It's been almost six months since Antje - the founder of WeeDo - wanted to sell her fashion label in "The Lion's Den". That was in October 2019. A lot has happened since then, WeeDo has grown a lot, the small collection has become a big family! In her interview, she tells you what it was like for Antje at the time:

What was it like when you got the nod to appear on the show?

I applied to Sony Pictures with WeeDo Funwear for The Lion's Den and thought I'd missed the application deadline. So I didn't expect anything.
The next day I was invited to the casting.

At the casting, the kids weren't interested anymore because of the long wait and that was totally terrible - nothing that I had thought about worked out. Somehow it all seemed to be ill-fated.

In January they actually got in touch. WeeDo was intended for recording on "The Lion's Den". But: end of January! That was impossible for me as a small label. After all, the end of January is trade fair time. So I had to cancel and I thought: that's it for good!

At the end of February I finished it myself. So I planned the rest of the year for WeeDo and boom, the phone rang... could I come to the recording this week?

I needed to get back all the samples that had already been sent out as soon as possible, so I didn't have time to even prepare a pitch. That had to happen on the way to the recording. And only then could I think about things like: "What do I even want and do I really want that?"

The dress rehearsal was the following day at 7 in the morning, and I totally messed it up. I was so excited that at the end I even forgot that everything was really at stake. I walked through the door and hey presto, there sat the investors.

Did you have any doubts during your performance, it won't work? Or were you convinced that it would work!

Before that, I had actually thought that everyone would definitely get out, no one wanted to invest in textiles. In a niche product, after all, there is already so much. Still, I was disappointed with every single one that got out. But I wasn't allowed to show it and actually I didn't want to be.
When it finally worked out with Georg, I was really happy, yay, I get support, I can get started. And then the exhilaration set in.


What advice would you give to founders?

I would tell them that they should always stick to their vision and at most make adjustments and not get discouraged! There is always a way.

AND NOW? What has happened to "The Lion's Den" since the pitch? See for yourself! Only new characters have joined the snowsuits , there is even a completely new product line in the starting blocks! From the end of September you can get to know our softshell suits for the first time! First in 2 different styles.

PS In the pictures you can see exclusive excerpts from the public viewing of our performance at "Die Höhle der Löwen"!