How Farm Rio’s Katia Barros Built Her ‘Authentic, Far-From-Ordinary’ Brand (2024)

Katia Barros was never scared to launch her own business, the Instagram-famous sustainable clothing brand Farm Rio she cofounded with partner Marcello Basto. She didn’t let the lack of Latinx representation in the fashion world prevent her from following her dream, either. Instead, it inspired her to work harder and make room for herself in the industry. What started as an indie brand selling clothing at a Brazilian marketplace in 1997 has since transformed into a massive global company with a store in New York City’s famed SoHo neighborhood. (Jennifer Lopez recently wore a Farm Rio dress on her honeymoon with Ben Affleck.)

“It’s not easy to step up and turn a local brand into a global one,” Barros tells Glamour. “It demands high investments. Little by little, this reality has been changing with the globalization of the fashion market, but it’s a slow process.” But the brand's focus on rich, local culture is what makes it stand out: “The authentic, far-from-ordinary aesthetic is super interesting,” she says. “The more local we are, the more global we can be.”

Barros and Basto work with local Brazilian designers, stylists, and artisans to develop the vibrant colors and magical prints that have come to define Farm Rio's brand. In addition to these fun, whimsical clothes, Farm Rio is leading sustainability efforts in the fashion industry. The brand is transparent when it comes to its carbon usage and offset and is part of the United Nations Global Impact, which aims to make the entire brand sustainable by 2030. Farm Rio's clothing is also made with responsibly produced materials.

“I feel proud and deeply emotional to be able, through fashion, to represent Brazil—which is our beautiful country and has a very diverse culture—and our city of Rio de Janeiro, where Farm Rio was born,” Barros says. She also says she's grateful to give visibility to more creative people through what she calls the “collective of creatives,” a group comprised of about 90% women collaborators and leaders.

It's a dream that has been with Barros for many years. She started designing when she was a teenager, and the first design she ever made money on was repurposed jewelry that she customized and sold to friends. After taking a vocational test, her two recommended professional paths were fashion and auditing. She chose the latter, citing her family’s legacy in the business world and a lack of fashion-focused schools in the ’90s as the main reason she didn’t pursue her true passion. But despite succeeding in a corporate job post-graduation, something was missing in her life.

“I needed to unleash my creativity,” she says. “The sexist corporate environment oppressed me. So I decided to drop everything and go back to retail.” After opening a failed small fashion business with her family, Barros turned to a fashion marketplace in Rio called Babilônia Feira Hype. It’s here that she first started creating the first pieces of Farm Rio that she’d sell from a booth. “Everything I made was sold out,” she says. “Since then, we have never stopped enchanting people.”

For Glamour’s latest installment of Doing the Work, we asked Barros to fill us in on how she creates boundaries between her work and her personal life, what inspires her designs, her go-to coffee order, and so much more.

Glamour: What’s your morning routine like?

Katia Barros: Every morning I give myself a moment to meditate and contemplate my surroundings. I love being close to nature. I live in a mountain house in Jardim Botânico, under the iconic Christ the Redeemer statue, in the heart of Rio. I am in the middle of the Atlantic forest, surrounded by greenery and silence. I feel a strong presence of the Brazilian fauna and flora that has been inspiring my work from the beginning. I see toucans, monkeys, many birds, and butterflies from my balcony. I also have a garden where I grow different flower species. Breathtaking symbols of my city—the Corcovado Mountain with the statue, Pão de Açúcar, Guanabara Bay, and Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon—are part of the view from my house.

I'm a fan of the slow coffee style, so I buy organic beans, and I usually grind them every morning. I typically drink a green juice paired with dairy-free yogurt with granola for breakfast. I practice physical activity daily and always wear sunscreen, even when I stay at home. After this self-care ritual, I'm ready to go to work!

What inspires you when designing?

Brazil is what inspires me the most. Rio de Janeiro, our nature, our culture, music, dance, and our natural joy. The Amazon rainforest and the Atlantic forest are always on my creative radar. Real people inspire me too. Now that we are opening up to the world, I have been looking for references in other cultures to establish a cultural exchange. We carry out this blend of connections with great care and respect and look for local artists and social projects that guarantee consistency and truth in these interactions that go beyond prints.

How and why did you decide to establish a brand inspired by your own heritage?

I'm in love with Brazil. I was born in Rio and grew up literally on the beach. Brazil is a delightful country, with numerous popular festivals, such as Carnival, which I’m also passionate about. We have roots in Black, Indigenous, and European cultures, so we exude a unique and beautiful diversity that’s part of our DNA. However, I was always bothered by the fact that Brazilian fashion imported European references with neutral color palettes and prints that didn’t reflect our landscapes or lifestyle. I wanted to change that. And bingo! Our products quickly connected with our people because they could relate to our prints. I brought elements of nature, our joyful beach vibe, sensuality, and femininity, and translated our truth into clothes. They are pieces that reinforce the self-esteem of those who wear them while showing the pride of living in a tropical country, blessed by God and beautiful by nature.

