Written & Styled by Toni Ferrara
The name Camila Alves is synonymous with fashion and true style. Recognizable as the host of Bravo’s hit series “Shear Genius”, she’s graced the pages of many magazines all over the world, and maybe you’ve even heard of her boyfriend, Matthew McConaughey or you’ve seen her playing with her children on the beaches of Malibu, but this Brazilian beauty is much more than a girlfriend, model, and a mother, she’s a philanthropist and a handbag designer.
At the age of fifteen, when most teens aren’t even sure what their future holds, Camila moved to the United States with her strong entrepreneurial dreams and has no plan on stopping anytime soon. Starting off her career in New York City, her first modeling contract landed her a billboard on Times Square. Her strong work ethic, along with her, unparallel level of professionalism makes her unforgettable. Although she travels the world constantly, she now calls Southern California home.
Camila showed up to the shoot at a private residence in Bel Air wearing a flowy white top and a great pair of jeans. Her beautiful boho style is effortless. She greeted and introduced herself to everyone on set while radiating the true essence of beauty. Rarely do you meet a woman with such a beautiful spirit, as well, as physically stunning. But Camila possesses both with a natural ease. This real life goddess demonstrates strength and passion for her family and work. No wonder why her keen eye for fashion has lead her to creating her own handbag line.
ABOUT MUXO.
The line is pronounced “Moo-show”. It means a goddess of the water in an African language. The word is spelled backwords, because I like a twist. I was modeling at the time, we were looking for an extra way to make a lil more money to help our family back home. In Brazilian culture, once you leave, you always look out for the family. My mom has three degrees in design in Brazil and she’s very talented. We decided to get together and create a product.
ON THE VERY FIRST SAMPLE.
The first handbag that we made, I was kinda like, “umm I’m not sure.” I was traveling all over the world for modeling and I decided to take it with me to see what response I would get. And at every airport I was at, I was getting people stopping me to me ask me about it and we started getting orders. Then it grew to people asking me, “can you make it in this color? Can you make it this size or that size?“ That’s how we got started and we’ve been doing this for about five years now.
ON PAULISTA’S SISTER.
Paulista’s Little Sister was the first bag that we ever made. We use to work out of an apartment when we first started. I remember we use to go to the parking lot of a school to hammer the tassels because we couldn’t make that much noise in our apartment. The cops would come and we would hide in our cars. Since then we have a studio where we design and create our bags.
ON HER INSPIRATION.
Each collection we get inspired by our surroundings-- one collection we have is inspired by Brazil, New York, and Los Angeles, just places that I am from. I use to live in New York and now I live in LA. Our current collection is inspired by a road trip that I took all over the United States. It was influenced by the colors, cultures, and landscapes. Our business is so great in the United States that we wanted a way to give back somehow. Before all of our materials came from Brazil and a part of production there as well. And what we did now because this collection is so American inspired, we are doing everything here. Our buyers for materials and production is here. Everything we are sourcing is from here. And even the labor is here in the United States. Me and my mother touch every single handbag, as crazy as that sounds, there are certain finishing techniques, like artwork that we do on each handbag and it’s funny because we won’t teach or tell anyone else how to do it.
Before we put handbags out there, my mom and I really researched to see what we could do different compared to everyone else. But I definitely have done my research and I know that we are doing something so unique. Even our fringe bags, you see thousands of fringe bags, but none of the fringe bags you see look even similar to our bags.
FANS OF MUXO.
We have a lot of fans of our handbags. We have girls who save up to purchase a bag and others who collect them. Our fans take photos of themselves with the bags and send it to us. Recently, we had a young boy write to us because his mother was battling cancer and her dying wish was to own a MUXO bag. So I decided to sign the bag and take a photo with it. I sent it the bag to her. Within a week, I received a letter saying thank you and a photo of her with the handbag in the same pose that I was in. It’s the things that our fans do that makes me realize what an impact we have.
A HANDBAG WITH A SIGNIFICANT MEANING
I love all the bags. The Queen of the Sea is a very special bag, because each piece of fringe is hand sewn to the bag. Every person who works on the bag loves what they do so it gives the bag a sense of life. The other bag is a black one, the Malibu. It’s a woven bag. That bag is absolutely beautiful in person. There is only two of those handbags available now. I had one that I had given away. Now, I have one for an event that we have going on in December and the other for a very special person. It’s a limited edition because we can’t make it anymore in Brazil.
