Ariqueña creates sportswear for surfers of the Olas Pro Tour
Steffanie Zarzar Villalobos is the entrepreneur who created Whimara and Rhinno, sportswear and safety clothing factories.
“Olas Pro Tour 2024. Local Manufacturing. Whimara Official Product.” This is how the entrepreneur Steffanie Zarzar Villalobos is advertising her sportswear work on Facebook, around the first Latin American Surf Seedbed Circuit financed by the Municipality of Arica as president of the World Network of Surf Cities.
“I won a project Corfo, thanks to funding from the Regional Government, so with the resources we incorporate technology into the business to obtain textiles with better finishes, which makes us make a difference at a regional level with our products for mining and sports, thinking mainly of designs for women,” said the owner of Rhinno and Whimara, industrial and sportswear brands, respectively, which are manufactured in the heart of the Azapa Valley.
Steffanie stressed that for both ventures she has the experience of her partner, textile entrepreneur Nancy Lorca, “and I add the touch of innovation, so the generational difference (35 years) gives us a great plus,” she stressed.
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IN PANDEMIC
The entrepreneur said that both Rhinno and Whimara were born in the middle of the pandemic. “I started about 10 years ago when I worked in a local disco printing t-shirts, so I started buying machinery and that’s how I expanded the field. Taking advantage of machines, I created Rhinno in 2021, a name that comes from the Rhinoceros, one of the safest animals in the fauna, so it represents our safety line. And Whimara emerges in 2022 and is a rescue of the Aymara identity of the region.”
In search of financing, she learned about the support programs of the state agencies for productive development through social networks. Thus, a Sercotec project and a Corfo project were awarded. The latter allowed them to invest in a cutting plotter with an optical sensor, stamping plates, printers and other supplies for the growth of both brands. “They have been fundamental for the growth of the textile industry,” she said, adding that the Arica Siempre Activa program encouraged her to apply for these subsidies.
LYCRAS
The business is the only one at the regional level that makes sports clothing with lycra through Whimara, being responsible for “dressing” the competitors of the Arica Pro Tour, Latin American Women’s Latin Girl surfing championships and this weekend of the Olas Pro Tour Seedbed.
“We feel super privileged to be chosen by the organizers of these events. We care a lot about the quality of the tailoring and we are grateful for the trust in our work by the organizers of these championships,” said Steffanie, an architect by profession “but I don’t practice,” she said.
Currently, there are eight direct sources of employment in Rhinno and Whimara, quotas that could increase as the company grows in customers. “We want to continue growing, because our main objective is to reach the women and men who work in large-scale mining and also athletes from other disciplines with our garments. The desire and enthusiasm are there,” he concluded.