By Cultural exchange of innovation and sustainability that promotes equity, equality and inclusion. “Based on culture through business.”
Stockholm, a city recognized for its expertise in environmental technology companies, and for promoting innovation and sustainable development in fashion wear, was the scenario for ‘Creative Countries’. Along the week of the encounter, the purpose of establishing collaborative projects in the creative industries of Sweden and Colombia brought together experts from the fashion wear and music fields. Ana María Londoño, general producer of the Fashion Magazine, Fucsia, recounts her experience at ‘Creative Countries’, which was held for the first time in America.
How did Creative Countries come about?
”By means of adapted ‘Breakfast Clubs’ in the city of Bogotá, the host, Sweden, the number one country in innovation in the world, and our guest, we were brought together in order to learn how to interact with people with different profiles. ” All this clearly shows Sweden’s desire to connect with other countries through the Swedish Institute and the Swedish Embassy in the capital, “demonstrating the incredible PRs they are.”
“Upon arriving in Stockholm, the fusion between fashion wear and music manifested, as well as the merge of some private companies and government sector industries, along with the media present in the events. Just getting to know each other, since we all come from a different branch, was already an opportunity for growth. ”
Ana María emphasizes the immersion opportunity in Swedish culture she was given because of all the places she got to experience more thoroughly: places like the Swedish Fashion Institute, the Fashion Council, the University of Stockholm and mainly the Faculty of Economics, which dazzled her. ” The director of the Faculty of Economics, is also the director of the Faculty of Arts, blending these two careers as a whole”.
One of the things that the Swedish country supports the most is the belief that creative companies are the industries of the future, by sponsoring humanistic studies as fundamental tools for the future and innovation.
“There are no hierarchies, they are very austere, fair and smiling people who have full support from the government, and do everything with a social purpose.”
Highlights of the Swedish culture
The fact of having a government that supports the growth of creative values in culture has generated that “all companies dedicate 20% of their time on the subject of innovation.” Speaking of fashion wear, the perception of Colombian designers and companies was “that they have an actual industry, the government provides all the support and advice, accentuating the business and infrastructure issue”.
On a creative level, ‘Subtopia’, a project sponsored by the government, stands out as a suburban space in Botkyrka, where contemporary circus, film studios, urban art, dance and music among others, can be found.
The “Creative Countries” program
The week in the Swedish capital was introduced through the ‘Talent Festival’, consisting of talks, workshops and concerts. The week began with a talk on the issue about the research of the liquid technology of Lucy McRae, science fiction artist, film director and body architect, were she placed it in complex and futuristic scenarios, focusing mainly on taking the public out of their comfort zone.
Another prominent and important theme currently in fashion wear is the sustainability and feminism exhibited during the conferences; an example of this is “the void in the field of innovation and design focused on women, on how the market abandons women from the get-go, and the need of conceiving innovation considering the requirements of women”.
What is the status of fashion for the world today?
“Right now, we’re experiencing the fourth industrial revolution; instead of being a crisis, it is a moment of opportunities and reinvestment in fashion wear. Fashion has not yet developed technologically like many other areas; we have a long road ahead, in matters such as artificial design. One of the paths that we have to explore is the usage of computer design in a more specialized, personalized way, and that can reach more markets “.
“Innovation requires a lot of creativity”
What do you think?