The Hungarian Fashion and Design Agency (HFDA) has opened applications for its mentoring program, which helps to stabilize the position of design businesses with two already existing product lines.
The companies participating in the previous program told of prestigious awards, foreign magazine features, and outstanding recognitions in connection with their participation, and some of the manufacturer-designer partners continued to work together even after the two-week internship period. In the previous, second edition of the program, professional mentors helped Edina Andrási, who creates porcelain products and lamps, Sára Kele, known for her sustainable furniture pieces, the joinery called Kerekes Furniture, Apol Temesi, who works with modular acoustic tiles, and László Tompa, known for his turned wooden pieces, to gain the business knowledge necessary for stabilizing their businesses.
In addition to a series of workshops and individual consultations, organized online due to the virus, the program also included a professional internship. Participants were able to get familiar with the process of production and sales in the workshops of NezozeN, Balaton Bútor, FabLab Budapest, iamart, and LumoConcept. Instead of a research trip, the HFDA program ended with an extra consultation: online marketing expert Marcell Tóth informed businesses about online and digital sales and marketing solutions that might come in handy in the changed economic situation.
Participants described the workshops as interactive and awareness-raising, with special emphasis on the lectures about business planning, legal topics, and communication methods. According to them, the mentors have shed new light on their prior activities.
“The success of the mentees is a perfect example of the program’s significance, since once they have gained domestic stability after the mentoring program, participating brands can concentrate on achieving their future goals with full commitment,” said Zsófia Bata-Jakab, head of the Hungarian Fashion and Design Agency.
Both natural and legal persons can apply for the third design START mentoring program at THIS link.
Hungarian Fashion and Design Agency | Web | Facebook | Instagram
Lunch in a new way: Szimply introduces Lunch Boxes
„It’s pure poetry” | Daria Solak
