hello hello you lovely ladies! feeling good? first i just wanted to say that i am currently working on mr twiggs laptop, because he needed to take mine with him to work in a very distant city in the north of portugal. so, i will be a little bit slower answering comments on the blog, as i usually answer all comments through a private mail. and now back to our story… as you may know today we have {local markets}, which means that i will share something really good made in portugal! for those who do not speak the language may not understand the brand’s name, but it is something like rose chocolate… but it has a small joke, because chocolate is now correctly spelled. so what is the meaning of {chicolate}? nothing really… kids usually say this before they learn how to say chocolate properly. so… it is a delicious and funny name. and the lady behind it… ana gonçalo (her last name is also a first name… and actually it is mr twiggs first name! and another coincidence? she was born in the same city where mr twiggs traveled to yesterday!)
can you tell us something about yourself? my name is ana gonçalo, i am 35 years old and live in covilhã, portugal. i was born in a small and very nice city called bragança, in the nordwest of portugal and moved with my parents to braga (in the north) when i was 4 years old. i’ve studied in this beautiful, young, vibrant city until i finnish high school. then was time to choose a graduation to follow. there i was… packing again, this time to porto to study fashion and textile design… three years later… packing again… covilhã to make my internship in a textile company, drawing the wool fabrics structures: checks, stripes, faux plain fabrics… it is a very tactile work.
because of a crisis very similar like the one we are going through now, textile companies started to close… i decided to study again (i wish I could study every graduation related with design… the rest of my life), this time in web design, but soon i realized that computers and i were not made for each other. it is a wonderful tool for me… but programming web pages… no thanks. i like to make tangible things. after this last graduation i started working as a designer in a company. nowadays thats what i do. my passion for fashion, design and unique pieces made me create {rosachicolate}.
how and when it all started? i guess it started the same way that many people starts… making a handmade and unique gift for a friend. my friends started to receive handmade presents, for their birthdays, special occasions, etc. and started asking me to do some handmade things. the next step was accepting that i could do this as a business. i started by choosing the name (i wanted a very portuguese name, something sweet and cute). rosa with chocolate… but chocolate said like children say it and it, and it became {rosachicolate}. drawing objects that i wanted to create was the next step after this.
what inspires you? everything inspires me… i’m very observative and a small gesture, even a smell that reminds me of old times, colors, everyday people, wallpapers… everything i see and feel. above that i love to experiment new things, new techniques…
what advice can you give for those small business owners in our country? believe in your work. we portuguese people tend to devalue our own work. promote your work all over the internet and take risks.
what do you think would be helpful for those small business owners in our country? if your business is unique and handmade… don’t sell cheap. cheap is something made in large scale, all things looking the same and with extra-cheap materials. but remmember… try to achieve perfection with everything you do and sell.
so, what did you think about these amazing things? i believe that ana will be definitely very successful, because these flats and wallets are way to cute to let them go without a mention and a careful look. i would stop over these last ones, gray and yellow is one of my favourite colour combos! ana has a {blog}, if you are interested in knowing a bit more about her. she has several selling points here in portugal (here, here & here). and with this i shall leave you and have lunch!
hena tayeb says
oh these are so fabulous.. love them!