On Monday evening, at the invitation of the Fashion Council Germany (FCG) and Ebay Germany, around 50 selected guests in the Hamburg Clouds – Heaven’s Bar & Kitchen came together to form an exclusive Fireside Dinner. Including local fashion brands, designer: inside, editor: inside and industry representatives: inside. The occasion of the evening was the announcement of the collaboration between the Fashion Council Germany and Ebay Germany for the fourth edition of the funding project Fashion X Craft. In addition, the event served the cross -industry exchange on current developments in the fashion industry on topics such as circularity, innovation or technologies.
The evening was opened by Scott Lipinski, CEO of the FCG, CEO Christiane Arp and Mandy Krüger, Head of Fashion on Ebay Germany. In their welcoming speech, they responded to the ongoing partnership and expressed their joy over the implementation of the fourth edition of the Fashion X Craft funding project. The initiative, which is implemented together with The King’s Foundation, is particularly aimed at Bachelor graduate: inside the fashion and textile design area. It is a higher -level goal to discover young talents early and to convey traditional handicraft techniques and methodologies to support them on their way to the industry.
After numerous promising applications, the final selection phase of the participants is currently taking place: inside. A top -class jury chooses the five most promising candidate: on the inside. The jury is composed in this edition: Christiane Arp (CEO, Fashion Council Germany), Daniel Mcauliffe (Education Director, The King’s Foundation), Isabelle Maier (Strategic Partnerships Lead Fashion, Ebay Germany) and Johann Ehrhardt (Creative Director, Haderlump). The five winners: inside will be announced in May.
As part of the project, the participants go through: various workshops and coaching as well as a multi -week Residency in Highgrove, England and one in Germany. The topic of circularity will play a superordinate role in particular – with eBay Germany as a pioneer, the five participants are at the side: a strong partner in the inside. On the basis of the learned knowledge, the five designers develop: Inside, as the end of the program, their own collections, which are presented in January 2026 at the Berlin Fashion Week.
Christiane Arp, CEO of the Fashion Council Germany, looks positively on the cooperation: “With the fourth edition of Fashion X Craft, we strengthen our commitment to young talents and traditional craft in fashion. The Fireside Dinner in Hamburg was a great opportunity to appreciate the further development of this initiative in the circle of the industry and set new impulses.”
Mandy Krüger, Head of Fashion on Ebay Germany, added: “Ebay is a pioneer of the circular economy and has been driving the market around pre-loved fashion for over 30 years. By working with the Fashion Council Germany and support of Fashion X Craft, we would like to promote young designers and to step up new ideas that lead the fashion industry into a more sustainable future.”
In the cozy atmosphere of the cloud and with a breathtaking view over the Hamburg Hafencity, the guests enjoyed culinary delights and deepened in stimulating conversations. Among the well-known guests were Gernot Lenz (Tom Tailor), Jan Möller and Tobias Gruber (Otto), Laura Suesser (Unger Fashion), Lisa Deurer (LD-1), Loic Bréard (Bigoudi), Matthias Schweizer (OBS), Paul Schrader (artist), Simon Riepe and Wiebke Bredehorst (Tush) and Thorsten Mindermann (Iris of Arnim).
Since 2018, the FCG Networking format “Fires Idchat” has been taking place in various major cities all over Germany and regularly brings the most important industry representatives: inside for exchange.