Started in Brazil 22 years ago by creative director Patricia Bonaldi, Patbo expanded to the U.S. in 2017 and has since hit its stride in the states. For example, to answer demand, it opened a store in Miami earlier this year.
Ahead of the brand’s September 10 runway show at New York Fashion Week, Bonadi joined the Glossy Podcast to discuss Patbo’s growth, as well as the strategies that are working to its advantage. For example, it’s leaned into its customers’ demand for runway pieces, marketing them as such and selling select styles in its stores. And it’s maintained its product focus on handwork and craftsmanship, whether or not the look fits the vibe of the moment.
“By looking at how others work, you lose yourself,” Bonaldi said. “I care about consistency and evolution, not [industry] trends.”
Bonadi also discussed how Patbo’s business is faring as traveling and going out — two events for which Patbo styles seem made — have held steady as choice pastimes.
Throughout New York Fashion Week, from September 6-11, check back for more daily podcast episodes featuring influential fashion insiders, from editors to designers.
Join us at Glossie's Beauty and Wellness Summit from November 11th through 13th in Napa, California. Influential beauty and wellness leaders will meet to discuss strategies and pain points, discover innovative tech, and ultimately make valuable business connections through one-on-ones and casual networking. For a limited time, we're offering $200 off with promo code GBS24, No Spaces. Again, that's GBS24 with No Spaces. Go to Glossie.co/beautysummit for more information and to secure your past today. Thanks for tuning in to this New York Fashion Week edition of the Glossie Podcast. I'm your host Jill Manoff, and today I'm sitting down with Patricia Benaldi, founder and creative director of Pat Bow, the 22-year-old fashion brand that launched in Brazil and finally expanded to the U.S. in 2017. On September 10th, following a period of great growth and expansion, including opening a store in Miami this year, Pat Bow will present its spring 2025 collection in a runway show hosted in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. I wanted to ask Patricia about Pat Bow's unique strategy of marketing and selling runway pieces and how that plays into the planning of her show. I also wanted to ask how consumer behavior around going out and traveling informed her latest collection. Welcome, Patricia. Hi. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for being here during crunch time, where a few days before the show, where are you and what does this time look like for you? I'm in the showroom now. I just arrived in New York. It's crazy here. No doubt we're going to get this in. I have to ask because glossy did a story about your store, your new store in Miami and how one of the strategies was really calling attention to these runway items that you're selling in store. Tell me about your customer. They really respond to that. That's really enticing to them and does that inform your runway show? Yes. I think runaway, it's a magical moment for Pat Bow. I really believe in products. I always say I'm a product person. So I think that's why people love runaway because that's the best moment for me to show the potential of this product. So I think we get the client there. Yes. Well, coming from Brazil, why New York? Why is that where you're showing? There's London, there's Paris, all the fashion capitals. Yeah. I think New York is so cosmopolitan. So it's so diverse. It's a global fashion hub. So I think it's the best place for me to communicate with the world. From here, I can communicate with Brazil and with the other countries. For me, it's the best place to be. Absolutely. Well, what is, I guess, your goal with a fashion show? Why is it a must for you to participate and what are you looking to achieve? I think it's a moment where people connect to the brand. I think it's an emotional moment. In pandemic, it was so sad that I would say, oh, I cannot do in my show. So now that we have these opportunities to have people close to the clothes, close to the brand, I think it's an emotional moment that translate in many things like in sales and more connections and brand awareness. I think it's a 360 strategy that's reached many goals. Yes. Has anything changed over the years in terms of who you're inviting to these shows? I know influencers are the new authority or so they say, but also, is it the usual suspects, influencers, maybe some editors, any customers? I don't know who's there. Yes. I think it's the best moment to have all your audience together, journalists, influencers, clients, people who love the brand. And I think it's super democratic in this sense. Everyone that loves Patu Bo is welcome. Yes. Well, you mentioned the pandemic issue where a show wasn't happening. What did you decide to do during that time? Was it just kind of a time to, like, lay back and think about the future or did you do something on Instagram or elsewhere? I use social media law to communicate, especially in Brazil. It