How do you decide to bring a certain clothing brand to Slovenia? Because today we are generally more knowledgeable about individual brands and...
How do you decide to bring a certain clothing brand to Slovenia?
Because today, we are generally more knowledgeable when it comes to individual brands, and we "search" for pieces of clothing, even though they never appear on the shelves in Slovenia, it's different than a few years ago. At the moment, the main information points are the fairs, the best of which is Bread & Butter, which has returned to Berlin from Barcelona. This fair is one of my greatest pleasures because of the visitors. Everyone there is dressed differently. It doesn't matter how old you are, if you're skinny or a little bit stronger - everyone has their own style and that's where I put my eyes. As a rule, all the brands appear there, and my job is to choose the one that I think we need here.
It is to predict which brand will be established in Slovenia, do you need to know trends abroad?
The rule for Slovenia is that the same selection as elsewhere does not work out here. I can say that they have here the advantage of brands that stand out from the crowd of brands that are very similar. An example of this is Desigual, which stands out for its colors, prints,... When I decide on individual brands, I must not base my decision completely on personal taste, but on the feeling I get when I walk down the street. At Desigual, I was mainly looking at what was missing on the street, which brand has just the right amount of imagination to spice up the style and combine it. It has proven to be successful perhaps also because it spares us our own creativity in terms of style and uses our imagination for us, which is not exactly a compliment. When I first ordered some pieces for Halo 12, everyone kept asking me what they were. In the beginning, it was bought by those who wanted to be different, today the brand is already very present on the streets, which may mean that we will get enough of it. This is the story of almost every brand in such a small country: it has ups and downs.
AIs there any connection between haute couture and fashion brands?
There is always some connection, because individual brands that do not belong to haute couture try to at least follow the trends that appear on the catwalks with certain pieces. It is not a bare copying, but more for creative processing and following high fashion. Each branch of fashion has its own rules: if the trench coat is "in" again this year, I have not seen it almost anywhere in Slovenia.
They come tolessons to us really with a delay?
What we see on the shelves depends on the people who order the collections from the manufacturers. Since the collections are always very extensive, it is impossible for a small market to order all the pieces of clothing. Each client knows what will work according to him and makes a decision for that. As there are different types of customers, the selection is adjusted. The type of men's clothing worn by Italians, for example, would never work in our market. Slightly stereotypical, but not without basis, we can imagine an Italian in relatively skinny jeans, a jacket and sneakers. The cut of the jeans, which is sold very successfully there, would not have the same result here, so as a rule, the collections do not come to Slovenia with a delay, only the selection of clothes is adapted. In my experience, we are very specific customers, we are small and cannot be compared to other European markets.
Your work covers the selection of brands and pieces of clothing in the Zooo store, the concept of which is recognized upon first entering the store, and the selection on the ground floor of Hale 12, the concept of which is more difficult to define, as there are many things to be found there, from Jack Jones to Just Cavali; do you have to be a split personality in your work?
Concept of Hall 12 is that the selection of brands entices everyone to take a look at what's on the shelves. Zooo is also intended for everyone, but here fashion is more in the foreground. The main concept of Zooo is that there is a fresh store in the city center where we can feel good.
How does it feel to know how we'll be dressing for the next few months?
There is definitely some fear in the whole thing, because I can never choose by myself, only up to a certain limit, so I never know for sure what will work out. It is a mixture of excitement, fear and anticipation. Since I am preparing two new brands, Custo Barcelona and Scotch & Soda, together with the Eurosport Trade team for the fall, this feeling is particularly familiar to me.
What are you wearing alone?
I can't choose one brand that I wear the most. Like everyone else, I buy with my eyes and not with a list of favored brands. If you know at least a little about what you like, you buy with intuition. I wear brands that I find in Hala 12 and Zooo, as well as others, but I only choose individual pieces from each brand. My style is never made up of one brand.
Where do you travel the most?
Lately, I have been in Barcelona most of the time, because Bread & Butter was held there, in addition, Desigual's headquarters are there, and Custo Barcelona is also in this city. Since Bread & Butter moved to Berlin, I have also been further north several times. Perhaps the location of the fair, where all the brands appear, will also change street fashion in European cities, as the atmosphere of the fair can also influence this.
