For the first time, Maray will take part in MICAM, the world’s leading footwear trade fair, seeing it as an opportunity to consolidate the brand.

"Gaining some scale in this business is naturally important for its sustainability, so internationalisation had already been on our radar,” explains Joana Trigueiros. "Trade fairs have always been one of the most effective ways to begin that process, but on the one hand, internally we felt our production and structure were not yet ready to take that step. On the other, we felt that immediately after the pandemic, trade fairs had lost some of the importance they previously held,” says the brand’s founder.

Maray was launched in 2017 by Rita Corrêa Mendes. In 2019, Joana Trigueiros took over the leadership of the brand. "I was born into a family shoe shop and have always loved flat, fun and elegant shoes. I fell in love with the brand as soon as I saw it and started buying from it. The day I learned that the brand was about to close, I decided to ask whether they wanted to sell it. A month later, the brand was under my leadership,” Joana explains.

This new leadership "brought an ethnic-cosmopolitan perspective to ‘made in Portugal’. Inspired by exotic countries, where craftsmanship plays a strong role, colours and textures take centre stage.” Portugal is where the brand finds the quality and know-how required to produce its collections. Shaped by the hands of experienced artisans, the leathers are carefully selected and finished with textured details. All products are unique and produced with the utmost attention to detail, using raw materials with minimal waste. Maray focuses on combining different colours, textures and materials to boldly reinterpret the classic shoe.

With experience leading marketing at the Danone group, Joana leveraged both her family’s footwear heritage and her multinational background to grow the brand sustainably.

Participation in the upcoming edition of MICAM marks the culmination of this entire journey. "We wanted to move forward at a steady pace — to consolidate the brand in Portugal and abroad, selling directly to consumers and gathering feedback on which markets respond best to the brand. Now is the time to move towards a stronger global distribution,” she concludes.