CCB Magazine

Help us to fly!

Photo: © Berlin Fashion Labels. Lilla Fufavi from Berlin Fashion Tours.

In a new series we present the companies of this year's program "Invest in Creativity - Investors Lab". In part 4 we talk about Berlin Fashion Tours, a new personal style guide for Berlin's Fashion Highlights far away from mass consumption. We talked to the founder Lilla Fufavi: How did you come up with this idea? What does your business model look like? And why should investors invest in such a label?

Kreativ Kultur Berlin: Hi Lilla, first of all, please introduce yourself: Who are you, what do you do, why should people know you?

Lilla Fufavi: Hi, my name is Lilla Fufavi. I'm a freelance fashion designer and stylist. I studied journalism in Vienna and started my career in the fashion business 12 years ago as I founded my avant-garde label 'Fufavi'. Since then I'm also active as a personal shopper, freelance stylist for magazines, e-commerce, and many more. My fashion designs could be seen on catwalks in Tokyo, for instance, and were exhibited in London and in Paris, to mention only a few of the milestones. Three years ago I co-founded the brand 'Back to the FOX', known for the ultimate 2in1 jackets. My newest ‘baby’ is Berlin Fashion Tours: Your personal stylist will guide you to Berlin's Fashion Highlights to discover the most unique stores, from affordable to high-end fashion. 

Photos  ©  Berlin Fashion Tours

Kreativ Kultur Berlin:But what's the target? Is your central aim to consume more and more? 

Lilla Fufavi:No, on the contrary! We’re focusing on alternatives to mass consumption. We want to take people to places where new green fashion and sustainable concepts are emerging. We also want to specifically strengthen Berlin labels. Because what makes Berlin special? Not the big commercial labels, for sure. The many small-scale business models in town with ecological awareness are the special ones. We want to increase their range. Our motto is “Buy less, but the best”.  A long term wardrobe is what we believe in! 

With Berlin Fashion Tours we want to take people to places where new green fashion and sustainable concepts are emerging. We also want to specifically strengthen Berlin labels

Kreativ Kultur Berlin:But especially the many small labels and solo entrepreneurs don't earn much. This year, you applied for the Investors Lab 2019. Investments are about money and profit, while sustainability is about preserving resources. Why should investors invest in a company like yours?

Lilla Fufavi:Every year, the number of consumers interested in sustainable clothing increases fivefold, worldwide. These people want to know which shops not to miss when they are traveling. Our concept, for which we have already received great feedback, is not only interesting regarding profit, but also in the sense of a cycle of giving. First of all, we give an amazing experience to our tour participants: they get guided to the best fashion spots, designer ateliers, green/upcycling shops, vintage stores. No research needed beforehand. Second: we bring real customers to local fashion designers and hidden shops, so they all get support from us. Third: Our tour guides actually get paid for supporting Berlin's local fashion and for helping people to buy the very best. And last but not least, with our tours we help to change the fashion industry to get less polluting and fairer. Let’s make together a lot of people happy by giving! 

Photos  ©  Berlin Fashion Tours

Kreativ Kultur Berlin:What do you expect from such an investment in your company? What steps do you want to take afterwards?

Lilla Fufavi:An investment would help us to fly! That means not to fly with an airplane. It means to grow with my business model. First of all we need more manpower and a marketing/PR budget. We already got in touch with experienced marketing agencies worldwide.

Consumers interested in sustainable clothing want to know which shops they shouldn't miss out when traveling. Our concept, for which we have already received great feedback, is not only interesting regarding profit, but also in the sense of a cycle of giving

Kreativ Kultur Berlin:How do you build a business like yours? Which hurdles have to be overcome? What do I have to be aware of? Which financing strategy do you pursue or which financing methods have you used to build up your business so far?

Lilla Fufavi:The hardest thing is to offer our service to the people who are traveling in the near future to Berlin, or who are here right now. We are constantly trying out some guerilla marketing ideas as our budget is very limited. But we have many marketing ideas, so we believe with the right budget and experts we can find our customers easily.

Kreativ Kultur Berlin:What do you expect from the Investors Lab? Where and how do you see your future?

Lilla Fufavi:We completely restructured our pitch through Investors Lab. It was also very good to see how other start-ups do their pitch and what their problems are. The future is that we achieve to establish our concept worldwide in every fashion capital like London, Milan, Paris, New York, Tokyo. And we will have a great impact to change the fashion industry and make it more sustainable. 

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