The Austrian company Giesswein is exhibiting at STYL for the first time. Although it has been running for six decades it entered the Czech and Slovak markets only recently. The product range consists mostly of specially treated woolen products, which make up for 90 % of the offer. The garments combine tradition with innovation with a touch of folklore and timeless design.

According to business director Marcus Giesswein the corporation offers three main product lines. The first one is clothing, which includes garments for men, women, and children. The second line features shoes dominated by warm wooly slippers. The third line is titled Home Collection and includes pillows, blankets, and other interior textiles. “We came to the trade fair to see which of our product lines is most attractive for the customers,” says Markus Giesswein. “So far it seems that people really like our slippers.” Most of Giesswein’s customers are Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Slovenians, and what is interesting, Austrians too.

Markus Giesswein, as company representative, is very proud of the fact that over the years of his brand’s existence the company developed a fashion style that is perceived as the national style of Austria. We often think that these clothes, especially men’s models, resemble a national costume. However, the warm and comfortable material found many favourers outside Austria. The company exports and is known in more than sixty countries of the world. Although the price of wool still remains quite high compared to cotton or other materials, Markus Giesswein expects that there will always be a group of customers who strongly prefer woolen garments and are ready to buy the products because they meet their demand in terms of quality. “It looks like the Czechs are quite open to new things,” says the business director optimistically. “To establish a brand on a new market takes some time. You cannot simply come somewhere for the first time and win hundreds of customers. It is a continuous work.”