Alexandre Brett

About the designer

Alexandre Brett is an all-round man. The Brazilian business man designs, develops products, buys fabrics, negotiates with suppliers, chooses the point of sale, is responsible for the investments and financial management, and finally expands the business to other countries.

Origin (family backround, birth)

As a child, Alexandre preferred to spend his school holidays afternoons in his family company, Vila Romana, instead of playing outside with other children. Aged 12, he amused himself with pasting labels on clothes or simulating requests to franchise stores.

He was the grandson of a Hungarian immigrant, who set up a small production in the neighborhood of Bom Retiro. He grew up watching his father, Ladislau Brett and his uncle, André Brett, build up an empire of menswear. And so it was no surprise that in 1996 Alexandre Brett took over the Creative Direction of the VR Group, which included all the operations of the brand and the Vila Romana. Furthermore, he was also responsible for the launch of the Italian fashion label Ermenegildo Zegna in his country. To get there, Alexandre held other roles within the company.

Aged 17, he took courses in business administration at the Fundaçao Getúlio Vargas (FGV), where he graduated. Then he worked as a clerk in a store on rua Oscar Freire, that sold Calvin Klein.

Job activities & experiences

In 2005, when Alexandre took over the management of Mandi, a young brand, that had only three shops and was distributed at ten multi-brand shops, he once again demonstrated his business skills. Today, Mandi has ten shops and can be found in over 100 multi-brand shops.