Speed dating leads to long-term relationships

Each year, some of the clothing industry’s biggest players, selected suppliers and people who run or work in shops, meet up for some speed dating. The Texcon Event was held for the third year in a row on Monday, 8 April, with 250 attendees coming together at Meeting Point X.

Quick meetings

The shops have already picked the suppliers they want to date in advance, but their dates are brief. After 20 minutes, the loudspeakers announce that time’s up, and everyone has to stop and move on to the next room.

Face to face

Go from room to room and listen, and you’ll quickly notice that the conversations are about shops just as often as they are about suppliers.

“Here, the shops talk a little about their concept, then we discover the opportunities together”.

Anders Tngerud

“One of the three brands we’re here with is Morris. We don’t actually need more customers for this brand, so we pretty much always turn shops down when they call us. Nonetheless, we’ve added a few customers over the past two years. That happened because we met them face to face at the Texcon Event. Here, the shops talk a little about their concept, then we discover the opportunities together,” says Tangerud.

Not measurable

Anders Tangerud has nothing but praise for the event. He says they’re happy and will be returning next year.

“This isn’t entirely measurable, but we’re here for the third year in a row, and we clearly wouldn’t be coming back if we weren’t getting anything out of it,” says Tangerud.

Dense programme

Texcon Event is more than speed dating. There is a strong emphasis on the social side of things, and a number of celebrities grace the stage with talks and entertainment. This year, Marianne Jemtegård garnered rapturous applause for a riveting discussion about style icons, mega-trends and the fashion houses currently making their mark on the fashion world.

Awards

Towards the evening, there’s a party with good food, entertainment, more relationship building and, not least, an awards show. With tears of joy, Barbro Ottesen Muri was named the Texconer of the Year for the shops Kolbotn Klær and Studio by KK. The Supplier of the Year was DK Company with In Wear and Matinique.

Long-term relationships

When we asked Randi Kristiansen from In Wear why she thought Texcon members had such appreciation for In Wear, we got the following reply:

“We’ve been with Texcon since the beginning.”

Even better next year

One of the people who helped conceive of the Texcon Event, Kristine Andersen, notes the following about this year’s event:

“We’ve evoked a bit of what makes up the heart of Texcon since the very beginning: tight, close cooperation between suppliers and shops. The Texcon Event is meant to serve as an arena for inspiration and relationship building. This year, I’m especially happy that so many shops are bringing multiple employees. The Texcon Event is here to stay. That said, we’re in the fashion industry. We need to innovate ourselves too. Next year will be even better,” concludes Kristine Andersen.