Sourcing New Brands

Hello,

like I have told you last time I was supposed to join my workmates to Copenhagen Fashion Week to look out for new brands to collaborate with. We went there for one night only and tried to talk to as many interesting brands as possible but it takes just so much time going round the fashion fairs and investigate each stall, so in the end we unfortunately missed out on some areas.

All in all it was a successful trip though. My bosses wanted to focus on Scandinavian brands only for their next pop-up showroom, so they mostly talked to those brands and tried to establish relationships with quite small labels that are not represented in Sweden/ Gothenburg yet.

I, on the other hand, was more interested in the German based brands, which were surprisingly interesting and I also spotted some designers from the UK, that I have been a fan of for some time. I even walked past the Danish princess, as she was visiting the fairs as well... ;)

But back to business: As young entrepreneurs it is quite hard to convince brands to work with you but it is not impossible. Many labels were delighted to hear about the unique concept we were representing (a showroom with sample pieces that can be ordered for home delivery via the online boutique). Others were of course sceptical but I am sure the girls from the company I worked for will do a great job getting new, exciting brands on board for their next project.

My internship is over now and I have already gotten back to "normal" student life in Borås. It feels a bit weird and I cannot wait to finish my studies and start a job or traineeship, thanks to the insights this field study has given me.

xoxo

From Paris to Stockholm

Last weeks have been very busy. The whole company was focused on ongoing textiles and interior design fairs taking place in Paris, Stockholm and Cologne.

Beginning of fairs arrangements comprised of preparation and management of customer lists necessary for sending invitations for the fairs. All data was accessed from the commonly used program between the company and its subsidiaries. I got familiar with its following section which deals with a database of customers and suppliers.

As all of the fairs required preparation of the company exhibition, I was trained how to prepare the stand which will present the company’s offer in the most distinctive, attractive and eye catching way. After the visual merchandising lesson with designers I was responsible for preparation of a display of carpets and textiles presented in all three cities. I have learnt a lot about colours, space, lightning and sensory factors which play a crucial role in creating displays and installations.

Bis dann!

Visiting the company

Holidays came and went. I heard nothing from the company so I just started the project  by learning everything I could about the Higg index and the company.

After holidays we scheduled a meeting so I visited them this week (in the beginning of January) for just one day. We were discussing more details about the project, goals and the framework of this project. I also asked if it would be ok to use the company’s name here in the field study related discussions and so it was. 

The company is called Norrøna and is based in Hvalstad Norway, 20km from Oslo. They produce technical outdoor garments mainly for skiing and climbing and also for hunting and hiking as well as lifestyle clothing. Company being located in Norway was the reason we agreed that I would be working mainly in Borås. 

It was a long trip first to Göteborg, then to Oslo and finally to Hvalstad. Arriving to Havalstad reminded me that you can’t expect much from a 2000 resident town. As I was walking on the side of the dirt road to this industrial area I was expecting to see a modern office/HQ building similar to Gina Tricot here in Borås. But when I finally arrived there I wasn’t sure I was in a right place because there was only an old warehouse with no big signs or company logos. Only a small sign in the corner of the house indicating I was in a right place. My first impression was: “What a dumpster!” Of course inside was nice but still much smaller than I had expected. Made me realize that even the brand is quite big and well know, at least here in Scandinavia, as an outdoor clothing company, it still is small as a clothing brand in general.

During discussions it became obvious that the tool in Higg index related to clothing sustainability is a “fun toy” for the designers making material decisions but for the company wanting to map their various production processes it is not profound enough. Especially in a manufacturer that has complex technical clothing that has a lot of chemicals put in their production. So the company really wants me to go deep in this matter and map all the possible self-assessment tools and means. Many times I heard the words “dig deeper” mentioned.

It is now obvious that the project will be large but even the more interesting and hopefully will contribute future projects and processes as well. 

Going deeper.

 

“When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”

-Friedrich Nietzsche

 

The difficulties of starting the field study

I had a hard time logging in into this blog so I haven’t posted anything yet. Now I post my earlier texts consecutively.

The beginning of searching for a place to work for was so slow for me. I had decided a long time ago that I would rather do my field study as an internship for a company rather than for school. That is because I don’t have much working experience in the industry and the whole reason for me studying here the second year was to get contacts to companies and to make job search easier after school.

But as I had sent several applications to companies I had not received one reply.  If I learned something from this was that not even the most (seemingly) organized companies are very efficient or responsible for answering emails. Not even when their web page says they are hiring interns all the time and are excited to receive applications. Simple and quick “no” would have been ok to stop my suspense, but nothing. So reluctantly I started planning to do one of the projects the school offered.

However in middle of November I got a response from one of the companies in top of my favorite list. They offered some project related to Higg index. Then it took almost a month still for them to reply my emails but finally a week ago (in the beginning of December) I got a call from them confirming and explaining the project for me. 

This new was so good for me for two reasons. First of all the company is producing garments for skiing and climbing. Not being a big textile company but it is well known among the sport. And being part of that scene myself, this company has been one of my favorites to work for. Second is that the sustainability has become one of my favorite subject in textile industry during my studies. The project to do a research on how the company could start to implement the use of Higg index from scratch. This was interesting as being a field of sustainability but also that I would be a part of that from the beginning, not only stepping in to do some ongoing project. 

We agreed that at least in the beginning I will perform my study from home and have visits to their office once in a while. I will start my project now and hope to visit them after holidays to get more information.

To unknown and beyond!

-Janne

Field study ...completed!

It’s been a fun couple of weeks doing the INDISKA research and we can say it with confident that we have learnt valuable lessons during the past weeks. This has been a great experience and a good practice before the coming thesis where we have had to take the responsibility of researchers given the mission but had to “pave the way” meaning we had to find out ourselves how best to solve this task.

One example of how important it is to be constantly open to new information and not necessary knowing what you are looking for at the same time. Because the point is, something can be right in front of you which don’t even seems important can eventually have a huge impact on the results. So even though you have planned what you want to find out and how you are going to find it, be open to new ways and information. Lesson of the dayJ

Best regard, Matthildur and Filip

Standard Operational Procedures

Hello everyone!


Here comes my very last report from the fields.
Within these two weeks I have been focusing on the evaluation of the current status and further description of the SOP for multisourcing in our organisation, writing SOP for the factories' evaluation with the consideration of CRS and initial, inline and final Quality Control Inspections reports. On this purpose, for the deepper insight, we gathered for the meetings with some of my new colleagues to discuss the current procedures, the Buying&Design department is working with now, as well as advantages/disadvantages and opportunities to improve them in order to make these processes even more transparent, efficient and easier to implement. The last factor is very important in the conditions of a rapidly growing Company, in both - the Revenue and the number of employees.
I have learned a lot about the current procedures in the Company and still have a feeling that there is a room for further invistigation. On this purpose, we have planned the trip to Istambul for evaluation of current suppliers' production.
Another task was to get accuainted with the accessories of our assortment and the procedures of buying and supply as the part of the whole procurement system of this particular Company. I got to know the accounting system this Company is working with, peculiarities of stock system and logistic from the main countries of production & supply. It will be exciting to work with the separate Group of Products from A to Z.


Hope you all out there enjoyed your time during the internship and would take some useful findings and experiences with you into your future profession. Good luck and hope to see you soon!


Kind regards,
Victoria