Berlin – This week, the German capital will host a live runway show once again, as Berlin Fashion Week begins on Monday. The event is taking place for the first time in March and will also include better-for-business workshops, artistic installations, panel talks, a summit focused on sustainability, several festivals and general-public-pleasing clothing sales.
“After two years of the pandemic, the longing for real exchange is huge,” said Tanja Mühlhans, director of Project Zukunft (in English, Project Future) of the Berlin government, which supports the creative and digital industries in the city. It is supporting this Berlin Fashion Week for 790,000 euros.
Berlin Fashion Week will have something for everyone, Muhlhans told WWD, even if shows and events are affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We have developed a great sense of community and are engaging creative people from many different disciplines, from music and the arts to sustainability and technology,” enthuses Muhlhans.
Behind the scenes though, there is some competition going on between three different fashion shows in Germany, all of which will undoubtedly want to claim the title of “the” fashion opportunity that Germany should pay attention to.
Tanja Mühlhans, director of Project Zukunft in Berlin, which supports its fashion week.
Courtesy
The rivalry began two years ago, when in June 2020, a significant part of Berlin Fashion Week – three trade fairs that did the bulk of the actual business and attracted international buyers to the city – announced it was moving to Frankfurt.
Two trade shows were run by a Berlin-based company, the Premium Group, and the third, sustainable fashion fair Neoyt, was managed by Frankfurt Messe, one of the largest trade fair organizers in the world.
It was all about reinforcement and synergy, Frankfurt Messe and Premium Group executives explained in 2020.
No doubt this move shocked the Berliners. After all, the premium seemed to be at trade fairs in the capital since 2003.
After the initial surprise faded, reactions varied.
Some welcomed the departure of the premium group, saying it would allow Berlin to do more of its own, more creative and non-commercial work. He added that the Berlin event would be able to specify its own timetable and make itself more attractive to international buyers and the media, who would usually be in Paris for men’s clothing or couture shows when Berlin was underway, They said.
Others were concerned about a potential lack of commercial interest. The city’s statistics show that trade fairs helped bring Berlin Fashion Week to the capital annually by about 70,000 visitors and a turnover of 240 million euros.
The question was also raised whether Frankfurt, a smaller, affluent and more conservative city known as the financial capital of Germany, was actually the right venue for a Fashion Week.
No one ever knew. The COVID-19 pandemic meant that Frankfurt Fashion Week wasn’t really able to prove itself. This happened in 2020 and 2021 in either hybrid or purely digital formats. And premium group trade fairs never took place there.
Then, in January of this year, another setback: Premium Group announced it was moving back to Berlin. Fairs will not be a part of this Berlin Fashion Week. His next iteration will take place between July 7 and 9. In Berlin those dates compete directly with July’s Frankfurt Fashion Week, already scheduled for 4 to 8 July.
Rumors abound about the reasons for the premium group’s infidelity towards Frankfurt.
“We heard that a lot of brands didn’t want to show up in Frankfurt directly,” a source at a major online retailer told WWD off the record. “They were interested but wanted to wait and see how it all worked out. So they [Premium] Couldn’t get enough exhibitors,” suggested the source.
“It was all about the money,” said one man who worked in fashion communications.
Frankfurt Fashion Week was to receive 10 million euros over three years from city and state authorities. Earlier, former Berlin senator for the economy, Ramona Pop, made a similar claim that Frankfurt had lured money to the premium group.
Anita Tillman, Head of Premium Group, rubbished all the gossip. It was not about the money, she said. “If only I could make money by changing positions,” she told WWD with a laugh. The new Berlin Senate bus has been more business-friendly and open to the needs of premium groups, Tillman said, offering his company to rent a single space that fits the needs of all trade fairs.
Nor was it about a lack of exhibitors. “Of course, you have those discussions. It would be a lie to say that we didn’t have those discussions. And some people shy away from the risk,” she admitted. “But in the end, all the major brands ratified [for Frankfurt],
Anita Tillman, Berlin-based event organizer, Managing Partner of Premium Group.
Courtesy / Lotterman Fuentes
Tillmann said that he had a good relationship with the organizers at Messe Frankfurt as well, despite the unexpected departure of the premium group. She explained the move as only a matter of time, as a result of the development of international trade fairs and the COVID-19 pandemic, which basically shut down in-person events for two years.
“Everyone is looking for a reason and I think it’s justified,” she continued. “But actually, we had an idea [for Frankfurt] – and this is what I really still find amazing – but it didn’t work. It’s no one’s fault. Believe it or not, but if there was one reason, it was coronavirus. It really changed everything. ,
A statement from Olaf Schmidt, vice president of textile and textile technologies at Messe Frankfurt, who is also in charge of the Fashion Week business, confirms this. “From our point of view, there was never any doubt about the possibilities of our concept and the potential of the site in Frankfurt,” he said in an email interview with WWD. “It was only the pandemic that kept stopping us.”
Although the local industry is baffled by suggestions that this summer’s Frankfurt Fashion Week be canceled following the departure of premium trade fairs, Schmidt insists it will. It also includes the sustainable fashion trade fair, Neoyt, which has become increasingly important in Berlin over the past few seasons.
“We will announce the details soon,” he confirmed.
But of course, this leaves Germany with three major fashion events, something that could lead to uncertainty and potentially hurt local business as well.
This probably creates a bit of confusion in the market, admitted Magdalena Shafrin, a sustainability expert and organizer of the 202030 Fashion Summit, part of Berlin Fashion Week. “But I’m sure it will be fixed after the next season or two.”
“Perhaps this illusion is needed in order to have a sharper and more solid identity in the future,” added Carina Bischoff, a Berlin-based designer and one of the organizers of this week’s Fashion Open Studio initiative, with a focus on sustainable design. “I think we’re in a very important transformation process right now. The face of fashion weeks around the world is changing.”
Carina Bischoff, co-organizer of this Berlin’s Fashion Open studio.
Courtesy
Mühlhans of the Berlin city council acknowledged, “There is a certain irritation about the German situation.” “But let’s not forget that the fashion industry as a whole is in a state of change and rearrangement.”
There are plans to consider reintroducing the more artistic Berlin Fashion Week events with the Premium Group’s trade fairs. All Berlin Fashion Week organizers and participants at WWD welcomed the return of trade fairs, saying they could only imagine everyone working together again.
This is better for Berlin’s international image, Bischoff explained. “The [Premium Group] The decision to go back to the capital is a positive sign.”
The premium group was announced after Berlin Fashion Week had already been planned, Mühlhans said. “We trust the organisers, and we will do our best to unite stakeholders and avoid separate fashion week and trade fair dates.”
However, Tillman was more non-committal, stressing the independence of his company and noting that the attendees at his fairs often have nothing to do with Berlin Fashion Week events. This summer the company will also launch a new direct-to-consumer event called The Ground in Berlin, he added.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about the target audience and whether there’s a good business case to be made,” she argued. “For me, it’s not about either/or. Fashion week needs to be defined in a different way — and so do trade fairs.
Originally published at Pen 18
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