A day for Dhela

A model presents items from the brand Dhela. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Daniella Helayel made her fashion mark with her brand Issa – you may remember Kate Middleton famously wearing the founder and designer's teal-blue silk knit dress to announce her royal engagement – before selling her stake. In 2016, the London-based Brazilian designer launched another brand, Dhela. With its flagship boutique in Tokyo's Roponggi Hills, a selection of Dhela items are also carried at Harvey Nichols, Mitsoukoshi in Tokyo's upscale Ginza district, Boutique 1 in the Middle East and online at Stylebop.

After being out of the fashion business for three-and-a-half years, what brought you back with Dhela?

My Japanese distributors for Issa came to me and encouraged me to get into business again, because they couldn't find the long and short dresses in easy shapes, which I used to do for Issa. There had to be a gap in the market – or else they wouldn’t have come to me. This is also why my first distributors and standalone stores are in Tokyo.

Tell us about your creative process.

It's quite complicated in that I do everything myself. Prints are one of my strengths, so I design and develop them myself in China. Contrary to what many people think, there are Chinese factories that do small quantities better and more efficiently than Italy. If I just bought stock prints, my brand would have no exclusivity.