was like the best channel to keep the brand relevant and keep telling stories. But I really miss the shows. I really believe in fashion shows. For sure. Well, speaking of influencers, I feel like you're an influencer in your own right, especially in Brazil. Your audience probably loves it. There's demand for you filming behind the scenes and your day today, even when you're so busy. Are you constantly showing what you're doing, especially leading up to the show? Yeah. What I think about this, I build this brand. How can I say I don't have the word, the best word, but don't depends on my image. But I use my image to bring more energy to the brand, but I have this confidence that the brand don't depend on my image. So I always say, if the internet is not working anymore, I have a brand I sell clothes, but why not use my image to increase the business and help the business. So I think this is our two sides of this, this that I like to see, not building a brand that needs to be being there every day. But if I can be there for the brand, I don't see why I couldn't do this. You understand? Yeah, it's a bonus, major perk that you have a following in yourself. Yes. Well, when I think of your clothes, again, I talked about travel and I talked about going out. I do think that is really what Pat Bo as well suited to. How would you describe the brand and tell me about how these, I don't know, this boom in those behaviors have it have impacted the business and how you're playing to it. That's a million questions. Go ahead. I think it's a lifestyle brand. We go from resort to evening dresses. So it's a large range of products. And I like to be with this woman in many moments of her life. So when she's at the beach, when she's getting married. So I think it creates an emotional connection to the client because they write to me. I was very impactable in my wedding dress and then, oh, and my best friends wedding. And then I was at the beach. So there are so many moments where Pat Bo is there present in their lives. So this is amazing. I like to create this kind of connection with the client. For sure. Well, tell me about, I guess, where the fashion show fits into your marketing mix your marketing spend. Is this the big one of two big moments of the year, the big shebang and then everything else is just. filler. How would you describe it? Yeah, I would say I give this weight to the fashion show because as I told you, I think it's the best platform to connect with everyone, not only with the influencers with the client with journalists. You can, you can talk more about the brands. You can, you can show who you are. So I really believe in fashion shows. And I'll be always an enthusiast of this. What's your take on seasonal collections? Like, does the customer need a couple of months to kind of take it in and digest and decide what they want or like, would some of those see now by now pieces benefit the brand or work for you. Yeah, the kind of work that I do, I think, would never be seen out by now because I do a lot of hand work and craftsmanship. So this kind of work, I think it's like impossible for me to do, like, see now by now. But I really like to present the show and understand the reaction because people do pre-orders, but they wait for this. So the good aspect of my shows is that people really buy pre-orders and they wait like three months, four months for this because they know it's a very special thing that it's worth to wait. So I like this aspect of not being like us, you know, by now, when doing something more special for the client. Yes, we do probably, I think, two big shows per year. How many collections are we talking per year? Is it maybe four or more? Four, yes, four. Yes, four. Four. That's a lot. And because we do a lot of capsules and then it's a lot. So when it comes to preparing for this show in particular, for how many months has this been going down? And obviously the collection probably months and months, but bringing together your hair, baby, a sponsor, or your makeup and all the teams involved. I would say starting for the clothes and everything fabrics around eight months. Oh, wow. It's almost a year. Yeah, it's a lot of things that are involved in important fabrics, important materials. It's a lot of things. We could talk hours about this. What would you say are some of the greatest challenges? Maybe that people don't talk about. Like we all know it's an investment, but what don't we know? Because it's a fashion show. It's more experimental. So you're trying to do things that you never did before. So many things go wrong. So maybe we need like another podcast to talk about all the things that go wrong. Yes. Well, I've been to your show and it nothing has been apparent to me that it has been a glitch. It seems very smooth sailing. Is there anything like you said, like, if you like to try things at each show, like what this season, are you doing anything brand new like that you haven't done before? I choose a specific element to be the theme of the collection. Actually, I'm going to tell