Sofia Oliveira is one of the founders of GUAJA Studio, the fashion brand she created together with her mother and sister in Portugal. Built around conscious production and a strong sense of identity, GUAJA Studio is a family-driven brand with a vision for lasting, meaningful design.
What does “being bold” mean to you personally?
For me, being bold is doing things even when you don’t feel 100% ready for them. I don’t think being bold necessarily means being fearless or making huge, dramatic decisions. Sometimes it’s just trusting yourself enough to take the next step without knowing exactly how it’s going to turn out. I think a lot of my life and my journey with GUAJA. has been like that. Figuring things out as I go, making decisions, making mistakes, changing direction when something doesn’t feel right, and continuing anyway.
“You don’t need to know exactly where it will take you. You just need to be brave enough to take the first step.”
When do you feel most in your power?
Probably when I feel like I have things under control and I’m being productive. I’m very driven by progress, so when I have a clear vision of what I want, I know what I need to do, and I’m actually making things happen, that’s when I feel the most like myself.
Also, I have to say, a really good outfit helps ;) I genuinely believe the way you dress can completely change how you carry yourself.
You built GUAJA. together with your mother and sister. How did the idea for the brand first come to life?
It happened very naturally. Fashion was always part of our lives because of my mum. She has an incredible knowledge of clothing, patterns and construction, so my sister and I grew up around that world. My sister has always had a very creative side and I studied International Business, so our skills were completely different but somehow made sense together.
GUAJA. started almost as a combination of those three worlds. My mum’s knowledge, my sister’s creativity and my business side. At the beginning, we didn’t have this huge master plan of what GUAJA. would become. We just knew we wanted to create clothes that we genuinely wanted to wear ourselves.
Can you take us back to the beginning of GUAJA. How did you build the brand step by step, and what did those first years look like?
Very different from what people see today ;)
We started GUAJA. in 2019, and everything was incredibly small and very hands-on. We didn’t have investors or a big team behind us. It was literally us learning everything as we went.
In the beginning, you are everything at the same time. You’re thinking about the product, answering customers, packing orders, creating content, dealing with suppliers, working on the website, basically whatever needs to be done that day.
And I think that’s actually one of the things I value the most about our story. We built the company step by step, reinvesting into it and learning through experience. There wasn’t one moment where suddenly everything changed. It has been years of small decisions, mistakes, improvements and consistency that slowly built what GUAJA. is today.
“We built the company step by step, reinvesting into it and learning through experience.”
Guaja stands for timeless, conscious and locally produced fashion. Why was it important for you to go in that direction in such a fast-moving industry?
Because I think clothing should have a life beyond one season.
Personally, I’ve always been much more attracted to pieces that I can wear again and again, rather than something I love for two weeks because it’s trending. Of course we love fashion and trends will always influence us in some way, but we don’t want GUAJA. to exist just to constantly feed people something new. Producing locally in Portugal is also incredibly important to us. It allows us to work closely with the people making our clothes, understand the process and maintain that connection between the idea and the final piece.
We’re obviously still a business and there is always more we can improve, but I think being conscious also means questioning how and why you are creating something instead of just producing for the sake of producing.
“Because I think clothing should have a life beyond one season.”
What do you hope people feel when they wear a piece from Guaja?
Confident, but still themselves.
I don’t want the clothes to wear the woman. I want her to put something on and immediately feel like a slightly more confident version of herself. A lot of GUAJA. is also about making getting dressed easier. Having those pieces in your wardrobe that you know work, that you can style in different ways and that make you feel put together without having to think too much about it.
“I don’t want the clothes to wear the woman.”
You work closely with your mother and sister within one brand. What makes that collaboration strong, and what does it challenge you in?
The strongest part is probably the level of trust we have. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing and we know that every decision comes from wanting GUAJA. to succeed.
We also have very different strengths, which is extremely valuable. My sister and I especially think in very different ways. She is much more creative and instinctive, while I naturally think more about the business, strategy and growth. But those differences are also the challenge :) When you’re family, there isn’t really that professional filter you might have with a normal colleague. If we disagree, we really disagree.
I think over the years we’ve learned how to use those differences as an advantage rather than trying to think exactly the same way.
What have you learned from each other while building Guaja?
