THEMEDNEW is an online co-selling platform and a community of ethical and sustainable brands: the new identity of sustainable and ethical Mediterranean Fashion and Textile sector. The project, supported by its core inventor, TEX-MED ALLIANCES, and TEXFOR, has been increasingly growing over its first year, gathering more than 30 companies so far. From the first official launch in Barcelona, in November 2021, events, networking and partnerships have taken place: the last one, in Jordan. 21 of our members joined the latter, which unfolded in the span of two days, the 15^th and 16^th of June.

On the 15^th the location was the Four Seasons Hotel. A welcome speech was given by Dr. Nael Al Husami, General Manager of ACI. Following, Project and Event presentation by Susanna Leonelli, TEX-MED ALLIANCES Project Coordinator. After that, two inspiring and highly informative interventions about Branding and Retailing were held by Fabio d’Angelantonio, former CEO of Loro Piana (formerly Luxottica), and by Monica Marsilli, Senior Merchant Director of Value Retail (formerly Gucci, La Rinascente). The ‘case’ of THEMEDNEW was analyzed in two roundtables, Hani Mourad Hanna, Senior Fashion Marketing International Expert and Mr. Pellizzari moderated inspiring roundtables with our Consultants, partners and testimonials of THEMEDNEW. An overview of the Jordan Textile and Garment sector was then provided by Eng. Fadel Labadi, Manager of Industrial Development Department of ACI. In the afternoon, exchanges of opinion, networking, and meetings between manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers took place in the exhibition room, where our 21 members exposed their creations. The ultimate realization of THEMEDNEW, Mediterranean Identity, namely ‘togetherness’ (see Manifesto 2021: p. 4)

On the 16^th there were visits on the field – for participants from outside Jordan – to local Production Facilities – including our leading Jordanian member She Chocolate – and to historical Malls. Logistics, timings, and inclusive participation were masterfully handled by our partner ACI and its staff. They provided constant support, ensuring the continuity between the 15^th B2B event and the field visits (B2C part), providing participants the opportunity to taste the know-how acquired, and to develop further the relationships acquired between members, buyers, and retailers.

THEMEDNEW community has highly benefitted by visiting Jordan, for the event provided quite positive perspectives on the future of the brand, ultimately reinforcing the synergy and alliances between our member brands, partners, and – finally – retailers. After this crucial event, the Textile & Fashion value-chain is entirely covered by the New Brand for Sustainable Fashion, namely THEMEDNEW.

To conclude in the words of Project Coordinator Mrs. Susanna Leonelli, the overall results of the event were “two successful days, in which we made a lot of networking and mutual exchange of knowledge. Our hope is that more common projects will be born very soon”.

Silvio Magnolo, PR & Networking Expert of THEMEDNEW

It’s time to cover all the value chain: from weavers, dyers, yarn makers, designers, and embroiderers to the places where the final products can be known, displayed, and sold to final customers and clients. Namely, distributors and retailers.

On the wave of the great success of Athens’ Fair in January 2022, and Slow Living in the Mediterranean exhibition in Barcelona, we can now ensure that having THEMEDNEW brands and hangtags inside a shop is a guarantee of sustainability, social fairness, and respect for fundamental human rights principles.

Nowadays, the customer is wiser and more sensitive to human rights, gender equality, and sustainability issues. This is proven by the latest statistics and studies. According to Chatham House and Reuters, consumers are starting to change their behavior by shopping more consciously, especially if institutions and reliable think-tanks teach them, and guide them, with the support of proof, numbers, and facts.

Future generations not only deserve greener and cleaner products and processes, but they will also be eager and eager to see a change in the fairness of workers’ conditions. If the clothes you are wearing have been produced by workers who are not paid a living wage, you are not indifferent anymore. The quality of the product is not just the product itself as a sheer object, but all the people, efforts, stories, materials, and processes implied in it.

The client is now identified as a globally aware individual, who is not seeking anymore for clothes to cover her/his body, but yearns for inspiring stories to be told. When you are wearing a brand, you are wearing that brand’s narrative, comprising both the good and bad in it. If the narrative is overall bad, or somehow murky – not striving to improve, or getting any better – there is likely to be a shift in the consumer’s behavior. The brand loses credibility in terms of individual microeconomic preference, as well as at levels of public image, and global perception. The power to attract people and investments is therefore dramatically weakened, as Simon Anholt teaches us.

That is why is so important for brands to be more conscious in every part of the process of production, to carefully monitor every aspect of their creations. Though, it is equally important for retailers to be more and more selective about the brands and the products they include in their stores and shops.

