4 Steps to Incorporate Local Culture in Fashion Branding

Using Branding to Create Relevance and Impact

Cultures around the world express their characteristics in creative ways, such as arts, music, fashion, and other expressions. Creativity can embody the cultural aspects of society, representing some of the daily realities and beliefs of its creators. The same can be true of urban subcultures, which also utilize creativity to express themselves and gain recognition, particularly through music and fashion. In a series of articles, I will explore how companies can utilize fashion to convey their local reality and identity to the world in a clear and relatable manner.

During some years at IMPT!, Co-Founder Carolina Ramos and I worked on the transition from being a local brand in Rio to becoming an international brand while carrying the local identity with us. We intended to share a different vision of Rio that aligns with our local reality, living and growing up in the outskirts of the city in Olaria. This decision became a huge part of our brand and one of the main pillars of our branding. One of the biggest challenges was to incorporate what Olaria means to us with people who are unfamiliar with the community.

To make a recognized impression via fashion, branding is essential. Presenting a local culture to a worldwide fashion audience will become easier as you establish good branding to do that consistently. At IMPT!, the shift to become an international brand began with adjusting the branding. Below, I share four steps we made along the way.

Step 1: Research

Research deeply. That is the moment for going deep into references, history, aesthetics, and benchmarks, but also learning more about other realities worldwide. For us, the first step in internationalization was presenting the brand to the U.S. market. Our research put the American culture into consideration to build brand positioning.

We aim to embody our local culture from Rio while considering how to express it to new audiences. It’s important to be accurate and avoid stereotypes. Taking the research phase seriously will make a huge difference. If possible, do this research in person to better understand the cultures and communities.

Step 2: Familiarity

Familiarity is an invisible yet essential consideration within fashion. By incorporating something familiar — aesthetics, colorations, iconographies — you can better communicate and connect with your audience. The research phase will help you to take into consideration some cultural familiarities and incorporate them into your brand.

Step 3: Prioritization

One potential branding error is trying to combine too many concepts, which can muddle the message. Prioritize one aspect and make it clear right away. Secondary aspects can be incorporated in communication and design, but let the branding be more direct and easy to understand. This is especially important when bringing aspects of local culture to new audiences.

Step 4: Identity

After balancing research, familiarity, and prioritization with your intention to portray a local culture via fashion, you have the tools to make a strong brand message. This is also a way to bring more diverse perspectives and different cultural backgrounds to the mainstream audience worldwide.

Fashion’s creative nature makes it possible for your company to create a positive impact through strong, beautiful cultural elements that have representation and relevance.