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Eco123 Revista da Economia e Ecologia
Ecolã is a micro-business that has been owned by the Clara family in Manteigas for three generations. In “burel” – a Portuguese artisan fabric of local origin made wholly from wool – they found the basis for their success. For years, it was used for shepherd’s coats, for the costumes of the confraternities and religious orders. Despite retaining its original rustic character, this fabric is used today to make new, contemporary items. And over the last 20 years, there has been increasing demand for it abroad. What’s more, it is made using an entirely artisan and ecological process, using no chemicals. João Clara, aged 59, is in charge of this artisan micro-business in Beira Alta, and he explains why he maintains the recipe left to him by his father.
It is the puzzle of globalisation: how to develop the local economy, and ensure the sustainability of resources? What if it was based on an artisan and environmentally friendly mode of production?
One possible answer is to be found a gentle slope on the way in to Manteigas, in the uplands of mainland Portugal.
When he started working in his father’s and his grandfather’s business in 1995, João Clara de Assunção gave some thought to these matters.
With a qualification in economics, he decided to update the company. To expand to markets that would ensure it would continue. He thought of a formula. A “message”, he explains.
“From the beginning, what we do here is an ecological process. We base our work on traditional techniques. Much of the work is done manually. From shearing the sheep, to the natural transformation of the wool into yarn, to weaving it and washing the fabric at the end of the process, there is no use of any chemical products.”
“And so this ecological nature was a very important message in the markets, which value it highly. We created a brand Ecolã (eco-wool), very sought after for export, based on a local product, which is the wool from the bordaleiro sheep of Serra da Estrela,” he explains.
From the north to the north
At a time when having email was still a luxury, the “message” of ecological wool and local production was passed by word of mouth. João Clara started to attend fairs. First those in Portugal and then others on the Iberian Peninsula. Until he headed north, to Scandinavia.
“That was the grand strategy. I started with the Nordic countries, which purchase wool products associated with this ecological aspect. They were the great stimulus for me not to give up, and to get my project to grow. Denmark, Norway, Sweden were the pioneers in purchasing my products,” he says.
“I went to an average of 32 fairs a year. Much of my work involved being absent from the company, but having a very strong presence abroad.”
Ecological wool from the north of Portugal started to be “viewed with interest. And the whole history that comes with it was another factor that motivated people to buy it,” in markets abroad.
Today, Ecolã now has stable commercial partners abroad. The volume of exports represents about 50% of total turnover, on a par with the domestic market. The 50% of exports can be divided as follows: Japan 35%, Germany 30%, and the remainder 45% in total, covering countries such as France, Switzerland, Austria, Spain and Italy.
The products are sold in those countries through direct sales at fairs. As well as through clients who represent the brand and distribute them to retail outlets.
“The United Kingdom is a market that has been missing, but we now have a way in and this year we’ll be taking it further,” he revealed.
Japanese links and Belgian design
Japanese businesspeople visiting a factory in the heart of the Serra da Estrela is not something you see every day. It happened in the middle of May 2011. Chirima Hirai, the chairman of Scope – one of Ecolã’s retail clients (www.scope.ne.jp) – came to Manteigas accompanied by three members of his staff. For four days, they watched the shearing, saw the pastures and observed the weaving process.
Clara explains: “We met during a fair in Frankfurt in 2008, where we were well represented. At present, they are one of our biggest clients. They order mainly blankets and rugs, but also scarves and accessories.”
Another unusual fact is that some of the pieces that are most popular with the Japanese are those developed by Nele De Block, a Belgian designer. “She has been with us for six years. She saw our “burel” wool and came to suggest some work she could do. I liked what I saw,” he says.
“You know, “burel” fabric can also be used to make very contemporary pieces. As it is a rustic material, it can also be used for haute couture designs, much sought after in the fashion world.”
However, “it is not easy to produce pieces made of ‘burel’ that can succeed in terms of consumption. You have to know how to interpret this fabric to take it to the right market.”
Self-sufficiency
At present, “we use around 30 tonnes of raw wool per year. So we are self-sufficient. The raw material comes from the ewes in the Beira Alta region, from between Guarda and Viseu, which is where this breed of sheep – bordaleiro from Serra da Estrela – predominates. There are three natural colours of this breed: white, brown and “surrobeca” (honey coloured wool resulting from a cross between the white ram and a black ewe). We adapt these wools and blend them for the fabrics,” João Clara explains.
“Much of the work is done with bordaleiro wool. It is what gives it its inherent characteristics – firmness, waterproofness, warmth, toughness. All of this is a tradition that we continue to uphold.”
“We also use another type of wool in some items that are work next to the skin. A merino wool that we get from the Alentejo. But it’s a very small percentage overall,” he points out.
The pioneering spirit and market dynamics
Apart from searching for new markets, João Clara was a pioneer in rehabilitating the “burel” fabric, already mentioned so frequently. “This was made in the past, but it was only worn by the shepherds and those in religious orders. The industries connected with wool making made everything except “burel”. It was like something unwanted, of no importance.”
The “burel” is the result of a number of operations during the manufacturing process. For example: after being shorn, washed, spun, and woven on the loom, it is pressed in a machine called a “pisão”. This operation consists of placing the fabric in a tank of cold water for a few hours where it is felted with wooden mesh to make it firm and waterproof.
The “burel” wool produced by Ecolã is certified. It is produced in natural shades and dyed. Clara warns that “impure products are starting to appear in the market, made with wool that is not traditional.”
