Shopping Guide 2018

town. Networking is his major topic and, of course, he
wants to draw attention to the creative minds: this
he achieves, for instance, by sending them to fashion
fairs or by arranging presentation space in the city.
“Our objective is to provide entrepreneurs with the
perfect infrastructure for developing their brand and
products”, he says. “In doing so, Mannheim obtains a
leading role in the German start-up scene.”
This is supported by Maria Pentschev. In 2013, the
Pop-Akademie Mannheim alumni founded the nowadays
internationally successful label for men’s socks
“von Jungfeld” together with Lukas Pulkert. She is
convinced: “Elsewhere we would not have received this
kind of support.” Likewise, the designer Alexej Ballach
has chosen Mannheim consciously as his desired business
location. Since 2012, he issues several collections
of his minimalistic, monochromatic fashion per year.
He counsels to the entrepreneurs at the Textilerei by
handing on his experience, as well as his contacts with
producers. He states: “It is amazing to see what happens
here. Mannheim is in the process to become a
fashion location.”
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