When a person decides to start a business, they must have a business spirit, there is no doubt about that. But what if an artist wants to earn a living? A creative soul who creates, materializes their ideas and does not even think about a business plan? The fashion industry is full of artists, many of whom have difficulty finding a foothold after school. That is why the Slovak Fashion Council was created, a non-profit organization to support and develop the Slovak fashion ecosystem.
The guarantors of SFC were the British Fashion Council and the Academy of Fine Arts, the Slovak Design Center helped with the graphics and logo design. Several designers and Slovak brands, including the Alain Delon brand, collaborated with Kleinert at the very beginning. The goals of SFC were clear almost from the beginning. In addition to education at the business level, it is about the overall development of the fashion business in Slovakia - from designs, through production, presentation to sales.
During its several years of operation, SFC members have managed to work on several projects and organize many events. "We have large projects that we dedicate an entire quarter to in order to be able to cover them in terms of production, and then a lot of smaller ones, which include the functioning of the OZ as such - financing, networking - building databases not only of designers, but also of the creative sector - organizations, media, production, promotion..." says Dominika Mayerová, SFC PR manager.
The aim of the map is to attract not only Slovaks but also foreign tourists and show them that they can see interesting places here, taste local cuisine, but also see local design that is produced here. A beta version of the application was introduced in November 2018, and it should be available for download for everyone in the first half of 2019. The printed map is published once a year, and the one for 2019 is currently in preparation.
Dana Kleinert on the collaboration with the British Council and Fashion Scout: “At SFC, we are really excited about the collaboration with Fashion Scout and the International Fashion Showcase during this London Fashion Week. It is essential for emerging designers to present their collections in cities like London. The fashion industry is dynamic there and the most important professionals from the industry are concentrated here, including media, buyers, influencers and strategic leaders. We believe that we can prove that Slovakia belongs on the world fashion map .”
The founder of the Slovak Fashion Council (SFC), designer Dana Kleinert, recalls: "When I finished my studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, I started to learn how the fashion industry really works. I had no one to turn to about how to build a brand, I started to understand that fashion is not just about designing. If creative people want to build a business, they need support. In 2011, I won the national prize in the Young Creative Entrepreneur competition and went to represent us in London, where I met the other winners of the national rounds. And then I found out that Ghana also has a Fashion Council, so I said to myself, why not me and when, if not now. I came back and founded the Slovak Fashion Council."
Slovakia's fashion map is conquering the world
Twice a year, SFC organizes showrooms combined with interesting lectures for designers , thanks to which artists without their own sales outlet have a space to present and sell their works. The showrooms also support the emergence of new design shops, which SFC brings together in one place in its next project – Bratislava Fashion Map .
As the name suggests, the map currently only features stores of Slovak designers and brands in Bratislava, but an application that will not be limited by location is also in preparation. "We want to go beyond the Bratislava region, we have the whole world available in the application - first we will go to larger cities, then smaller ones. We plan to add e-shops to the application. From time to time, Slovaks living abroad contact us, and this online map is one of the options for including such Slovaks living abroad in the map. We want to add as much information about the brand and designer as possible to it - connect them with manufacturers, make ratings and curatorial selections available. It should also have space for news from individual brands or designers," describes Bratislava Fashion Map Zuzana Bobíková, SFC program manager.
Education is the main goal of SFC
In education, SFC tries to really start from the ground up and organizes the Summer Fashion Academy for youth aged 8-17. During the week-long camp, children and teenagers try out the work of a fashion designer and create a complete collection on the theme of the given year.
Slovak fashion is getting on the world map of fashion design
During this year's London Fashion Week, 5 Slovak designers presented themselves during the 3-hour stand-alone event "Mind the Map!" . "We want to show people that Slovak design belongs on the map of world design. This project clearly shows how we think. We try to work "multidisciplinary". The fashion show was accompanied by a dance performance and live music and supplemented by an original fashion film and interactive projection. We want to communicate fashion in a format that is globally interesting and can resonate. In this way, we also show that the creative industry is important and that thanks to designers, other professions can also thrive," describes Zuzana Bobíková.
