By Individual, Creativity, Sophistication
A generator of a luxury fashion style concept by the hand of its creative director, Carlos Polite.
Cortes being his last name (polite in Spanish), Polite was born in 2010 with the development of artistic collections, supplying the brand with its own language and also taking commercial clothing and creativity to common ground. Is ever-changing 7-year experience, has made possible for Polite to offer a ready-to-wear line with a creative fashion style and an experience line, ” in which we explore an intellectual concept of brand and a more radical visual language. ”
Based in Bogota, they have been in charge of bringing Colombian’s fashion style around the world. Having an already a solid foundation in fashion capitals such as New York, London, Paris and Los Angeles, they also have added fashion agents in Germany and the Middle East to its client base. “The conceptual and less commercial approach exercise of our brand, obviously makes it more difficult to digest in several markets and takes longer to establish itself.”
Who is the Polite woman?
“Any woman can be Polite. Our philosophy, “I am an individual”, what we have always wanted with the brand is to increase women’s personal empowerment through garments and fashion style, leaving uniformity behind. We want every woman to interpret the clothes at her whim or according to her own fashion style, for this reason a complete Polite woman does not exist. Each one can find in the brand something that identifies her, or that makes her feel special. ”
The establishment of his brand started in New York City: Carlos states that the US market “is very complicated because Americans have become accustomed to fashion lines below ready-to-wear, 100 % commercial and minimalist standards”. As a result, currently, its strongest market is the Middle East and Asia due to the DNA of the brand, which is more daring and risky; this has been very well received on that side of the world, its fashion style is becoming much stronger. There, they lean towards emerging brands from countries like Eastern Europe and Asia that, without being fully known in the market, are taking their brand potential to another level.
What has been the key to the success of the brand during this time?
I have aimed to achieve the symbiosis between commercial and creative, making a fully balanced blend that has remained constant over time.
Offering his vision and 21st century fashion style, he adds “the future and evolution of fashion style in this century will not come from the hand of the big brands, because they are only interested in numbers, which is where creativity ends.” He refers particularly to the loss of the dramatic effect.
What do you think?