The Association of Knitting - Ready Made Garment Enterprises of Greece (SEPEE) invites young entrepreneurs,
start-ups
and young designers active in the fashion sector to participate in free consultancy activities.

The actions take place in the framework of the project Upgrade of skills for young designers, fashion graduates and start-ups in the cross-border area and development of a Fashion Employment Hub, acronymed
FASHION EMPLOYMENT HUB
, of the INTERREG IPA CBC - GREECE - NORTHERN MACEDONIA 2014 - 2020 Cooperation Programme.

The project is co-funded by the
European Regional Development Fund
(ERDF) and from the national resources of the countries participating in the INTERREG IPA CBC Cooperation Programme "GREECE - NORTHERN MACEDONIA 2014 - 2020".

The project FASHION EMPLOYMENT HUB, in which the SEPEE participates as a beneficiary, is being implemented from November 2021 with the participation of a total of 4 institutions from Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia. The overall objective of the project is to address the common cross-border challenges of the fashion sector by creating the Fashion Employment Hub, a fashion hub of cross-border character and impact that will support SMEs and young graduates in the fashion and clothing (footwear, leather, jewellery) sectors.

In the framework of the FASHION EMPLOYMENT HUB project, the SEPEE, in collaboration with experienced consultants, has undertaken, among other things, the
implementation of three consultancy actions
for young entrepreneurs, start-ups and young designers, as detailed below.

In the context of the counselling sessions, the counsellor, using the appropriate techniques and tools, will outline in depth the profile of the beneficiary and will come up with proposals for interventions on issues related to the individual themes of each counselling action.

Counselling sessions can be carried out in person, remotely (via skype, zoom, teams, etc.) and/or in both of the above ways.

The actions of the SEPEE

The counselling actions that will be implemented are the following:

ACTION 1

Individual counselling for 25 young entrepreneurs and young designers on thematic issues, such as:

• product costing
• fashion brand
• export marketing

Each beneficiary will receive twelve hours of counselling tailored to their profile, needs and goals.

ACTION 2

Individual and group counselling for 25 young entrepreneurs, start-ups and young designers (patronis, etc.) on issues related to topics such as:

• pattern
• digital design tools
• techniques and methodologies for designs and patterns, etc.

Each beneficiary will receive twelve hours of counselling tailored to their profile, needs and goals.

ACTION 3

One-to-one mentoring for 25 young entrepreneurs and young designers on thematic topics for:

• designing and developing new fashion trends and collecting patterns
• the development of creativity
• the connection between heritage and new fashion trends and
• the analysis of fashion trends

Each beneficiary will receive sixteen hours of counselling tailored to their profile, needs and goals.

It should be noted that the consultancy programme that will be implemented will be structured in three cycles of which:

• the first cycle will include the exploration of the needs of the beneficiary, the profiling of the beneficiary and the business and intervention proposals
• the 2nd cycle will be concerned with the provision of consultancy services in the above-mentioned thematic areas and
• the 3rd cycle will include the evaluation of the participation of the beneficiary and the evaluation of the counselling services provided

Who it concerns

The actions are aimed at businesses/entrepreneurs/new designers who have developed or are interested in developing cooperation in the cross-border region and meet the following criteria:

• They are graduates of clothing design schools, aged up to 39 years (for young designers).
• They are active in the fashion industries (for businesses).
• They are located and/or operate in the Region of Central Macedonia (Prefectures of Thessaloniki, Pella, Kilkis and Serres) and the Region of Western Macedonia (Prefecture of Florina).
• In the last 3 years (2021-2023) they have not received or been the beneficiary of State aid totalling more than EUR 200,000 (for enterprises). It should be noted that the consultancy services to be received by each beneficiary company correspond to State aid of EUR 2,330, which is taken into account in the de minimis cumulation test, in accordance with the provisions of the De Minimis Regulation 1407/2013.

Supporting documents for participation

The documents that must accompany the application for participation in the counselling programme are the following:

• A declaration of responsibility, in accordance with the attached model.
• Photocopy of Identity Card or Photocopy of Passport of the participant(s) in the counselling programme.
• Printout of the tab "Register - Business Data" from the electronic platform of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, as they appear in taxisnet, which shows the non-suspension of business activity and the business IDs (for businesses).
• A declaration stating the school of clothing design from which they have graduated and the year of graduation (for new designers).

The selection of beneficiaries will be made on a first come, first served basis, based on the date of submission of the application and the completeness of the supporting documents.

Interested parties are invited to submit the attached application form, completed and signed, as well as the above-mentioned supporting documents, via email to info@greekfashion.gr, by Thursday 20 July.

Please note that the evaluation of applications will be immediate and will be based solely on the completeness of the application form.

The ACPEU action for consultancy may be launched following the evaluation before the deadline for submission of applications by agreement.

If the number of beneficiaries is reached, an announcement will be made to complete the application process.

Interested parties can fill in the relevant application form:

• Application for businesses and designers
  here