All about design!

Tim is a member of the Local Social Entrepreneurship (LSE) Council under the Made51 flag. Effectively, it is a cooperative partner and advisory board made up of social entrepreneurships like HDIF that provide refugee-made products to Made51, who markets them. The members of the council, from Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Lebanon and Armenia, were asked to come to Paris for a regular coordination meeting between the council and the Made51 staff. 

Tim flew to Paris on January 18th, and went directly from the Charles de Gaulle airport to the Porte de Versailles exhibition grounds where the Museum Connections fair was being held. The LSEs and Made51 staff worked feverishly to get the stand set up. The next three days were used to welcome a steady stream of clients that came to the stand - museum shops, universities, project officers and more. Made51 was astonished at the volume of visitors, given that it was the first time that Made51 had exhibited at this fair. Largely, the very concept of products made by refugees, the very core of Made51's existence, struck a strong cord with people. Many asked if the LSEs could develop bespoke items specially for their needs. Of course they can! Now the hard, tedious work of following up all the leads from that fair begins. Each business card received is a golden ticket to an order if pursued diligently.

The Who's Next fair for fashion and jewelry was also arranged in Paris at the same time. A couple of the LSEs, including HDIF, visited this one to see if there are potential partners for production. Syrian Armenians in Armenia for example do fabulous work with the filigree work. HDIF took a few samples with them to show. 

The Made51 team and LSE's visited the product development department of the Chloe clothing brand company. A wide variety of samples, exhibiting different materials and skills sets to give their design team inspiration. They last year ordered hundreds of thousands of beaded strap pieces produced in Pakistan and Egypt. 

These meetings are mostly coordinated with other events, like it was with the WFTO Biannual Summit in Berlin last August. The Paris meeting was scheduled to coincide with the Museum Connections fair, which markets to museum shops across Europe. At the same time, one of Europe's largest wholesale fairs, Maison et Objects, was scheduled. Thus, it was an opportunity to visit both fairs while in Paris. The point was to see what products the market is looking for, and what products we as LSEs could consider producing. 

Maison et Objects was also visited by a delegation of LSEs and the Made51 staff. The visit was used for inspiration so that we can see what can be made by the LSEs, given each organization's materials, skill sets, labor costs, etc. It was very educational. Lots of great conversations were had, and business contacts established. Exhausting with thousands of booths exhibiting, but well worth it!

The last three days in Paris were used by Tim to walk over fifty kilometers through the streets of the city. It was his first visit to Paris in nearly 35 years! Thus, walking for eight hours a day from Arc de Triomphe to Eiffel Tower to Montmarte and Sacre Coeur and down Champs Elysees and to the Pompidou Center was a real adventure and allowed him to re-learn the city.