Gran Canaria Swimwear Fashion Week opens up new lines of international collaboration with Belgium and Denmark
2022-03-16
- The Councillor for Industry held meetings yesterday with representatives of the Fashion Councils of these countries within the framework of the Berlin Fashion Week.
- The designers of Moda Cálida who are participating in this event of the German textile sector received two workshops yesterday to learn more about the European market in terms of distribution or relationship with the media.
The Councillor for Industry, Trade and Crafts, Minerva Alonso, yesterday held meetings with the two public bodies responsible for the textile sector in Belgium and Denmark, the Fashion Councils of Brussels and Copenhagen, as part of the policy of international expansion of the Gran Canaria Swimwear Fashion Week, with the aim of "opening a framework of cooperation to exchange experiences, objectives, work and make our catwalk known", as the Councillor herself explained.
Alonso recalled at the end of these meetings that currently there is already a line of collaboration with Italy, through the Mare da Mare fair, in whose last edition Moda Cálida designers participated, and with the German Fashion Council, which has resulted in the presence of Gran Canaria at the Berlin Fashion Week, whose inaugural event - organized by Industry in collaboration with Tourism - served to present to businessmen, politicians and media the riches of the island not only in the field of fashion but also in tourism and gastronomy.
Regarding yesterday's meetings, the councillor stressed that, after exchanging the necessary information, both parties agreed to work on a concrete proposal for collaboration, which they will take to a new meeting in a month's time, so that in those countries there will be a space for Gran Canaria Moda Cálida and vice versa.
"However, we continue to work through the Fashion Council of Germany to continue reaching out to other European countries so that they can also come to our catwalk in October. Internationalisation is therefore - at last - a reality," said the councillor, who explained the Cabildo's challenge with these words: "What we want is to integrate one of our hallmarks, such as high quality, sustainable, handmade swimwear produced in small workshops, as an added value to our destination. So that visitors not only enjoy their stay with a swimming costume from Gran Canaria Moda Cálida, but also take it home as a souvenir".
In this respect, the director of the German organisation herself, Christiane Arp, declared that "it is more important than ever to work together, to cooperate, to feel the connection with other territories and other events, and that is what Gran Canaria has achieved with its participation and with the great event organised at our Fashion Week, so we are looking forward to continuing to deepen this collaboration".
Workshops for Moda Cálida designers
In addition, yesterday, the Moda Cálida designers who travelled to the German capital: Aurelia Gil, Maldito Sweet, Nuria González, Como la Trucha al Trucho, Chela Clo, Elena Morales and Pedro Palmas, whose garments were presented at the inaugural event, also participated in two workshops on the European market, to learn more about how sales, distribution and public relations work.
At the end of this training, Jorge Toledo highlighted the usefulness of knowing the differences with respect to the Canary Islands and mainland markets: "It has been very interesting to learn how to attack this market, how to approach communication agencies here, or to get in touch with influencers, or in terms of distribution, to know what the correct margins are for this area, how to work with distributors, representations, etc.".
For their part, those responsible for the firm Como la trucha al trucho highlighted the value of the contacts made with this participation "which will lead to very interesting synergies, because having the opportunity to sit down with European journalists and take the time to explain to them in person what the philosophy of your brand is, what materials you use and all these kinds of details is something rare and difficult to access, and in these days we have had many opportunities of this type", they said.
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