Berlin and its trade shows maintain steady pace
Berlin was lively on account of the Euro football championship in the last few days of June, and also because the German capital was once more at the heart of European fashion, thanks to the trade shows it hosted. The city featured a wide range of events, their diversity once again acting as a magnet for buyers: from the selective, high-end Premium show, to the mass-market Panorama, to urban fashion ones like Bright or Seek, sustainable ones like the Green Showroom or the Ethical Fashion Show, and others.
The only show to publish its attendance figures was the busiest one, and it reported an increase in visitors. Premium featured one thousand exhibitors and claimed a 10% rise in attendance. The first two days were intense, while the third was less busy. Panorama hosted about 800 brands and reported a full house too, judging from the exhibitors' reactions, similar to those from Premium. Both shows are in fact regarded as real powerhouses.
"It was a novelty for us plus-size brands to be at Panorama, but we are very happy about it, said a manager from German fashion label Ulla Popken, it is a great show, really dynamic and productive," he enthused. "This show is always jam-packed, was the word on Premium at Nice Things. Once again this year it lived up to expectations, we met not just our German clients, but also [clients] from Switzerland for example, and a number of Asian ones, notably from Korea and Japan." According to Premium in fact, 69% of its visitors were from outside Germany, with notably 13% of buyers coming from major non-European countries, up 1%.
"Premium always turns out to be a fine show, and there is more to it, a positive energy buzzing around the city, the atmosphere is favourable, buyers are more curious... Germany is now a very important market for us, because we have a subsidiary there, but here we also meet clients from Switzerland, Holland and northern Europe in general," said Mickaël Azoulay of American Vintage.
The smaller Show & Order event (about 200 exhibitors) has also apparently benefited from the German capital's visitor traffic, and played its cards well, starting one day earlier than the others and finishing with an intense day of business.
The Seek and Bright shows shared the same venue and they too reported a rise in attendance, without providing any figures. However, they were perhaps the week's quietest events, according to the grapevine, with a little less competition than usual.
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