DEFINING THE MUXO GIRL.
Every girl can be a MUXO girl. We have handbags for every single woman. The one important thing that is special about our girl is that she doesn’t follow trends. It’s not about what’s in right now in the magazines or what some actress is wearing-- it’s about when she finds herself in the handbag. She loves the bag and finds herself sexy.
ON WHAT SHE CARRIES IN HER HANDBAG.
I try not to carry that much stuff in my handbag. I keep a lot of receipts, always have bobby pins or hair ties, and a natural color lipstick. You know what is funny that I do have, I carry my old wallet. I have had it forever, even though I have a new wallet, I still carry the old one with me for a good luck charm.
WHAT INSPIRES HER PERSONAL STYLE.
To be honest with you, I don’t try to take it too serious with what I am going to wear. I’m busy, so if I get a chance to be inspired the next day that is awesome. I don’t like to follow any rule. If you go to my closet, you will find a little bit of everything. Most people’s closet is all organized with a similar color or style. My closet you will find everything and anything. You will find pieces that I had purchased five or ten years ago that I still use.
HOW SHE JUGGLES IT ALL (Modeling, Motherhood, Hosting, Philanthropic Endeavours, and Designing)
It is a lot. We are very busy. My family has a schedule. My work has a schedule. And with my work, I have more than one thing going on at a time. It can get tricky. Organization is the best way to get around those things. I am not that good at it, I am learning to be better at it. But that is just basically how it is. I like being busy. I enjoy it. I have always worked my whole life. From very early on, I have always worked very hard to get anything. I like working. I have to work. If I didn’t, I’d probably drive everyone around me crazy. My days are always long. When everyone goes home to relax, I am usually still working.
ADVICE FOR ASPIRING DESIGNERS.
Make sure you love what you do. Because it is hard to go back once you start. It’s a lot of work. Do your research. Make sure it’s realistic and never give up. Stay true to who you are. Don’t let people try to tell you that you can’t. We had a lot of stores that initially said no to us, but then after a while came around and now carry our line.
THE MUST-HAVE HANDBAG FOR WINTER 2010.
I think the ‘Queen of the Sea’ is a great bag to have. We did this bag years and years ago. And it has fringe which is right on trend. Because fringe is in right now from what I see and read. But we have had this bag before the trends were predicted.
ON WHAT KEEPS HER MOTIVATED.
It’s fun. I started it because of my mom. When I first came to this country, I was cleaning houses, waiting tables, then modeling. Then my mom came over and started cleaning houses. I started this for her. I love the working relationship with my mom. It’s a very emotional thing. But I love the feeling after we do something and it becomes real. A lot of people don’t understand the process that goes into creating a product. Many people claim to be designers, but it’s a different process when you are actually a part of your product. The difference between me and other designers is that we start from beginning to end. It’s a very satisfying feeling when I create something. I am proud of the work that we do. We are genuinely doing something that we love. We never follow the trends, we just do what we love.
SOME OF HER FAVORITE DESIGNERS.
Some of my favorite designers are Dolce Gabbana and Marchesa. They are completely different in structures. Marchesa is more of a flowy and a goddess-like thing. The Dolce Gabbana is very va-va-voom. A lot of corsetry and more structured. I love how it shapes your body.
ON PHILANTHROPIC ENDEAVOURS.
We have a charity, that we are proud of which is called the J.K. Livin Foundation. It’s an after school program that is dedicated to helping teenage kids lead active lives and make healthy choices to become great men and women. They have the opportunity to work out in a safe environment, how to eat healthy on a low budget and to have gratitude in their life. We also teach them to give back to the community that has given them so much. Right now, we have three schools in Los Angeles and one in Austin, Texas that are participating. It’s a project that I am very proud of.
ON THE FUTURE.
Who knows. Let’s hope a lot. Aside from Muxo, I am very active in the J.K. Livin Foundation and I am working on another charity, as well. Work wise, we have a lot of projects coming up, but I can’t really speak about it right now. I can tell you one, I am excited to be designing a line of Muxo bags for QVC. But the rest, I have to leave some things a mystery.
In 1943, at the tender age of 11, Taylor made us fall in love with her in the screen debut of National Velvet. This sweet-faced child had us in the palm of her hand.