Therefore, we have decided to give retailers the possibility to be members of THEMEDNEW. By keeping THEMEDNEW hangtags, you give credibility to your brands, you level up the status of your store, you can become more competitive in terms of social, sustainable and human awareness. That would be not only beneficial to differentiate and refresh your stocks, but it might also constitute a significant boost to your sales.

Follow the wave of change, and apply to THEMEDNEW now. Don’t wait for the future to come, because you are the future. We, all together, are the future.

Silvio Magnolo,

PR & Metworking Manager,

THEMEDNEW

ITALY was represented by Sartoria Maqueda (owned by Alice Salmeri), MV Marianna Vigneri, Coccadoro and Mollo Tutto.

SPAIN was represented by the initiator Júlia G. Escribà, Textil Ortiz, Sylvia Calvo, Hilaturas Jesus Rubio, and From the Med.

GREECE was represented by K7 Konstantinos Tsigaros, in the person of Nikos Tsigaros.

TUNISIA was represented by Maison Mahii, the creation of Ana Rocha

EGYPT was represented by J Linens, a new brand owned by the historic company Liberty Textile International

JORDAN was represented by Noorway, Shechocolate, and Al Burgan Handicrafts by Lina Burgan

PALESTINE was represented by Jabra Khouri, and Heidi Fashion.

Days of intense photo-shooting have taken place in Barcelona, and our consultants and experts have provided relentless technical support and assistance to THEMEDNEW member brands.

On the morning of 7 April, all the brands finally gathered all together at the Estació de França, with mannequins exposing their garments and products at the Estacio de Franca, exchanging views, opinions, and gifts with each other, giving life to what we THEMEDNEW call “The Mediterranean Identity”, as standing for “creating together” (see the Manifesto)

The great synergy between the new four Italian brands is an all-women success: Alice Salmieri of Sartoria Maqueda, MV Marianna Vigneri, Anna of Coccadoro, and Roberta Lo Jacono representing Mollo Tutto. Inclusive creativity, great attention to Mediterranean natural and human lifestyle, colors, and comfort: all those aspects and values promoted by THEMEDNEW were embodied also by Egyptian J LINENS and Greek K7 Konstantinos Tsigaros. A new project of cooperation between the two brands is coming soon!

During the event, promising friendships between Catalan, Spanish and Jordanian brands also were born, and great inspiration and satisfaction also came from our Tunisian member Maison Mahii, whose passionate spokesperson Ana Rocha is making a huge contribution to the re-discover and re-thinking of Tunisian traditional clothing and its inclusion in modern styles, patterns, and dress solutions.

The agenda of Slow Living in the Mediterranean was perfectly observed. The role of moderator was taken by the Media Expert of TEXFOR, Montserrat Pérez Creus. Following, an introduction by TEXFOR Director of Operations Mònica Olmos Plaza, presenting the main partners TEX-MED ALLIANCES and THEMEDNEW initiative. Also following interventions of 080 BCN Fashion Director, and Patrick Torrent of the Catalan Tourism Agency, (Generalitad de Cataluña). Furthermore, Senior Fashion International Marketing Expert Dr. Hani Mourad Hanna has presented THEMEDNEW, reading some key passages of our Manifesto, which constitutes the core of our Principles and Values, shared and promoted by all our members. To complete the discussion about a more human, more sustainable, and slower pattern of living, ENI CBC MED Med Pearls Project made a presentation about sustainable tourism.

Finally, the second part of the event gave space to all our brands for presenting themselves to the public, introducing their Mediterranean styles, and their unique approach toward a more sustainable lifestyle in the field of fashion and textile. A nice networking aperitivo followed, giving space for confrontation, dialogue, and mutual exchange between brands, people, and cultures. That is what THEMEDNEW is about. We grow up together, more consciously, for a better future, and a cleaner Mediterranean.

We’d love to thank our Partners and our wonderful members, who made THEMEDNEW come true.

Silvio Magnolo, PR & Networking Manager THEMEDNEW

As a matter of fact, the 19 member companies exhibiting on the 7^th of April at the Francia Station equally represent all the 7 beneficiary countries of ENI CBC MED TEX-MED ALLIANCES and THEMEDNEW (with at least 1 company per country).

They will meet each other in person during the 080 Barcelona Fashion event, and it will be a real success for everyone, a relief after the harsh covid restrictions. An opportunity to share, to network, and to grow stronger together.

