"Ask the expert - how to find yourself for your first visit and networking at a trade show"
experiences of participants from the fashion industry
On December 15 (Thursday) 2022, from 15:00, the first of three info days “Ask the Expert” was held in Veles as part of the “Fashion Employment Hub” project. The event lasted two hours, and during it, we managed to exchange a lot of information with the participants. The organizer of this event was the Textile Trade Association – Textile Cluster.
The Textile Trade Association – Textile Cluster together with Promo Idea from Strumica as well as the Greek partners “Life Lon Learning Center” from Seres and “Hellenic Fashion Industry Association” from Thessaloniki are part of the “Fashion Employment Hub” project, which is co-financed by the European Union and from the national funds of the countries participating in the Interreg IPA PS program “Greece – Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020”.
We started the topic of “Ask the expert – How to prepare for your first visit and networking at a fair” with Natasha Sivevska, CEO of TTA-Textile Cluster, with an introduction to what the Fashion Employment Hub project actually stands for, as well as with presentations of the partners from Greece. Three presenters and supporters of this project participated in the educational part. Fashion designer Irina Tosheva presented different points of view and ways to promote designer collections. Then Sanja Lazarevska, the director of the brand for biodegradable tights “Four Twenty-Two” talked about her previous experiences of participating in fairs. Kristina Ilievska, director of the “ONLYAFEW” agency, also contributed to the event with her online presentation on how to approach a customer and how to present your portfolio at a fashion fair or exhibition.
This Info Day was an extraordinary chance for fashion brands and young designers to ask questions and get answers about the biggest fashion fair in South-Eastern Europe – Athene Fashion Trade Show. The fair should be held at the beginning of next year, in the period January 26-29, and 10 designers and industry representatives will be selected and supported by the Textile cluster through the project to participate in the fair. The info day was just a good foundation and the beginning of discussions and sharing of experiences by top representatiuves from the fashion industry.
