In February, Foundry Powered by IFA Paris joined forces with Business France on their mission to help French fashion tech companies go global. The lab played host to a bootcamp preparing companies ranging from large brands like Lectra through to smaller startups like Moodz on how to present themselves at a tradeshow. This year in March 2020, Business France, an organisation that helps companies to export their goods and services internationally, will be taking a selected number of fashion technology companies to showcase at the South by South West conference located in Austin, Texas.
Fashion Technology at Foundry
The bootcamp opened with our very own director, Peter Jeun Ho Tsang, welcoming the guests and musing about why it’s important to support the development of fashion technology within France. This was then followed by a speech from Clarisse Reille, managing director of DEFI, about why they are part funding the trip to Texas and offering words of encouragement to the companies. The intense 1-day bootcamp culminated with the companies practicing their pitches and gaining invaluable feedback on how to maximise the event.
Fashion Technology at Foundry
We asked some of the companies in attendance as to what they hoped to gain from SxSW:
Moodz, creators of the period proof lingerie line, were excited to go to Austin to kickstart their international expansion after successfully proving that their products work in France. So far, they’ve sold over 50,000 pairs and have a thriving community of 30,000 females, so now they hope to grow this even more over the coming year.
Data & Data, a startup combatting counterfeit fashion goods, are eager to learn about the American market and speak to American retailers that could potentially benefit from their solution. Fashion, data and blockchain is certainly one of the future innovations for the fashion industry.
Finally, Sébastien Vicente who is leading the fashion technology mission at Business France expressed that by working together with Foundry Powered by IFA Paris it could only help to strengthen the initiatives happening in Paris and France as a whole. This will eventually lead to further positive relationships for all the stakeholders involved and is a positive way forward for the underserved fashion technology category.