Beneficiary name: DAALARNA Fashion Design, Manufacturing and Trade Ltd.

Project title: Manufacturing technology and business development at Daalarna Ltd.

Contracted support amount: HUF 50,312,583

Support rate: 70.00%

Project content:

The Daalarna brand was founded in 2002 by fashion designer Anita Benes, with its main profile being the design and manufacturing of bridal and formal wear. The company designs its products to measure based on its own values and style markers; it is currently one of the most influential players in the Hungarian wedding dress market and also has more than 40 international retailers. Daalarna’s goal is to expand into further countries and promote the Hungarian brand internationally. Our company was founded in 2002, and we began designing dresses as a player in the domestic wedding industry. Our specialty is high-quality, haute couture dress manufacturing. We have been in the international market since 2013; due to our high volume of orders, there is a need to introduce new technologies, faster administration, increased production scale, and shortened manufacturing times. Daalarna’s strength lies in the artisanal technology of custom-made dresses, but alongside custom manufacturing, ready-to-wear production has also been introduced. The patterns for our self-designed models are currently created by hand. For more efficient work, we need an innovative pattern making, modeling, and grading system. This software and equipment will allow for editing functions tailored to our needs, the digitization of existing patterns, and the programmability of our own editing processes. Sustainability has always been an important consideration, and the new system will enable economical material usage. Time savings and production growth can be achieved through the automatic placement of components and the optimization of marker making. It is important to us that the increase in quantity does not come at the expense of craftsmanship. Our IT equipment needs upgrading, and our existing tools will be compatible with the new technological changes being introduced. To ensure fast and modern client management, we want to develop a CRM system for communicating with international partners and managing their orders. New IT tools are required for the photographic documentation of orders and for managing the CRM system. Rapid response, precise execution, and meeting deadlines are the main competitive advantages, and the introduction of new technologies would significantly support all of these. The crisis caused by COVID-19 unfortunately brought a downturn to our past year. International exhibitions, as well as the showrooms and trunk shows that most support sales, were canceled. We can improve this downturn by appearing at exhibitions that are becoming possible again; we would like to present our collection in New York. We plan to focus on new markets as well, which is why we chose Bridal Week in Barcelona as one of our appearances. In addition, we would like to open toward the Asian market in the future. International expansion requires strengthening our online platforms and digital presence, which we would also support with marketing and PR campaigns. As part of the project, we are also utilizing wage subsidies to preserve all jobs following the coronavirus situation.

Elements of our project:

• machinery procurement: sewing machine, embroidery machine, coverstitch machine, high-speed lockstitch machine, interlock, plotter
• manufacturing license
• IT equipment: 1 high-performance desktop, 10 iPads, 2 laptops, 1 monitor, 1 PC, LCD display, MiniCRM system
• participation in 2 international exhibitions
• wage costs
• marketing and PR campaign

Project completion date: 06/29/2022

Project identification number: VEKOP-1.2.7-20-2021-00099