you. Yeah, it's all about a butterfly. The element is a butterfly, but I wanted to look at this. Not at the delicate side of this. I want to talk about evolution and transformation. It's how I see myself in my brain. I see that we are always evolving, always transform transformation. So I want to tell the story. And I chose this element because I think butterflies is the perfect element to translate this and the rest you're going to see at the fashion show. Sounds beautiful. I love this. Are you a brand in the fashion or luxury industry? The Glassy Fashion and Luxury Awards provide the opportunity to recognize your company's work with categories, including Sustainable Brand of the Year, Best Collaboration, Best Experiential Marketing Activation, and more. Don't miss the chance to be recognized alongside past winners from Good American, Skims, and Gucci. Learn more and start your entry at glossy.co/awards/fashion. Let's talk about your brand's evolution and your transformation. I talked about you opening a store in Miami. Tell me about the growth, the state of the company. Yes, we just opened Miami. It was like a big achievement for us. I'm super happy because we have a lot of Brazilians there, a big community there. So here in Seoul, our start is going super well. I think in the West, we're just starting. I see my journey like as a start. I think there's so much more to do. And I feel like I'm starting. I feel so involved and so energetic with the brand. Of course, I'm looking to retail. I really believe in retail, in this connection that the brand is capable to do with the final client. So for sure, we'll have some more stars and look into this direction. Nice. We talk a lot about on this podcast, the split between selling direct versus selling through wholesale partners or retail partners. Is there kind of a goal that you're working toward to maybe bulk up the direct side of the business? I think a large majority is through retailers now. Yeah. Yeah, I have a big wholesale business. And I really believe in this 360. But I think retail is the best way to connect directly to the consumer and have feedbacks. And then the business is more dynamic because you can change fast. You're listening to the clients, the velocity of the business and the development of the business. I think it's more. It's quicker, right? So we are looking to the direction. Okay, great. Well, you cannot be in all your stores all the time. Is finding the exact, I guess, store associate to best represent your business? Is that a challenge? How do you go about that and ensuring that you find somebody that's a great fit? Yeah, it's super challenging. I don't think it's only in US, but in Brazil, too, I have 15 stores in Brazil. What I try to find is people that is genuinely connected with our brand, because the rest is easy to do. We can train, we can prepare people, but I think you need to be connected to this brand and our values. So, of course, we have a great HR team that helps me with this, but it's constant training and being close to your team. It's not just ourselves ourselves. No, you need to connect to people to make them like want to sell the clothes. You want to be connected to the brand. It's an ongoing process. Yes, that makes sense. 15 stores in Brazil, two in the States. Are you finding very specific differences in how consumers in the States shop? Are we like buying in bulk? Like, we want to see a lot of stuff. Like, what's the difference in behavior? What do you say? I think, in my mind, it would be so much more difficult, because when you are in Brazil and you don't know the world, you think, "Oh, this is impossible." Of course, there are differences, cultural differences, but I'm not seeing this, like, how can I say this is so wide difference? It's less than I imagined. One that I could tell you, it's the way Brazil and shop, they don't exchange the clothes, not. Oh, yeah, like returns. Yes. We do less. Yes. Americans do a lot of more returns that we do. This is something that I don't understand yet why, but I think it's a cultural thing, but in Brazil, it's so much less than here in the US. This is a fun fact. Yes. No doubt. I hear girls. They just basically set up a fitting room in their home and return anything. They return everything else except one thing. Yeah, and then I was, like, super concerned about this, and people said, "No, this is common in the US." So then we decided, "Okay, let's look at this as a cultural difference, right?" So it's not a big problem. Yes. Oh, my gosh. Well, tell me what else the show is happening. We're in a new venue. I was thinking that the last couple of shows, you were in this amazing building in the financial district, but I don't know if that was a couple of shows or just one, because when I looked at the show before, it wasn't the same venue. But tell me about how you'd go about choosing the venue. It's just a photogenic, or is there something more to it? Yeah. We used to do at Surgate. I don't know if you've been there, right? Yeah. We did many shows there. I really liked that venue. I