Interview with Andreina Serena Romano, CEO of Heroes Srl and founder of Pow-Wow Fashion Tech Week Italy
The powWow is the first Italian Fashion-Tech Week. Our mission is to promote and improve innovation, sustainability and tech culture in the fashion area.
Italy has a historical tradition in fashion and Made in Italy is well known everywhere in the world. But, as we know, globalization is a fact and all the SMEs had to focus on it. For this reason, we decided to create a virtual platform to exchange and promote knowledge about the future developments of this sector.
Give us more details about the last edition and also next date for “Fashion Tech Week Italy”
Unfortunately, due to the COVID situation, the 2020 edition of PowWow didn’t take place. But we are now working on a virtual edition and the next date for the in-person event will be May 2021. In the meanwhile, we are organizing digital appointments to allow companies to approach innovation professions and discover all the latest discoveries and improvements in the fashion sector. Among the activities, we are currently organizing virtual appointments and talks about our 3 main topics: digital, sustainability and technology.
Which countries are your target markets for exhibitors and visitors?
PowWow is an international event: we focus on the worldwide market. Visitors are international and the exhibitors can interact with locals and people from all over the world to be inspired and to create valuable connections. Innovation has no barriers and for this reason, we think that the world is our main stage. But we want to underline that our focus is on SMEs, that often have difficulties to confront the global market, that are always struggling to find innovative solutions to make them more competitive.
How do you evaluate the textile and fashion exhibition sector after a pandemic?
We think that something’s gonna change. Maybe, big exhibitions are no longer the right place for business. Obviously, the virtual component will be central for the future of the event sector: highly technological exhibitions with remote interaction and networking and an increasingly innovative offer.
This is the future of any exhibition in the world of textile and fashion: from fashion shows to fairs, everything must become digital and, therefore, accessible to a wider number of people.
As a textile and fashion event organizer in Italy, how do you evaluate the textile and fashion industry in the Middle East and Africa and its potential for Future. What is your plan for this region
The potential is high and the possibilities are numerous. We think that those markets are growing more and more by offering solutions that combine tradition with innovation.
Both in terms of suppliers and manufacturing and from the production point of view the offer is wide. We would like to imagine integrating local skills with international ones offering a new key to interpret the potential of the area. We are thinking of an ecosystem that combines the Middle East and Africa and promotes sustainability and innovation, contributing to the advancement of local professionals.
COVID 19 shows us we should rely more on sustainability and green products, what do you think about sustainable and green fashion? Do you have any section for this part in your event?
Sustainability is one of the focal points of our event: we dedicated a full day to this issue. Everything related to green is what really innovates companies operating in fashion and textiles. The ability to research and improve products and processes offers consumers new purchasing solutions but also new business models that allow companies to diversify and expand their business.
