Clothing by armedangels: Germany’s first social fashion
The collection “armedangels“ of Anton Jurina and Martin Höfeler , two young entrepreneurs from Cologne, is still in its infancy. The fact that their fashionable and fair-traded clothing convinced the jury of the competition founded by “Wirtschaftswoche” (leading economic magazine published weekly) to the extent that they placed first with their business idea is a promising sign of further success for the two business managers.
The two young business management students worked out the plan for their business idea w ith the chic, fair-traded gear in their student pad in the centre of Cologne. “Green is in“, was their belief, “and it has to come out of the batik corner at last.” Therefore, they created the young fashion label “armedangels” - sexy eco wear and the first German social fashion label. “This not only corresponds to the Zeitgeist, but is also in keeping with the consumer’s wish nowadays to consume with a good conscience more than ever“, emphasises Höfeler. The concept: pictures and lettering of world-famous designers are printed on clothing that is traded fairly and has been manufactured free of pesticides. Customers may also submit designs by Internet and have them assessed. The best are selected and produced in organic dressmaker shops in Mauritius that have the fair trade certification. Prerequisite: these tailor and dressmaker shops may only use cotton that has been produced ecologically correctly. The producers pay their employees decent wages, child labour is forbidden. For each shirt that customers acquire for between 30 to 50 euros, 3.33 euros go into relief projects. “From armedangels to Santa Cruz” is then written, for example, subtly on the sleeve of the shirt.
Injection of capital for sustainable startup
In the end, Jurina and Höfeler convinced the jury of Wirtschaftswoche’s founding competition of their élan, their idea that hits upon the Zeitgeist and of their suitable business model, and received a prize package of over 250,000 euros for their first place. A Swiss consultancy will be of assistance to the young businessmen in their search for investors; a personnel consulting company will assist in recruiting employees, canvasser von Jung van Matt will provide brand and communications strategies and a law office will advise the startup with regard to the contract issues. Jurina and Höfeler have already hired five employees. They wish to supply at least 15 boutiques in Germany and 15 more abroad in the coming year with their social street wear. Roland Tycha, chief editor of the Wirtschaftswoche and member of the jury, is also confident: “Hardly started and the new young entrepreneurs have already created the first jobs. Their vision fits in perfectly with the current fairness trend. We need more of these founders.”
SS
www.armedangels.de
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