The company uses it for two distinct product lines. One devoted to the home, the other to clothing.
“At the moment our sales are 50/50, both lines are important. We have a high success rate. We never have products that don’t sell. We rotate our items continuously. Another thing is that we launch the same products in all our markets.”
It is clear that there are certain trends. “For example, handbags made of “burel” whose design doesn’t go down very well in Portugal are very popular in the Asian markets. The simpler products without a sophisticated design are more popular in the domestic market. The Portuguese like colour. People in the Nordic countries like colours that are more sober, natural, discreet,” he explains.
Whims of the market? “We always have a traditional line available, the shepherd’s costume, which people still buy today. Apart from the classics, we present new items every year. We now have a new Spanish client who is going ahead with a line for pets. Items for cats and dogs, and even for bigger animals like horses” made of wool from the Serra da Estrela.
Fragile yet constant music
Everything starts with the weaving. “We don’t have anything modern here,” João Clara jokes. The technology is mostly from the 1960s. And the old wooden looms are also still there. The background noise is rhythmic: fragile yet constant music. It falls silent whenever a yarn breaks on the loom.
Manuel Carvalho, a weaver, started working in his youth, in 1970. He was 15. He already knew how to tie a weaver’s knot. He was taught by his mother, a former bobbin-winder. He’s now 61, with 45 years of work behind him.
To the eyes of a layperson, a loom is a maze of threads. Carvalho, however, speaks the language of these indecipherable machines – rapier, shuttle, bobbin, drop wire, warp. “If the loom is working well, you can work through to midday,” he says.
Every time he prepares a new piece of “burel” that is 2.10m wide, he has to tie 2400 yarns by hand. For a fast weaver? Three and a half hours.
A warning light comes on. Carvalho looks under the loom that has come to a stop. “Can you see here the yarn that broke?” He indicates one among hundreds and hundreds. In a matter of minutes, the background noise takes up its rhythm again: fragile yet constant music.
Weaving and surgery on the fabric
It is a profession with no name. But without which there is no perfection. It cannot be done by another sophisticated machine – it needs a well-trained eye, and a pair of skilful hands. You just need yarn, a needle, tweezers, and a tiny pair of scissors. And lots of skill.
Maria Leonor, aged 51, also started work when she was young, at the age of 16. She does what in a modern industry is called quality control.
“This little black bit here,” she says, pointing to an almost invisible spot on the “burel” – “that’s the remains of the tar used to mark the sheep.” In the company jargon, they’re known as “burras”.
Leonor also repairs the imperfections left by the loom. By hand, and with great precision, she replaces the yarns that thicken the pattern of the woollen material. She repairs badly made fringes, and stitching in the wrong place. “It’s like someone once told me, I’m a fabric surgeon”…
Helena Saraiva, aged 43, is a warper. She makes the patterns and the combinations that feed the looms. It is not easy to warp. It means having to organise dozens of threads laid out in parallel on a machine that appears to be a permanent challenge to one’s sense of order. She has a little notebook to remind her: “6 rows of 52 threads equals 312. Each row of 52 threads measures 6.0 cm.” There’s no room for error.
Cutting and sewing while you wait
Behind the scenes in the shop can be found the sewing workshop. A sense of tranquil bustle. Maria da Conceição, aged 61, with a confident gesture and a firm hand, is the oldest of the five seamstresses. “Where are all the young people?” I ask her. “They’re at home, with no job…” she answers. She doesn’t like interviews. On the workbench, she’s cutting the 170 handbags to be sent to Japan, one by one.
Everything has to be ready for delivery by 15th June. A month later the second phase will begin.
This workforce is so skilful that, if a client comes and an item is not available – for example a cape (Ajour) in the right colour and size – they can make it within an hour.
Marta Neves, aged 41, one of the youngest in the business and one of Conceição’s one-time apprentices, is finishing the final stitching of around 300 “blankets for the Japanese. They are a little bit smaller, they have a specific size,” she says. “It’s great to know that we are all over the world,” she adds proudly.
Stimulus to creativity
A third type of business that is growing is foreign demand for “burel” fabric by the metre. “Until three years ago, the “burel” we produced was for my use. In 2014, I produced 3,500 metres of “burel”. Not bad for our size of business. Half of it was for abroad. There are lots of people who are not producers who want to turn it into different things, from clothing to decorative items. Small craftspeople, young designers, Portuguese and foreigners,” the businessman tells me. But isn’t this a bit like self-competition?
“No. Sometimes, I notice that there is a tendency to make copies. In this respect, the market is unforgiving. It was always that way: societies take the easiest route. I see pieces that are pure copies of mine. However, it also gives me great satisfaction to see and to know that there are people developing new ideas based on my raw material. They are people who take “burel” seriously. And who put different forms of product on the market. I think I gain more like that, than if I possibly only produced for my own consumption,” he says.
Depopulation and the future
The upland scenery is harsh and isolated. Like any other part of Portugal in the depressed interior, Manteigas is suffering from depopulation. There’s only tourism when it snows. “It’s a problem. There’s no motivation. There’s nothing to keep people here, especially the youngsters,” the businessman and employer of 18 people admits.
With his workforce, albeit highly qualified, reaching the end of their working lives, how does he see the future?
“Together with the director of the Guarda employment centre, we reached the conclusion that we needed to do a practical course here to prepare future weavers.”
It started about a month ago, with 22 young men and women. There will be 600 hours of training.
“If at least four of these young people stay with us, it will be very good” for Manteigas.
