After the long day of traveling we are now exhausted and since the next few days will bring many impressions, we go to bed early.
The following is on our to-do list: We would like to get an overview of our three new production partners, visit the company premises and get to know the people we work with from Cologne.
Arrival
We start our journey to North Macedonia early on Monday morning. The relatively small landlocked country is nestled between Serbia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Greece and Albania. We fly from Cologne/Bonn Airport to Vienna and from there to the capital Skopje. Around 16%1 of the 2.1 million North Macedonians2 live in the city, which is just 20 kilometers from the neighboring state of Kosovo.
Together with Philipp, the very friendly head of our Dutch agency, we finally arrive after a seven-hour journey. Here in North Macedonia, it is common practice to hire an agency that in turn works with the highly specialized production facilities. One reason for this approach is the language barrier that often exists. The local production companies are in most cases family businesses that have existed since the 1990s. Two generations almost always work hand in hand with each other. The descendants of the founders usually speak good English, but for the very specific specialist areas surrounding production, a single English-speaking contact in the company is hardly sufficient.
Beautiful landscapes and a warm welcome
We would like to visit the agency directly from the airport. On the car ride we are constantly accompanied by the same, impressive view of the snow-capped mountain ranges. North Macedonia is surrounded by mountains and we enjoy the atmosphere that the rocky giants radiate.
It is wintery cold, but we are given such a warm welcome here that we immediately feel at home. We are impressed by the agency's own sample studio and the large number of clothing technicians who are employed every day on the road and on site at the agency's portfolio production facilities to support production.
A long to-do list
Another aim of our visit is to check and approve garments from our upcoming collection on site. This will save our team in Cologne a lot of work in the coming weeks and the production facility will also be able to make our adjustments early on and without the hassle of detailed emails and long phone calls. Production is currently running at full speed - an ideal time for quality control and small changes.
We check our garments
On Tuesday morning, we drive to our partner blouse company together with the agency heads Philipp and Boris and the responsible clothing technician. And we immediately have a sense of achievement: Brigitte examines our blouse and can approve it after a quick check.
We are very happy with the production facility and after a delicious lunch we move on to the next company: a trouser specialist. We actually discover our trousers on the production line and are able to check them out - our second success.
We had a very good feeling in both companies and are happy to report directly to our colleagues in Cologne on the phone about our encounters and the adjustments we have made.
Great care in the operating facilities
On Wednesday we will go to the city of Prilep to visit our blazer production facility.
We spend a whole day in the family business, checking a large number of blazers and watching in the ironing room how one blazer after the other is ironed with great care.
We are very impressed by the family atmosphere and are continually impressed by the efficiency with which these companies work.
The fact that our agency employs its own clothing technicians here on site who help monitor production is another big plus point.
A company with the best conditions
On Thursday, the last day of our trip, we are visiting a supplier with whom we do not yet work, but who we can imagine working with in the future. Since nothing beats getting to know someone in person, we take the opportunity to visit the entire production facility.
We encounter a dual management team consisting of mother and daughter, just like at LANIUS.
And in addition to this commonality, we discover even more: there is concentrated female power here, coupled with great joy in the work. We are enthusiastic about the working atmosphere and quickly realize that the employees have known each other for a long time, respect their boss and, despite all the organization and efficiency, always have time for a nice chat.
After an extensive tour of the company, we decided to work together soon. Maybe even next season. We are more than happy with the results of our trip and are returning to Cologne with a good feeling.
