When talking about startups and incubation programs to help them grow, it is customary to think that they come from sectors such as e-commerce, blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI) or fintech. Rarely does one think of fashion, where there are also new designers and brands that want to make a name for themselves and compete with larger companies. Barcelona Activa wants to give them all the tools to achieve this through the Barcelona Fashion Forward program, which offers training and mentoring to ten emerging companies in this sector since the beginning of May at the Disseny Hub de Barcelona (DHUB).
One of the people who is part of the jury that selected the ten startups, the director of the DHUB, Mireia Escobar, points out that this program is aimed at those fashion companies that have been identified as suffering the most in their growth process, those that are between incubation and acceleration. Most of the participants already have a brand created and have commercialized at least one collection of products, with a trajectory of between one and five years. They are not yet consolidated and the program should help them gain projection and financing in the market.
All this, in 60 hours of training and 19.5 hours of personalized mentoring over four months. In a second phase of the program, four of the ten emerging companies will be selected, who will receive more advice for six months, with the support of a digital marketing agency.
Escobar emphasizes that Barcelona Fashion Forward is committed to "placing these emerging companies in the real market", discovering how to make a business plan or how a showroom and a store where they want to sell their products work. This is the second time that Barcelona Activa has organized this program. After the success of the first one, the formula has been repeated and reinforced, doubling the number of participating companies, Escobar explains.
Among the ten selected in the second edition there is a bit of everything: a genderless clothing collection, an ethical women's clothing collection, tailoring for groom and bride suits, 3D research, handmade children's fashion, jewelry stamped on ceramic or sustainable footwear. "They are very different, although they are part of the same sector," Escobar explains. The program makes this its virtue, having each startup explain its experience and all learn in a group.
Variety as an opportunity
This is how Laura Rodríguez from Flora in Paradise, a brand of ceramic earrings and necklaces with prints, sees it. Rodríguez emphasizes that all participating brands are more or less at the same point of development and, by listening to how the others are doing, they realize how they could improve. "It's very valuable," she defends. However, the variety also allows them to know the opinions of their colleagues ---who are experts in other matters--- and even the possibility of collaborating with them.
In the case of Flora in Paradise, the Barcelona Activa program arrives two years after its birth. It is helping them to review that what they do is good, as well as their future plans, allowing them to analyze if their strategy needs to be restructured. Likewise, they are delving into the world of communication and marketing, seeing how they can boost their brand.
Flora in Paradise, one of the participating startups, states that the program allows them to improve their plans, by learning about the experiences of their colleagues, who are in a similar situation to theirsTo explain what Flora in Paradise consists of, Rodríguez defends that it is a brand of artisanal and sustainable jewelry that wants to reclaim flora and fauna ---hence the name--- through the prints that decorate its ceramic pieces. For now, they only make earrings and necklaces, but they hope to present their rings by the end of the year.
How to face post-coronavirus fashion
Sustainability is also one of the characteristics of Carlos Sutil, a brand for brides and grooms. Carlos Sutil has been working in the fashion sector for 25 years, but it has been seven years since he decided to start promoting his own designs. He did so precisely because he was aware that it was necessary to bet on a more environmentally friendly and less massive clothing production.
"We have to re-educate the public by telling them that it is better to buy a single piece than thousands," says Carlos Sutil, who believes that this change in attitude will occur after the pandemic. He conveys this commitment to sustainability in different ways. For example, by recycling the wedding suits he designs, adapting them for other occasions once the celebration passes, or by dedicating himself to restoring garments.
Carlos Sutil translates this commitment to sustainability in different ways: recycling the suits he designs for weddings, adapting them once the celebration passes for other occasions, or dedicating himself to restoring garments of clothingWith the program, this designer is learning to focus on what he really wants to do with his brand and to gain visibility through social networks and marketing, in addition to listening to his colleagues and enriching himself with their experiences. "We feed off each other," he summarizes.