"In a fashion business the design starts in the financial department ". This was stated at the University of Navarra by Pablo López, CEO and co-founder of the fashion signature Silbon. His statements are part of the session he gave on 'The adventure of entrepreneurship' within the sectoralconference Fashion Business, organized by students of the Management Lab of lSSA School of Applied Management.

In his lecture, Lopez described the evolution of the business, from the beginnings in the living room of an old house in Cordoba in 2009, until today, which has almost thirty stores in different cities in Spain and other parts of the world. All this with its advances and its mistakes.

For Silbon's CEO, the core topic of its evolution was, on the one hand, in the human capital, and on the other hand, in the professionalization of its work, where "the study of the data is core topic to be able to analyze sales and know the trends". 

He affirmed that Silbon "is a project taken forward with normal people who have made our hobby a dream" and recalled that one of the turning points in this evolution was the year 2018: "We took off our complexes. In this way, with courage, determination, humility, sacrifice and creativity we have come to consolidate the brand." 

The sectoral conference on fashion business was held from March 6 to 10. Four other industry experts spoke during the week.  

Creative processes in fashion

The teacher of the Degree in Design and ISEM Fashion Business School, Javier Antónwas the first to speak. He opened the sectorial conference with a session in which he detailed the creative processes in fashion. He explained that creativity is something that "can be worked on" and that anyone can be creative in their field of work. To this end, he emphasized the importance of studying and researching well before starting to create. 

On the importance of creativity in the world of work, he explained that it can contribute a lot in the interactions between people, and ensure that in situations of conflict both manage to go in the same direction, instead of falling into a problem.

Fashion as a business: introduction to the market

The second of the conference went to position de María Martín-MontalvoDirector of Institutional Relations at ISEM Fashion Business School. In her session she recalled the importance of the "Spain brand" in the world of fashion, in sectors such as footwear, accessories, children's fashion or bridal, and stressed that the strength of our market, compared to other countries, is the ability to combine tradition in craftsmanship, taste for the product and the ability to know the consumer or customer. He also reviewed the main areas of a fashion business : design, product and communication.

Growth and development of a fashion brand

To tell the story of the growth and development of a fashion brand, participants included Ana and Elena Zarranztwo sisters from Navarre, former students of the University of Navarra and founders of Spanish & Sisters. They described their beginnings in the Portobello flea market in London without having any background in the fashion world, but with two maxims: "always test the product before putting it on sale" and "keep an active listening to meet customer demand". Its bet is characterized by careful designs, handcrafted products and colorful and quality materials.

The fashion experience: challenges and opportunities

"Companies want flexible workers who know how to adapt to changing work situations." This was the conclusion with which she closed her exhibition Naiara Uríagraduated from ISSA School of Applied Management in 2019, and experience manager at Inditex who spoke at the last session of the conference. During the session he explained what his work consisted of, the value of knowing the customer and the implementation of continuous improvements that make fashion shopping a remarkable experience that satisfies the demands of consumers. network In addition, with the experience of having worked in several companies in different sectors, she reminded the students of the importance of building a consistent network of contacts and of taking care of their brand staff to access a good job.