This Year’s Talents Mentoring Program Has Reached Its Final Stage

Eight young talents were given the opportunity to develop their professional skills in the Talents Mentoring Program, announced for the second time by the Hungarian Fashion & Design Agency. The program has reached its final stage: in recent weeks, the selected mentees participated in interviews with the most prominent representatives of the domestic fashion and design scene. Over the following period, they will gain valuable brand development and other practical knowledge within the program’s framework.

The Talents Mentoring Program was launched for the first time in November 2022 – a professional program focusing on fashion and design aimed at providing recent graduates and new entrants with opportunities for brand and career development, and knowledge in innovation and sustainability. The talent program not only equips the selected mentees with useful brand establishment skills but also introduces them to the numerous opportunities offered by existing fashion and design-focused businesses in Hungary through professional mentoring. The program includes a two-week, active mentoring process that facilitates building valuable contacts in addition to gaining practical knowledge, significantly contributing to future career opportunities and career development.

Of the eight talents selected from the thirty-five applicants, three receive brand development and self-branding coaching, while five of them will learn the ins and outs of the fashion and design industry through hands-on professional training with local brands. From exciting design methodologies to the processes of international brand distribution and self-awareness development exercises, the mentors give the selected mentees a taste of each area. The young talents applied to their chosen brands with a cover letter, a CV and a professional portfolio summarising their work from recent years, then the industry representatives conducted individual interviews to get to know them and select their mentorees based on these discussions.

In the field of design, Dávid Salamon, and in the field of fashion, Erzsébet Jiang and Valentin Szarvas can participate in brand development consultations, including one-to-one sessions on self-branding. During the professional mentoring phase, AERON has specifically chosen Fanni Eperke Szabó as their mentee from three applicants. The young designer will focus on knitwear technology, her specified area, during the talent development process. Nanushka provided the opportunity to Henrietta Hirviniemi, while Balázs Szőllősi joined LumoConcept, the company he had targeted from the beginning, for a two-week professional training. Dóra Eiler can spend the practical phase of the program at Solinfo Group, among the products of world-renowned design brands, while Nikola Mrkobrad will receive valuable professional support from FabLab Budapest.

Over the past months, the mentees have followed a restructured curriculum, enhancing and fine-tuning the knowledge they have acquired over the years through webinars, workshops, and individual professional consultations. As a culmination of the Talents Mentoring Program, the mentees will share the most important experiences of their professional development through in-person presentations.

The mentees and enterprises participating in professional mentoring: