Clothes for optimistic people who appreciate quality - Serbian brand, EXTERRA reaches France, Norway and Russia

Optimistic people who gladly accept new trends wear EXTERRA brand. They know to estimate the real value and quality, they like details and originality. For them, wardrobe is something more, Ivica Jevgenijevic, General Manager with Arteksa, says for eKapija.

Long-term customer retention is what they are most proud of. They were obtaining it slowly but definitely.

Arteks was set up in 1990 and the company core activity was wardrobe wholesales and press site. After seven years, the Jevgenijevic family opted for production of clothes in their own town.

- Since my parents worked in a textile firm, we came to an idea to use their knowledge and experience in starting our own production. In 1994, my father bought three sewing machines and in 1997 we started production - Ivica Jevgenijevic is speaking about the beginnings.

(Ivica Jevgenijevic)

In 2003, Arteks initiated the EXTERRAbrand, under which they today produce the entire product line for women and men which comprises three categories - sport, casual and fine wear.

- During those years, the market was crowded with copies of different brands and we wanted to be unique for design and quality. Therefore, the need for our own brand emerged. The name should have been original and thus EXTERRA was born.It was derived from the word “external”.

Since more and more clothes is produced in Chine, we asked our collocutor whether the EXTERRA clothes is coming from Arilje?

- I am happy to say we are one of a few companies in this industry which produces items with the label “made in Serbia”.

When it comes to materials, Arteks procures them mostly in Turkey, Greece and Italy.

(A part of EXTERRA woman collection for spring/summer 2014)

- Our task is primarily to satisfy our customers’ wishes and demands as well as to take their suggestions into account. In line with that, we use new knowledge acquired through world trends by visiting fairs and subscription to certain expert magazines.

Today Arteks has 100 employees and they fully employ another 150 in cooperate companies. For the EXTERRA clothes, some 110.000 meters of material and 50 tons of knit materials is processed per year.

Ivica Jevgenijevic mentions that 30% of the overall production is exported.Most of the clothes Arteks places to ex-Yu countries, as well as in Russia,France and Norway.

Our collocutor says the situation in textile industry is very difficult because the state does not have the strategy of development of this field.

(A part of EXTERRA men collection for spring/summer 2014)

- It seems the state does not even have the strategy to fight the grey market which is still expanding. In these conditions, it is hard to struggle with strong, foreign competition. Liabilities to the state are high and loans still expansive. The lack of workforce is another huge problem, especially in smaller towns such as Arilje.

Despite the difficulties, for the upcoming period, Arilje-based company announces opening of new stores, export increase as well as development of the existing retail shops.

In Serbia, clothes produced by Arteks can be found in 8 8 EXTERRA shops and63 multi-brand stores Serbia-wide.

Summer/Spring 2014 collection?

- We will meet the spring in intensive spectrum of blue, green, pink and orange. Natural materials, relaxed tops and pants, long skirts will make you feel comfortable and free in our spring collection. Textures of new materials are specifically interesting and this season floral and geometrical design is in – representatives of Arteks say.

S.O.