So much. My mum taught us an enormous amount about the actual craft behind clothing. She has a way of looking at a garment and understanding immediately what works, what doesn’t and why. My sister has taught me to trust creativity and intuition more. I’m naturally very analytical and I want everything to make sense, while she can sometimes just feel that something is right. And I think I’ve probably brought the opposite to them. I’m usually the one asking how we turn an idea into something sustainable as a business, how we grow it, how we communicate it and what the next step is.
We balance each other a lot.
“We balance each other a lot.”
How do you separate family life from running a fast-growing brand together?
We don’t :) I wish I had a more inspiring answer, but honestly, we’re still learning how to do this. When you build a company with your family, GUAJA. Somehow finds its way into dinners, weekends, holidays... there is always something happening and because we all care so much about it, it’s difficult to completely switch off. We’ve become better at creating boundaries, but separating the two completely is probably impossible. GUAJA. is such a big part of our lives and something we built together, so in a way it has also become part of the family.
Looking back at your journey with GUAJA., what has been one of the biggest challenges or milestones that shaped the brand?
I think one of the biggest challenges has been learning how to grow without losing control of what made people connect with GUAJA. in the first place. When you’re small, you can personally be involved in absolutely everything. As the company grows, that becomes impossible. You need a team, systems, bigger production, more structure, and suddenly your job changes too. Learning to let go of certain things while still protecting the identity of the brand has probably been one of my biggest lessons. At the same time, seeing GUAJA. grow from something the three of us started into a brand worn by women in so many different countries is still quite surreal. Especially knowing that we built it independently and step by step.
“Learning to let go of certain things while still protecting the identity of the brand has probably been one of my biggest lessons.”
When you think about the future of GUAJA., what do you dream of building and what bold steps do you hope to take next?
I want GUAJA. to become a legacy. A house brand that exists beyond us and beyond a specific moment in fashion. We’ve already built a very international brand, with around 90% of our sales coming from outside Portugal, so for me the next chapter is not simply about reaching more countries or becoming bigger. It’s about building something with real longevity, a strong identity and a world around it. I want GUAJA. to be one of those brands that people grow with, that they come back to year after year, and that becomes part of their wardrobe and their lives. Ultimately, I want us to build something that can last for generations. And personally, I want us to keep taking risks. It’s very easy when something starts working to become afraid of changing anything. I never want us to reach a point where we become too comfortable to try something new.
“I want GUAJA. to become a legacy.”
Who is a woman you admire for her courage, and why?
My mum. It might be the obvious answer considering our story, but I genuinely admire her courage. She has always been incredibly hardworking and resourceful, and so much of what my sister and I know about building something comes from watching her.
Starting GUAJA. together also meant trusting two very young daughters with a crazy idea and being willing to build it with us. I think there’s something very special about that.
What would you want to say to women who have a creative idea but feel unsure about starting?
You will probably never feel completely ready. I think sometimes we wait for confidence to come before we start, when in reality confidence usually comes from starting.
GUAJA. today is completely different from GUAJA. in 2019. If we had waited until we knew everything we know today, we would probably never have started.
Start small. Test your idea. Learn. Change things. Be willing to be bad at something before you become good at it. You don’t need to know exactly where it will take you. You just need to be brave enough to take the first step.
“You will probably never feel completely ready."
Sometimes being bold is found in small things. What is a small but brave decision you’ve recently made?
Probably moving back to Dubai for a few months. I lived there for six years before, so it’s not exactly an unknown place for me, but my life is completely different now. I have GUAJA., a team, a very established routine in Portugal and a lot more responsibilities.
Deciding to go back and create a new routine there while continuing to run the business from another country feels like a small personal challenge. I think sometimes you need to disrupt your own routine a little bit to grow and see things differently.
Lastly, what is your favourite piece of jewelry from Eline Rosina?
My favourite piece has to be the Jules Statement Hoops. I’ve had mine for around three years now and they’re still one of my absolute go-tos, but the Piercing Diamond Gloom has recently become my everyday favourite. I love how it makes the ear pop in such a subtle but chic way and adds that little touch of light to my face. It’s one of those small details that makes such a difference. I think that says a lot about what I love in jewelry in general. They’re timeless and incredibly versatile, but they still have enough presence to make a difference in an outfit. I can wear them with almost anything, and three years later I still reach for them all the time.