Study trip to Slovenia Day 1 - visiting local entrepreneurs

The TEX-DAN project partners undertook two day Study trip to Slovenia (10-11 Sep) which included visit to four entrepreneurs in Škofja Loka, a small town in the center of Slovenia, a brief visit to city hall and meeting with the mayor, a matchmaking event and TEX-DAN contribution at the round table discussion at the Circular economy hot spot held in Ljubljana.

The first day of our excursion we explored local small companies, designers and textile consultants in Škofja Loka, that successfully run their businesses based on circular solutions and in align with environmental protection. Despite all challenges, they have succeeded in transition to new business models and solutions and kept presence on the regional and global market for decades.
Crucial for their success were knowledge and expertise they had acquired up to 1990s, working in the textile companies and crafts in Škofja Loka and surrounded areas, which used to be a heart of the textile industry in Slovenia and well known across the Europe at that time. After political and economic changes in 1990s, many factories and crafts were closed due to shifts in the global textile industry. However, many have survived and have been still present in the regional and EU markets.
Our study trip was hosted by our Slovenian partner Institute for Sustainable Development - ISD: Ms. Helena Cvenkel and Mr. Gregor Erznožnik.

After companies' visits the TEX-DAN partners held a project meeting, while in parallel, stakeholders from Slovenia, Slovakia and Bulgaria run matchmaking event.

Our first visit was to production plant and factory shop of the Odeja , the leading Slovenian manufacturer of high-quality quilted textile products that has been on the market since 1932. As our host, Ms Urša Bernik, Head of Sales Department Odeja said, their key to success is keeping pace with new technologies, markets and consumers demands while preserving high quality products. Their bestsellers are quilts made of organic cotton and wool, which are in high demand in regional and Western European markets among which are the Netherlands, Belgium and France where Odeja's products are more and more in demand.

Apart from bed linen, spreads and quilts, Odeja Ltd. offers textile products for children’s beddings, bathrooms, kitchens and living rooms as well as for bars and hotels.

_{Ms. Urša Bernik, Head of Sales Department Odeja, toured us through the plant and factory shop and presented Odeja's best sellers}

Contemporaray Textile Hub KreativNice (Creative Women) is a cozy place where local woman, textile designers, artists and crafts shape their ideas in nice tapestry, carpets, soap wrappings made of wool, and accessories. The studio provides educational programs for different target groups and tourist programs. One part of the studio is assigned for the exhibitions and is dedicated to the innovative presentation and promotion of the textile industry tradition and contemporary creativity that is present in the local environment.

One of the artist that works at the hub is Ms. Anja Musek, a member of the Contemporary Textile Hub KreativNice who creates scarfs, bags, jackets and jewelry, home products and works of art under her brand name AMUSE, using an ancient technique called wet felting. Anja is well known for her signature ‘clean’ contemporary design using wool and other natural materials like silk, linen, ramie, flax and cotton.

_{Ms . Anja Musek explains the concept of the hub}

Visiting Atair Canopies, we had firsthand experience on how skydiving parachutes are made. The company was established in 1992, produces high quality B.A.S.E and skydiving parachutes and provides R&D services and technical consulting. The company founder
Mr. Stane Krajnc, a sport enthusiast, showed to us each step of the production and underlined that they put a strong emphasis on implementing new technologies in their products. All products are available on their web-shop.