BERLIN — Buoyed by improved economic forecasts, upbeat consumer sentiment and a Berlin buzz that just won’t quit, Germany anticipates a strong start to the fall 2011 season in January.
Berlin’s key fair organizers — Bread & Butter and Premium — say it looks like more business as usual for next season, with bookings essentially complete and demand higher than ever. Premium is expanding by about 40,000 square feet, taking on an annex and doubling Hall 7, which houses the show’s more sophisticated men’s and women’s apparel collections.
“It’s all about curating,” said Premium co-founder Anita Tillmann of the fair’s mix of big and new names, top sellers and niche players, in men’s and women’s wear and accessories.
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“Our original vision that fashion, music and art would all meet in Berlin has more or less happened by itself, but what makes us strong is that we all show at the same time,” said Tillmann.
She said this applies both to Premium’s assortment and Berlin’s early-bird lineup of multiple trade fairs and runway shows.
Get ready for some heavy hitting when Bread & Butter takes off for the fall season at Tempelhof Airport this January. Founder and chief Karl-Heinz Müller not only expects a full house at a fully booked fair, but there’ll also be evening boxing matches to pack, ahem, an extra punch.
The international show for street and urbanwear won’t see any major revisions for fall, with Denim Base, Sport & Street, Street Fashion, Fashion Now, Style Society, Urban Superior Women and Men, and L.O.C.K. sections fine-tuned and freshly polished.
Adding to Berlin’s critical trade show mass are the sustainable fashion platforms TheKey.to and Green Showroom. At its new venue in the Columbiahalle opposite Bread & Butter, TheKey.to will now be organized into the categories of metropolitan, young urban, accessories and children’s fashion, while Green Showroom’s designer collections will also be open to the public.
The intimate apparel show 5 elements.berlin is moving to the original B&B location in Spandau and is starting two days earlier. The newly named Projekt Galerie Showroom also has fresh quarters in the former Hungarian embassy and, besides showcasing young, independent collections in a showroom, is creating a meeting place for designers, photographers and stylists in its studio.
Streetwear, skateboard and sneaker specialists will again converge at Bright in Berlin, and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin will provide a runway experience during its four-day run of designer fashion shows.
Elsewhere in Germany, CPD is getting a makeover as CPD Signatures. Housed in two new halls on the Düsseldorf fairgrounds, the new format involves a uniform stand design for the selection of young fashion, premium/designer, accessories and more commercial women’s wear collections.
In Munich, Ispo will spotlight “Healthstyle” as this edition’s special theme. The annual show for performance, outdoor, board and ski apparel and equipment, plus special textile, trend and cross-sportswear areas has increased its exhibition space 10 percent, to now occupy the entire 2 million square feet of the new Munich fairgrounds.