŸO,” says OCHIE founder, Hana Lloyd.
“My participation in Cabana comes at a very crucial time in my career,” adds Meiling. “I am at a point of refreshing my brand, stepping out of my comfort zone and allowing the brand to be seen on an international platform in a way it has never been seen before.”
Meiling heads to Cabana with a battalion of support, including from the Trinidad and Tobago Fashion Company Limited (Fashion TT), whose mandate is to stimulate the business development and export activity of the fashion industry. “Meiling Inc has been a driving force within our local fashion sector for decades,” says Fashion TT’s General Manager Lisa-Marie Daniel. “We wish her the very best in this event.”
PAPAIŸO’s virtual showroom comes at a time when many Caribbean brands are prioritising global expansion and exploring new distribution channels. The virtual showroom combines two important distribution channels: Wholesale and online. Wholesale represents the largest channel in the £217bn global luxury goods industry, accounting for 54% of all sales, according to Bain and Company (a leading luxury authority). Bain and Company also projects that online transactions are “set to become the leading channel for luxury purchases by 2025”, catalysing what it calls an “omnichannel transformation”. PAPAIŸO’s transformation sits at the cutting edge of this evolving industry and provides a pathway for Caribbean brands to access these spaces.
“PAPAIŸO’s modus operandi is fuelled by imagination and collaboration. We understand that it will take agile and imaginative business models, as well as a stellar universe of cross-functional team players to innovate across alternative industries and drive global growth for Caribbean brands,” says PAPAIŸO founder Micha Alleyne. With the support of Caribbean industry heavyweights such as The Style Observe r, Caribbean Fashion Showroom and Fashion TT, PAPAIŸO and their brand partners are going to Cabana with strong Caribbean reinforcements, and this multi-stakeholder collaboration represents the spirit of the brand ecosystem PAPAIŸO has meticulously built.
“Our partnership with PAPAIŸO at this year’s Cabana is timely, as the world rebuilds after a tumultuous year, bringing focus and attention to the Caribbean through design, capturing the hearts and minds of those attending,” says Caribbean Export’s Executive Director Deodat Maharaj. Many of PAPAIŸO’s other brand partners will be at Cabana in spirit. BeenyBud, Stephanie Lue Yen, Cocobel, Pure Chocolate and La Casa Sunshine will provide handcrafted souvenirs to accompany their best wishes. Caribbean unity at its best. Carolina, whose CS Beachwear brand reads like a love letter to her Dominican culture, put it perfectly —“We all speak the same language because no one can speak about el Caribe better than us.”
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