Italy, Spain, Greece, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine are the cultures contributing to the creation of the new Mediterranean Identity in Fashion & Textile, the new Mediterranean of the future, or – if you’d rather use our own words – THEMEDNEW.

Thanks to our great international staff, and to our proactive members from all over the Mediterranean, THEMEDNEW is finally becoming the first Mediterranean Sustainable Alliance in the Fashion & Textile Industry.

As THEMEDNEW hangtags – now circulating in many Mediterranean shops – say:

“BORN IN 2021

FOR THE FUTURE”

“Slow-living in the Mediterranean” is the title and fil-rouge of the event: Slow fashion and sustainability are the core of THEMEDNEW, and of all the companies that make it every day stronger and stronger.

The event – in the frame of 2022 080 Barcelona Fashion week – will take place at the Francia Station, a wonderful location in the center of Barcelona. Tradition, style, and multiculturalism stem from this unique venue. Alliances between countries and cultures take time and need means of transport. The Francia Station is the embodiment of crossing and encounters between people from all over the Mediterranean, and the world as a whole of course. Ideal place for THEMEDNEW and its creator TEX-MED ALLIANCES!

Yet, sustainability also means rethinking the way we move, and the way we make people move. That is why we will have at our side ENI CBC MED funded project “Med Pearls”, and the Catalan Tourist Board on behalf of the Government of Catalonia. Our lead beneficiary TEXFOR has really outdone itself in preparing and organizing the event, and we are sincerely grateful to all our Catalan colleagues.

As more dialogue encourages more business, we strive to give the best to our company members, drawing the best version of them,  making them feel at ease presenting their garments and products, while letting them network with each other as well. Encouraging companies to be really Mediterranean, i.e. to do things together, in a spirit of solidarity and inclusive creativity is the very sense and mission of THEMEDNEW.

This and much more is going to happen on the 7^th of April, at the 080 Barcelona Fashion! The event will start at 12 AM, and it will end at 5 PM, CET. Get your official invitation here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe74bIPZ2gCptdOvFW5gtgzpcTARsnPjv6VTlH0p11uuCAHSg/viewform

Be awear! Wear THEMEDNEW!

AFTS is the largest fashion exhibition in Greece and the Balkans and was the first opportunity to promote the new brand THEMEDNEW in a big trade show.

Due to travel restrictions from the pandemic, in the THEMEDNEW booth, only Greek companies participated in the exhibition.

In a booth of ​​30 sqm participated with natural products 2 Greek companies. Konstantinos Tsigaros (member of THEMEDNEW) and the company TSIAKIRIS SILK HOUSE.

The other companies of THEMEDNEW were shown through a video prepared by SEPEE with members’ clothes pictures, the Manifesto, the website, and other information material. 

The initial goal of promoting the new brand THEMEDNEW  to a real trade fair exceeded all expectations. The stand attracted the interest of many shops and fashion companies.

More than 150 trade visitors entered the THEMEDNEW stand during the exhibition and were informed about the new brand. 74 B to B meetings were held with interested trade stores. The two companies received a total of 33 new orders from Greece, Cyprus, and Lebanon. 11 companies were informed about the conditions of their participation in the new brand.

The 100 THEMEDNEW cards were sold out!

The products with the new brand THEMEDNEW are being placed in many Greek cities (Athens, Thessaloniki) , touristic islands (Mykonos, Santorini, Crete, Rhodes, Kea, etc), resort hotels and abroad.

The most interesting result is the demand of the stores for the promotion of the new brand THEMEDNEW in their stores.

We really thank the executives of SEPEE (Theofilos Aslanidis & Takis Lybereas) for producing this report, which is proof of the success of THEMEDNEW.

VOGUE Spain, in an online article published on the 26^th of October has mentioned THEMEDNEW as “an European Union funded project that collects Mediterranean fashion brands engaging in climate change issues, in reducing carbon footprint for future generations”.

Nothing more accurate! We THEMEDNEW look ahead to a future Mediterranean basin where:

• the Fashion & Textile Industry is more environmentally and socially fair and conscious.
• innovation is a creation of togetherness and cooperation, based on solid alliances between start-ups, SMEs, and businesses.

THEMEDNEW has a two-fold networking spirit: bringing companies, producers, designers and entrepreneurs to make things together. From different countries, and from all the Fashion & Textile value chain.

A cultural commitment for a more sustainable and international Mediterranean Identity!

article link: https://www.vogue.es/moda/articulos/080-barcelona-fashion-2021-dia-1