PAPAIŸO launches marketplace for Caribbean luxury brands
Pasadena, California, December 4, 2020 — Caribbean-founded, California-based startup, PAPAIŸO, has launched their online discovery platform devoted to introducing Caribbean luxury brands to a global audience. Artisanal, culture-rich and sustainable by default, these brands are asserting their vision of values-based luxury at a time when the industry is in transition.
PAPAIŸO offers marketing, technology and logistics solutions tailored to the Caribbean luxury market. The new online platform is central to the ecosystem of services on offer to Caribbean brands. The startup emerges in a new COVID-19 reality where the luxury goods market, which grew by 4% in 2019 to €281 billion, is expected to contract by up to 35% this year (according to luxury industry authority Bain and Company). Experts point to digital platforms and innovative business models that speak to a more socially conscious consumer as keys to driving the market forward. In an industry where over 70% of online purchase decisions involve a multibrand site, PAPAIŸO represents an important part of the Caribbean’s evolving luxury industry. Their artisanal focus represents a compelling value proposition for the new global luxury consumer who increasingly chooses brands that align with their values.
PAPAIŸO uses a hybrid made-to–order model. This model is more sustainable, since it reduces waste by allowing brands to produce what is needed. Made to order has gained renewed energy in today’s socially conscious climate, as criticisms mount about the luxury industry’s penchant for mass production and stressful conformity. While this model may be new to some, it has been the well established modus operandi for the Caribbean.
One of the first brands to join PAPAIŸO is the quintessential Trinidadian fashion label MEILING by Meiling Esau. MEILING has been a beacon of Caribbean luxury for decades — a brand whose hand-stitched creations are worn across generations, and which harken back to a time when bespoke was the standard. “PAPAIŸO is a brilliantly curated home for luxury Caribbean style, that is perfect for this new time when the world looks to sustainable artisanal products,” says MEILING. “I am happy to be part of this movement going forward.” Other notable fashion brands to come on board include The Cloth by Robert Young and WYLD FLWR by Project Runway past winner, Anya Ayoung-Chee.
PAPAIŸO also features a plethora of apothecary and lifestyle brands across the English and Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Jamaica’s Pinto Pottery by David Pinto will debut with an exquisite line of functional pottery. Apothecary brands Handmade By Kae from Barbados and Choiselle from St. Lucia have also joined PAPAIŸO’s luxury offerings, representing a growing contingent of local brands who are harnessing the rich botanical resources and herbal legacies of the Caribbean to craft natural products. PAPAIŸO has also proudly partnered with artisans in Colombia and Mexico, as well as other parts of the wider Caribbean.
“PAPAIŸO can’t promise you next-day delivery or weekly collections,” says Micha, “but we anticipate that you will fall in love with this enchanting way to experience artisanal luxury from one of the most magical regions on earth.”
ABOUT PAPAIŸO
PAPAIŸO is a Caribbean-owned, California-based startup that provides marketing, technology and logistics support for the Caribbean luxury market. Founded in 2019, the company launched a global marketplace for Caribbean brands in 2020.