Eliete da Silva left the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, for the island in 2021 and took a cleaning job at a house as a manicurist. Silva sold clothes out of her car to make more money to live.
She is now the owner of a clothing store on Main Street in Vineyard Haven. Colorful bikinis, intricate floral dresses, and tightly-fitted jeans line the walls of Gata Fields, which started four months ago.
The shop was named Gata after the Portuguese word for cat, which is used to call women beautiful by Brazilians. She added ‘Fields’ as an homage to the countryside of Brazil, where she hails from.
Ms. da Silva claimed that she has more than 100 Brazilian customers who regularly come for shopping at her store. Many of them are former clients from when she was a manicurist who loved her style.
Da Silva used to rent in a crowded Edgartown house; she moved off the island to an apartment in Falmouth because her daughter needed space for her medical needs in November. She was also focused on running a business on the Vineyard. She wakes up early every morning to take the ferry so she can have her shop opened by 10 a.m.
She really does not speak much English but claims she knows enough of the language to help her American customers. In a state where she becomes confused, she makes use of an online translator or asks her bilingual daughter for help.
Ms. da Silva expressed how many of the Brazilians on the island also gather the intention to run their own businesses, and she wants to be an inspiration to Brazilians like that. She said the island community has been welcoming.
Ms. da Silva was able to get her storefront through other Brazilians. The store next to hers is a clothing store called Lapie, owned by Laysla Barros, who reached out to Ms. da Silva when the store became vacant.
The Brazilian styles on Ms. da Silva stocks are unlike others on the island. While tracing her finger along the seam of a pair of jeans, she said Brazilian women are more likely to buy clothes that accentuate the curves of their bodies, whereas Americans tend to be more modest.
Ms. da Silva also imports clothes with her American customers in mind. She sells cream-colored work pants and workout clothes that she sees American women wearing.
When Ms. da Silva gets her bearings, she hopes to expand her business and also sell men’s clothes, such as soccer jerseys. One day, she hopes to open a second store in Orlando, Fla., and sell bikinis.