Carolin Schmidt is a young German fashion designer from Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt. She launched her own fashion line in 2008 and runs her shop and office from her parents’ home, designing funky bespoke dresses for clients who follow the process from the first sketch to buying the fabric to the final one-of-its-kind result.

But Schmidt, who had never left her hometown, had always dreamed of visiting London. In 2009, she won the Talented Young Businesswoman prize for Saxony-Anhalt, and met Katharina Berger of the local Enterprise Europe Network partner, the Magdeburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Berger works closely with the local association of women entrepreneurs. “She came to me because she wanted experience abroad,” says Berger.

The Network is familiar with EU cross-border funding programmes, and helps small companies find the one that suits them. Berger suggested an exchange through the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme. “I helped Carolin prepare her papers and search the database for entrepreneurs,” says Berger. They found a company in London that fit the bill perfectly – From Somewhere, a trendy design label that makes clothes out of recycled offcuts of luxury fabrics.

Although it wasn’t like anything she’d done before, Schmidt learnt a great deal about fashion and recycling during the six months she spent at From Somewhere. “I learned about cut and construction and how to make an outfit from an old jumper or discarded fabric,” she says.

She also thoroughly enjoyed herself, meeting other young designers from the Czech Republic, Brazil and the United States. She even went to London Fashion Week with two models wearing her dresses, and says they received compliments.

“I loved my time in London,” says the young designer. “I met so many fashion people and I learned so many things that have been useful for my own business. The programme is brilliant and my English has greatly improved.”