ANNOUNCEMENT
As Oslo Runway celebrates its 10th year in August, the popular investment makes a comeback for the third year in a row.
Oslo Runway NEXT is an ambitious support program aiming to provide exposure and support to young, Norwegian fashion and lifestyle brands by giving them essential, decisive opportunities to develop and rise to the next level.
During ORW25, Oslo Runway NEXT will once again give a few selected brands access to mentorship as well as funding to show their collection on the runway or as a presentation during Oslo Runway.
The selected brands for NEXT will be announced before the summer. Similar to last year, Oslo Runway will onboard a large and important collaborator to carry through the NEXT program. This year’s partner will be announced shortly.
A golden ticket for the next generation
Elin O. Carlsen, CEO of Oslo Runway, underlines the value of the opportunities that the NEXT program provides.
– When establishing a fashion and lifestyle brand today you need knowledge about sustainability, sourcing and production, running a webshop, logistics, economics, brand building and positioning. Few, if any, can fill all of these roles alone, which is why it’s so important to be surrounded by a good network - and mentors who want to share their expertise, says Carlsen.
The support program is a golden ticket that includes a one-on-one mentorship and a customised competence program. The NEXT applications are screened by the Oslo Runway Program Committee, and the selected brands will be able to take advantage of personal exchanges of knowledge from a group of different, established profiles from the Norwegian fashion and design industry - with backgrounds in sustainability, production, communication and brand building, among other themes.
The candidates are selected based on several criteria, such as business potential, vision, creativity, innovation, sustainability, and other.
– Together with this year’s partner, we will once again highlight the next generation of brands in Norway - the ones who dare to go for it, and have the ambition and the guts to build a sustainable business from their creative competence, says Carlsen.
A focus on building competence
As an important supplement, the NEXT brands get access to a diverse portfolio of competence programs, such as webinars, seminars and educative courses thanks to a one year membership in Norwegian Fashion Hub, our national organisation for brands within fashion and lifestyle. In addition to this, comes valuable training in the CPHFW Sustainability Requirements, guided by Oslo Runway.
