From idea to enterprise: Marbò wins “Match the future” competition of Junior Achievement Italy

Credits: NEETs in entrepreneurship

A fashion line based on the idea of the young designer Marta Bordignon, whose aim is to create unique items with great attention to detail that can be customised according to the client’s wishes.

The pandemic and the resulting economic crisis have intensified a situation that was already dramatic in Italy in recent years, with around one in four young people neither studying nor working, thus falling into the NEET category, which stands for “Not in Education, Employment or Training”.

Offering young men and women an opportunity for personal and professional revival through entrepreneurial education is the aim of Junior Achievement Italia’s “Match the Future” initiative, which takes place within the “NEETs in Entrepreneurship” project. From November 2018 until mid-2021, the project has an ambitious goal: to engage 400 young NEETs nationwide, creating 10 start-ups funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment. By the end of 2021, 1,600 NEETs in Bulgaria, Italy, Romania and Spain will receive training and support to acquire the skills needed to find a job or start their own business.

Among the 10 winning ideas, each of which will receive a 6,500 euros grant and will be accompanied along the start-up path, is Marbò, a fashion line created by the young Milanese Marta Bordignon, which aims to bring Made in Italy fashion back to Haute Couture, combining the concept of handmade and finely detailed with the possibility of customising the product according to the customer’s wishes in terms of fabrics, textures, shapes and colours, making the garments even more unique. All this with the ease of online shopping and atelier.

Marbò was born from Marta’s passion for Italian fashion and her desire to have unique hat accessories and bags to match the clothes worn: objects that were not only functional, but added an exclusive touch to an outfit, revealing something about the person wearing them. The range consists of hairbands, hair clips and bags in different shapes, textures, volumes and colours with original and sophisticated designs. Each accessory is finely detailed, handmade by the young designer, and reveals her passion for colours.

“In Italy, there are many young people with extraordinary ideas who lack the financial means and entrepreneurial skills to make them a reality, so they are too often forced to give them up”, said Miriam Cresta, CEO of Junior Achievement Italia. “With the initiative “NEETs in Entrepreneurship – Match the Future” we want to prevent this from happening by giving young men and women the skills to make their projects a reality. We believe that this is even more important at this time in history, when new ideas and the willingness of young people to get involved are crucial”.

“Following the lessons offered by the project gave me the opportunity to learn notions that I lacked due to my mainly artistic background, and to put myself in a position to think like an entrepreneur”, says Marta Bordignon. “During my work experience I have never had a figure or an opportunity to think about my business idea. As well as providing specific business and enterprise skills, this course offers solutions for dealing with the world of work, a subject that is not given enough attention in high school and university. It was just what I needed. I thought for a moment that this project was designed especially for me, that it met my needs and that it had come at a time when I was at a standstill.”

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