We are sure Brazil is a country you have been reading a lot about lately. The good development of the Brazilian economy reveals this is the most promising moment of its history.

So it’s not surprising that this year’s International Herald Tribune Luxury Conference took place in São Paulo during 10th and 11th of November.  And therefore the main focus of the seminar was to discuss the current and future development of the Brazil’s luxury market.

The conference which was organized by Suzy Menkes, one of the editors of the newspaper, brought a selection of the crème de la crème of the domestic and international luxury world such as the creative director Sarah Burton from Alexander McQueen, Cecilia Dean from the “Visionaire” magazine and the Peruvian photographer Mario Testino – to name few. Click here to know more about it.

To Carlos Ferreirinha, founder of the strategic business consultancy MCF Consultoria & Conhecimento and one of the participants of the seminar, it’s evident that Brazil is becoming a priority for the Luxury market. “On a mid and long term brands need to find alternatives to grow their business and with no doubt Brazil will be on the top 5 markets for development”, he said in an exclusive interview to The Gentleman website.

“More than any content IHT Hot Luxury has presented, the most important was having the conference in São Paulo and to do it with an amount of international people that have travelled to attend it – some of them for the first time in the country”, he added.

In parallel to the conference, the newspaper also published a special series of articles about the Brazilian economy. The reports revealed impressive statistics about the development of the Brazilian luxury market, the consumers and their habits. Based on what was published, we did an extract of the most interesting facts for you:

* In Brazil, 60% of the population is younger than 29. To put this into a context, in Latin American overall one third of the population is younger than 30.

* 29 million Brazilians entered the “middle class” between 2003 and 2009.

* The country’s economy was growing by 7.5 percent in 2010.

* According to the 2011 World Wealth Report, published by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, Brazil has 155,400 millionaires today. This ranks Brazil 11th on the world’s wealth list, ahead of Russia and India.

* But still, according to the United Nations, Brazil is ranked on the 11th position of the current global rank of inequality distribution of income – fact not explored on the reports.

* In the article “Exactly How Hot Is Brazil?”, Menkes describes the city of São Paulo as a “hive of glamorous commerce”. In summary her impression is that São Paulo’s shopping scene has a charming atmosphere that is difficult to find in the cities of the other BRIC countries (Russia, India and China).

* The same article also highlights that, compared to the other BRIC countries,  Brazil is the only one “to have significant designers of its own”, mentioning Gloria Coelho, Carlos Miele, Osklen and H.Stern.

* It was common sense amongst the experts of the Brazilian luxury market that were interviewed by the newspaper, that the Brazilian life feeling strongly influences the consumers shopping habits. The Brazilians have a strong desire for fashion, don’t like to save money, prefer to buy in shopping centers, expect a good personal service and like to show off.

But what does this all mean? Ferreirinha believes that the world wants and needs Brazil and the Brazilians as consumers. “The giant has awoken”, he said.

It seems that no matter where the development of Brazil leads, something most likely will never change though: a caipirinha in one of the buzzling bars of São Paulo after a shopping tour.

Text and photo: Hermano Silva © Brazil