What part of your job do you love so much that you can get carried away working on and forget what time it is?

Today, as the founder of a huge brand, with 90 stores in Brazil and full expansion in the international fashion market, I have many tasks as an entrepreneur and leader. I take care of business management, people development, result analysis, branding, strategic planning, and our expansion strategy. But what I have always really enjoyed is dedicating myself to collection development. I love choosing colors, creating prints, defining raw materials, and designing shapes. I also love research trips, when we get out of our work routine to be in touch with other cultures. These are delicious moments. I have traveled to unique places such as Japan, India, Thailand, South Africa, Australia, Hawaii, and Mali, among many others. I’m also fascinated by Brazil, a continental country with diverse and inspiring places. The creative research moment is a thrilling stage.

Can you tell me a bit more about your design process? Is there a specific routine you have to get into the zone? A playlist you have to listen to or a candle you have to burn?

I have a creative process with several phases. It all starts with detailed calendar planning. I’m responsible for the macro brand strategy and have a fine-tuned team to execute all the steps by my side. Inside our company, the organized creative areas follow a well-defined flow. The collection concept is the first step. We can talk about a place, partner with an artist or brand, or translate a specific part of Brazilian culture. There are a lot of possibilities. From this concept, we design the prints, choose the color charts, and pick one or many shapes. Next we select the raw materials and create the styles. Afterward we organize a big fitting session. When the pieces are finally approved, we start the visual campaign that connects our creative concept and clothes with everything the collection embraces in each one of our communication channels.

What’s the most rewarding part about your job?

I really enjoy training people and supporting them in their professional development. I like to shine a light on skills and not focus on flaws. I’m pleased to follow those who started at Farm Rio, flourished, and grew within the company to reach leadership positions. I love feeling the pride, not only of our team, but also of clients, friends, and everyone with us on this long, successful journey. Our story inspires other designers and brings pride and self-esteem to our country. I feel honored to have built a company made up mostly of women. Our social and sustainable commitments are also rewarding. We want, more and more, to positively impact the world. And finally, emotion: I get emotional when we, as a fashion brand, move people through meaningful products. Farm Rio talks about happiness, and people love it. We are playful and affectionate, and the world needs this love more than ever.

Do you have any advice for aspiring Latinx designers?

My advice is: “Look inside yourself.” Being true to yourself can take us further than we have imagined. Another message that I would give to future generations is the understanding that fashion has become a platform through which, collectively, we can make the world a fairer, nicer place. Embrace inclusion, sustainability, social, artistic, and cultural projects. And remember that nothing is built without a thousand drops of sweat. Always fly with your feet on the ground!

When you were growing up, what did you imagine your career would be like?

I didn’t really consider a career in fashion and went to school for accounting as my parents were involved in the business world. Ultimately I decided I needed a creative outlet and found my way to retail and design.

How do you create boundaries between work and your personal life?

This is a great challenge for all female entrepreneurs and businesswomen, who may also be mothers and wives. I try to be disciplined. So, as I’m passionate about my work, I monitor myself to know when to stop. The cell phone imposed an additional challenge on us. Sometimes it’s necessary to set it aside to disconnect for a while. I love spending time with my family whether it be at home or on vacation, as well as getting together with friends. I also prioritize my sleep routine: I sleep religiously for nine hours a day.

What do you feel is the most misunderstood part of your job?

The world is going through a severe environmental crisis, and as a brand, we have established sustainability commitments and goals. There is a huge effort in this direction. However, consumer expectations and urgency sometimes outweigh our ability to move toward it, and I fully understand that. We can't always move forward as fast as we'd like.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?

At the beginning of my professional journey, I heard from a very special person: “Tell your story and be true to yourself. Look inside, not outside.” This advice has been engraved in me and I’ve carried it with me throughout my career.

What do you typically wear into the office?

The Farm Rio office—our Greenhouse of Creatives—is very colorful and has the carioca lifestyle. It’s marked by an elegant-yet-fun atmosphere resulting from our close relationship with the sea and the beach vibe. So the way I dress connects with this mood: I wear comfortable, feminine, and colorful pieces. I literally dress in happiness

How do you deal with rejection?

It's a complex topic. I have been in therapy for 26 years and learned that rejection is a human part of life. However, it's not something I particularly worry about.

What’s the last piece of clothing you bought yourself?

A Chloé dress! I love Gabriela Hearst, the brand’s creative director. She creates handmade pieces that I really identify myself with.