TALKING TO MARINA BITU

Cecília Baima, CEO of the Ceará-based label Marina Bitu, sits down with Abest & Fashion Label Brasil to discuss the brand’s collaboration with Rio de Janeiro’s Farm

Every good collaboration is, at heart, an act of stitching two creative visions together. Farm and Marina Bitu arrive at theirs from different vantage points on Brazil, yet share a single purpose: to champion a contemporary Brazilian identity that keeps finding new ways to surprise. Farm is known for its prints and exuberant storytelling, which already reach women from one end of the country to the other. Marina Bitu is defined by meticulous research into the Northeast and its handcraft traditions. The result is a collection that pairs Farm’s signature fluid silhouettes with tactile textures, a quieter palette and understated artisanal details. Farm’s vivid prints give way to softly faded tones.

“For us, this collaboration, like every other we do, only makes sense when there is a genuine exchange, and when we can build a narrative that respects and honors our origins. That’s one of the most beautiful things about this partnership: bringing together different ways of seeing Brazil, and showing that our diversity may be precisely what connects us,” Baima says.

Founded in Fortaleza in 2017 by Marina Bitu and Cecília Baima, the label has spent the years since raising craft to another level. Pleating, crochet, macramé, lace, embroidery and weaving are refined into pieces that reward a closer look. In less than a decade, the brand has claimed a place on fashion’s most visible stages. It has shown at São Paulo Fashion Week and taken part in international trade fairs such as WHITE Milano and Coterie New York. Today it is widely regarded as one of the most compelling names in Brazil’s new generation of designers, and the Farm collaboration now opens fresh territory. “Farm is a household name across Brazil, with a deep connection to different audiences and regions. This exchange allows us to reach new places and new people, while sharing our way of seeing the Northeast and translating it through fashion.”

1) Cecília, considering this remarkable meeting of styles between Farm and Marina Bitu, where did the two brands find common ground?

I think the main meeting point between Farm and Marina Bitu lies in their ability to transform Brazilian references into a contemporary fashion language without losing their identity. Both brands have a very strong relationship with Brazil: with our culture, our colors, our ways of making and, above all, with the idea of telling stories through fashion.

2) In what ways do you feel Farm and Marina Bitu complement each other?

The brands complement each other through their perspectives. Farm brings a very powerful communication experience, a colorful visual world and its own translation of the Brazilian imagination. Marina Bitu starts from a more personal, auteur point of view. It is deeply connected to the Northeast, where our roots are, to craftsmanship, and to experimenting with ancestral materials and techniques reinterpreted for today.

The exchange was wonderful, because it allowed us to create something that carries the identity of both brands together while also offering each of them a fresh reading of itself.

3) Brazil is vast and incredibly rich in raw materials. Do you plan to reach audiences in other regions through collaborations like this one?

Absolutely. Brazil is an endless source of research for us. It’s a country of continental scale, it’s our home, and it fills us with pride and wonder. Every region has its own culture, its own handcraft and its own very particular stories, and we truly believe in the potential of turning those elements and stories into pieces that carry an identity.

The Northeast remains our deepest field of research, because it’s where we come from and it’s part of our everyday life. Our clothes are born from our lived experience and from these stories. That’s what makes this partnership with Farm so special. It’s an incredible opportunity to take our vision of the Northeast, and of our own experiences, to other parts of Brazil. We want to share this perspective and these crafts, which we speak about so passionately, with audiences who may never have encountered our work or this kind of handmade tradition.

4) Exporting the “face of Brazil” has become a far broader mission, given how many brands are now pursuing international growth. How do you see audiences abroad interpreting Marina Bitu’s fashion image?

We sense enormous curiosity about Brazil abroad, which is wonderful. Today there is a genuine interest in understanding our culture, our materials, our processes and the many different narratives that exist within the country.

But we don’t want Marina Bitu to be seen simply as a Brazilian brand in the most obvious, stereotypical sense. Beyond that, we want to be recognized as a fashion brand with its own identity, one whose origins and references are Brazilian and, above all, from the Northeast. We are very committed to shining a light on northeastern Brazilian fashion.

5) What do you find draws the most attention to the brand when you’re abroad?

When we show our work outside Brazil, we notice that our handcraft techniques and our relationship with materials spark a great deal of interest. Banana fiber, for example, is a material that is central to our research and to the brand. When it’s applied to a garment, people become curious about the material itself, about how the piece was made and about the story behind it. The same happens with other artisanal techniques, such as fuxico, a traditional Brazilian technique of gathered fabric rosettes, and with the way we work with volume, texture and finishing.

But what truly creates a connection is how we translate all of this into the garment. We want to show the power, the sophistication and the modernity inherent in these crafts. That is one of the greatest challenges, and also one of the greatest opportunities, in taking a Brazilian brand international: carrying our identity abroad without having to dilute it in order to be understood.

6) How do you preserve a strong local identity while building an international presence?

I truly believe that the more authentic our narrative is, the more universal it can become. Our international strength lies in that combination: an identity that is strong, highly particular and deeply rooted in our territory and our stories. That is what allows us to build a language that speaks to people from very different places.

In the end, I think it’s far more interesting for the world to discover Brazil through the many perspectives we have, especially given how vast the country is, than to invent a single “face” for Brazil. That’s what the brand hopes to contribute: showing that Brazil is a big, plural country, rich in history and knowledge, and one that is also looking ahead, opening up new possibilities for fashion.

The collaboration is now available online at Farm’s website and in select stores.

By Juliana Lopes (@j.u.lopes), content editor, FASHION LABEL BRASIL