was super attention to it, but then I wanted to change. Remember, it's about change, this collection. So I'm going to a space that is more clean, it's more architectural, it's totally white, and I think it'd be a new experience for everyone, because before I very used to see us in a palace, it's like a baroque place, and now it's more clean, it's more New York, it's a new moment for us. Yes. Do you do anything after the show? Do you have any rituals where you celebrate or go away and relax for a week? I can't relax. After the show, my adrenaline is like here. I can relax at all. And I go, I go dinner with my friends, but I can't sleep at this night, I can't sleep for sure. Yes. It's impossible. No doubt. Do you look at reviews? I know like traditional runway reviews. It's not really how it used to be back in the day, but everybody's reviewing from influencers to editors. But do you look at that and I guess how do you consider it? I try to not read a lot, not because I'm afraid of bad comas or good comas, it's because if I get so anxious. And just after the show, I need to start another collection and I need to be fresh, so I don't look so much for a lot of information. I look at the Instagram people are like, let's move to another chapter. I don't get too attention to this. Yes. Well, what for you when it's all said and done? You can look back and say that was a successful show. Like, what will make it feel like you can pat yourself on the back? I can feel people's reaction. I can feel how much they like the show. So there are shows that they like more, they like less, but I know I feel people. So when they they're talking so many weeks about that, many months talking about the show. So I feel that I did a good job. Yes. I'm like, our butterfly is going to be a trend for spring 2025. We'll see. But like, how do you think about trends and whether or not like your collection fits? Does it matter? Is it better to not fit the trend? Or what do you think? I really don't care a lot about trends. I insist on my handwork and craftsmanship. I've been doing this for more than 20 years. So I believe in consistency in an evolution of my style. So I have an angle and I try to grow from this. I try not to look a lot to others people work because you lose yourself. So I think I'm gained a lot of space and growing because I look straight. So I try to follow this path. That makes sense. Well, we were talking about your amazing jacket or is it a cardigan? It's got like the beading and it's very intricate and it's jingly and I know. I know again having the very blessed to have been to your shows. But like, there's been a moment where I kind of the music's low and you can kind of hear the jingling of the beads tapping or like the glass beads. And it's kind of a moment, like it's definitely a moment. Like, how do you, is it important to capture video? Like, how do you communicate that IRL experience to the world because it's such a, it's a small group that gets to be there? You nailed it because my clothes needs a good video because if you just see a picture, you wouldn't understand, right? It's impossible to feel and to understand the work if you're just seeing pictures. So we invest a lot in good video makers. I'm bringing one talent from Brazil that he's amazing. Yeah, but it's something that we look very carefully at because it makes the whole difference after the show. Yes, because you do talk about runway, runway looks to your audience. Do you show? Maybe sometimes we see a makeshift runway walk on product pages, but do you show the look walking the runway on your product pages on your e-commerce site? Yes. And we did a live commerce once and it was amazing. People loved it. We did like one experience with the live commerce during the show. Cool. And people could preorder and see the show at the same time. It was super nice. You may have to do it again. But do you do a live stream even if there's no company? Yes, we do. No doubt. Anything else? I guess outside the box, innovative. Maybe there's a discord or another type of a social tech kind of component that you're bringing this season. About the clothes you mean? We're still like about the marketing and slashing it out there. I don't have like a new formula for marketing, but what I think is, as I told you, I really believe in products. So I want people reacting to this collection. So I think if they react, if they feel, if they understand what we're showing, they will talk about it and this will be like something big. So I really believe that we're going to impress again. I cannot wait. I hope so. I hope so. Well, butterflies, there will be movement. We might hear some jingling. Oh my God, if there are wings. Yes. Oh my God, that'll be amazing. I love it. Patricia, yeah, I cannot wait. I will be there. Thank you for being here today. Thank you so much. This was fantastic. That's all for this episode. Our theme music is by Otis McDonald. Be sure to give us a rating on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to the glossy podcast. See you next week. Bye. [Music]
