NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, is bringing Italian designer Francesca Liberatore’s Fall 2015 collection to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York, which gets under way today. As one of the four talented designers who won the first DHL Exported contest last year, the Rome-based designer is benefitting from the logistics and branding support provided by DHL and IMG to bring her innovative designs to new international markets.
Liberatore’s Fall collection takes over the New York runway on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m., while another DHL Exported winner, Nicholas K, will show their Fall 2015 line today in New York and have their second runway show in Milan later this month.
“The unique program we launched last year helps designers already established in their local markets to increase their global footprint, allowing them to showcase their collections on the world’s most powerful Fashion Week platforms and begin to grow their business on a global scale,” said Bill Heaney - Vice President, Head Retail Sector, Americas, DHL Global Forwarding. “Since DHL is a longtime provider of essential logistics to the fashion industry, it’s important to encourage and promote new talent. The winners are truly outstanding, and they were chosen from a group of highly talented designers.”
DHL and IMG launched the DHL Exported Program last year to support designers seeking to expand across international borders. Designers were invited to submit proposals to expand their business in four key retail markets, with an export development strategy that included shipping and logistics assistance, marketing, public relations, and social media support as well as a digital platform with an e-commerce portal to attract sales for each collection. Panels of regional experts in New York, London, Milan and Tokyo reviewed entries from designers in 36 countries.
For the winning designers, DHL Exported is sponsoring a fully produced runway show for two consecutive seasons, as well as covering the logistics costs of producing the collection and shipping the finished garments to the runway in either New York, Milan, London or Tokyo.
“The DHL program has generated a lot of international attention, with different fashion experts looking at my collection and my ideas,” said Liberatore, who made her first appearance on the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week runway last September. “To grow, we need to understand and satisfy a new audience that has special tastes, needs, priorities and expectations. I want to surprise them and make them curious so I applied all my creativity, feeling and research. I’m grateful for the DHL program that allowed me to get in contact with the top people and organizations. I definitely want to establish my brand in New York. This was a great chance, a great step and challenge.”
The two other DHL Exported winners, Turkish designer Hakaan Yildirim and U.K. designer House of Holland, will bring their Fall 2015 collections to Fashion Week events in London and Tokyo respectively in the coming weeks.
DHL – The Logistics company for the world
DHL is the global market leader in the logistics and transportation industry and “The logistics company for the world”. DHL commits its expertise in international express, national and international parcel delivery, air and ocean freight, road and rail transportation as well as contract and e-commerce related solutions along the entire supply chain. A global network composed of more than 220 countries and territories and around 315,000 employees worldwide offers customers superior service quality and local knowledge to satisfy their shipping and supply chain requirements. DHL accepts its social responsibility by supporting environmental protection, disaster management and education.
DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL. The Group generated revenues of more than 55 billion euros in 2013.
For more information: www.dp-dhl.com
