The Mustamp arise when designer Eugenia Simoes suggested to Dieter Seifert and Teresa Marques of "Maison et Couture Textiles" to create their own brand. A Portuguese company with 20 years of experience in confection and production that quickly fell in love with the idea and together they decided to move forward with the project that has a varied range of household items: decorative pillows, duvet covers, kitchen and bathroom textile, and transport bags for a varied public.
Why did you choose the area of home textiles to launch your brand?
Eugenia Simoes: Partly because Portugal is very prestigious out there along these lines, the domestic textile fortunately is very well regarded by most people. They try to go to the Chinese market and find products at the most affordable price because we maintain a quality that is recognizable. So in times of crisis we have to invest in a brand that can be exported and not limit myself to my own country. The textile as well as footwear is a trend that continues to have a high growth. My main motive for creating my own brand is that a good friend of mine lives in this area and is a producer of several European brands. That turned out to be the driving force and the justification to proceed with my brand. This way you don't only earn as a producer but also as a creator of the product.
So mustamp started because you are a textile designer.
ES: No, oddly enough I am software designer, but since I was a girl I have always been passionate about fabrics. My mother is a seamstress and I applied to the area of textiles, except that I was afraid to advance in this area, because the courses are almost all fashion design, mainly for clothes, so I decided to bet on graphics. It was also safer in terms of employability and in hind sight, it was better in terms of career. I choose design, but was always interested in fabric. So when I met my colleague and gradually discovered how he worked, it woke up my interests end resulted in starting my brand. In my day to day I work in software design, my hobby is the textile that has a certain return, making it possible to earn some more money. It turns out to be funny, this is the nice part of the work; however it gives a lot of headaches, as we must always be present in the fairs and promote the brand. It is advantageous because it is something I enjoy doing.
Did you feel some difficulty as a designer in the presentation of your product from the factory, although your project started with the help of your colleague who was already inserted in this area?
ES: Yes, mustamp associated with this company "maison et couture" that has many customers that are mostly European, ie, produce products that designer's commission for me. It ends up being the same thing, I create, and we together made a stand. There was no difficulty doing this, because there was this connection. Of course, if my work was not good, or he did not like it, this would not go ahead, friends are friends, business is business. But, as we both like the end result we decided to proceed with the first collection and we are now working on the second.
Let's talk about this first collection, a great piece of inspiration comes from the world of bikes, I am truly curious.
ES: Me too. The mustamp creates objects according to the tastes of society, I'm not sure if we can call them tastes, but current trends. We have many home textile products with embroidery or stripes, and are very attached to a context and a particular type of audience, we tried to create textiles for those who like the theme of bikes, because there was no offer in this area. And the whole team, all three of us love this mean of transportation and this culture and also wanted to have products geared to the geeks, or hipsters. These are the current trends arising in society, with different styles, e.g. the reindeer with sunglasses is one more current trend. We also tried to address other trends, such as the code for beds in GR people more adept with technology and we are trying to diversify, we do not have a target audience, because we focus on several markets and are always looking for new areas, we are not tied to an audience, because then we have more chance of selling. Instead of selling a lot of one product, we sell several products fairly well. I think there is a very large drop in the textile industry, because Portugal is very directed to the same standards and the same lines and mustamp breaks this concept. We bet on bikes because we felt there was a gap in the market. Before, you could find textile items with "Harley Davidson" with brand itself and not a generic thing that appeals to everyone and refers the bikes.
And what will the second collection be like?
ES: First we will fill some fields on the site that are empty and improve the kitchen section; we have tea cloths and bathroom towels. We will address a children's market, so people can buy products for children and we can move toward a more youthful customer. We bet on dishcloths, these are generally bought by grandparents; we want to merge them with the youth and try to reconcile various audiences. A dish cloth is a nice gift to give to someone younger, and if there is a concept behind it, anyone can gift a kitchen towel with a funny message, or different design. It makes it more interesting and a beautiful gift.
So do you already have an idea of who mustamp customers are?
ES: In the end, we do not have a single mustamp profile; we have several profiles that we address in the products, the bikes, the romantics, geeks, passionate about technology and the lazy. We do not have a single, but a wide audience.
Are mustamp products being exported yet, or are they only sold in the domestic market?
ES: We have sold in Switzerland and we are focusing on Germany and Belgium. They are our first contacts. When a brand starts, it can be very good, but if nobody knows it you don't have customers. The idea is to do exactly that, export.
What is the feedback from the site?
ES: Young people today already buy online, have some profit. The original idea was to have a virtual store. We have the products in a physical space and I contradict myself, I prefer to see them. I think we succeeded in making good close-up pictures of the materials for people to get an idea of what the product is. Especially because it is a new product, most customers buy online, there is no fear of shopping on the internet. The site is advantageous for potential customers outside of Portugal, and there are all conditions available for shopping like any other online space.
Why Mustamp?
ES: Because my partner has a very Portuguese mustache, although he is German. As I am a designer I tried to transpose his image on the brand. If a person comes to a meeting and the name coincides with what they are seeing half the work is done in the terms of brand recognition. Mustamp is the junction of the brand stamp and the moustache. It is a neutral name which again does not refer to something romantic. It is generic and is easily remembered. We already have the brand registered at Community level which pleases me greatly.
