NEWS: Fashion Council Germany goes New York City!

Berlin, 19 December 2023: As part of the Fashion Forward Network (FFN) internationalisation project of the Fashion Council Germany and the innovation agency Sqetch, the first delegation trip to New York City took place in October 2023. The overarching goal of the Fashion Forward Network, which is funded by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises and the European Union, is to support Berlin fashion brands and tech start-ups in their market entry into the USA and to provide them with relevant, trend-setting business contacts. Ten Berlin brands were given the opportunity to take part in a week-long programme specially tailored to the participating companies, which introduced them to the special features of the US market and included strategic market entry recommendations.

The delegation included the seven fashion brands Acceptance Letter Studio, Avenir, Dawid Tomaszewski, Impari, Maison Baum, Saint Sass and Susumu Ai as well as the three impact & tech start-ups Beneficial Design Institute, Looks XR and Yoona.ai. Various networking events, meetings with innovative industry players and experts, guided tours of factories and pitch nights offered the 10 participating companies unique experiences and valuable insights into the competitive US market.

The five-day programme consisted of visits to factories and studios in the famous Garment District, the SAP Fashion Experience Lab, FIT DTech and US industry giants such as the Eileen Fisher Foundation. In meetings with Kate Danielsen from eBay US, Willa Bennett from Highsnobiety US, Alex Badia from Women's Wear Daily and Steven Kolb and Marc Karimzadeh from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, the participants gained important industry insights as well as contacts to showrooms, legal consultancies and sales agencies. The programme was complemented by a pitch training session with entrepreneur Brian Frumberg and the subsequent pitch night in front of US experts and potential investors, who were then able to provide valuable feedback on the participants' products and business models. Networking with retailers, key press contacts and other multipliers will form the basis for the desired US market entry in the future.

The delegation trip was rounded off with an FCG Fireside Dinner in the stylish atmosphere of Loft 29, which was accompanied by the culinary delights of German chef Simon. With the networking dinner, the FCG brought the German-American fashion community together and created a space for informal dialogue and discussions on establishing business partnerships.

The resulting business opportunities and contacts will be further expanded over the course of the two-year project. The participating companies report positive feedback and good prospects for the future. For example, SUSUMU AI would like to initiate a joint live shopping event with a potential investor at the beginning of 2024. At AVENIR, the next step is to further develop the brand's strategy based on what has been learnt and to start networking with the US partners that have been introduced. For Maison Baum, the Pitch Night was a particular highlight of the delegation trip - they were already able to see a great deal of interest in their products and would particularly like to take advantage of the CFDA's networking opportunities in order to deepen their dialogue with potential investors. At Saint Sass, investors have already expressed concrete interest in working together to meet the growing demand on the US market.

Regular webinars now follow on from the delegation trip and cover other important topics that shed light on the US market and provide strategic recommendations on distribution and marketing channels as well as the legal framework for market entry. The second delegation trip will take place in April 2024, for which interested companies can now apply. Interest in participating can now be expressed:

Fashion Forward Network is funded by a state programme, which is financed by ERDF funds and funds from the state of Berlin.