The new sustainable fashion fair Beyond Fashion took place in Berlin for the first time last week. The exhibitors were satisfied on the last day and have already registered for the coming summer edition.
Those who made the trip to the Atelier Gardens during Berlin Fashion Week came across a small but select, green fair with almost 40 brands. The mood on the site at the former Tempelhof Airport was noticeably more relaxed than at the large Premium and Seek trade fairs, which featured a total of 500 brands, including 100 focusing on sustainability. It was almost a feel-good atmosphere – relaxed, collegial and open.
But not only buyers from green fashion shops visited the fair, some from conventional trading companies also came by.
“Angelo’s from Hamburg were the first customers at nine in the morning on Tuesday, which was a great start for me,” said Sarah Schulze. “We had a lot of classic department stores there. It wasn’t the majority, but everyone was curious.” She is the owner of Good Lux Agency and represents brands such as Inti Knitwear, Lana and Cossac at the show. She has made appointments with many customers from northern Germany before the trade fair, including direct orders. Overall, she estimates that she had up to 50 conversations in three days, she wrote 18 orders and six of them were from new customers.
“No competitive situation”
Beyond Fashion Berlin was created last year by former exhibitors at the green fashion fair Neonyt, such as Schulze, brought to life. The Neonyt no longer takes place in Berlin, but now in Paris and Düsseldorf. But some exhibitors also felt the need for their own event after not feeling well represented at the conventional Berlin fairs.
“We didn’t want to create a competitive situation with Premium or Seek,” says Schulz. But with the loss of Neonyt, the green fashion industry and community lost the basis where brands, retailers and agents could meet. The special feature in the sustainable fashion world is that many work very closely together and are friends. “We need this exchange. Especially after the last few years, which have been so difficult for all of us, we found it important to come together and exchange ideas,” she adds.
According to Schulze, the high stand rents at the large trade fairs have always been an issue for the green fashion labels, whose margins do not allow for large marketing expenses for trade fairs. The prices are cheaper at Beyond Fashion Berlin, the square meter costs 250 euros. However, this circumstance also means that numerous green trade fairs and their offshoots are difficult to cope with financially for many labels.
Lots of new customers
On Thursday afternoon, some stands start dismantling shortly before 3 p.m. The trade fair ends a little earlier on the last day, because many people continue on to the Innatex trade fair near Frankfurt. Accordingly, it is already quite empty at the fair, the last visitors still write an order at some stands, others pick up their suitcases from the reception.
“The frequency was not particularly high, but the quality of the visitors was great. Everyone who came here wanted to come here because the connection wasn’t easy,” said Martin Hoben, sales manager and board member at the Berlin clothing brand Blutsgeschwister. Of the twenty prospects he spoke to, 15 are expected to be new customers.
For the HW23 order season he expects par. “We currently have better sales in our stationary stores than before Corona, trade via the online shops has dropped somewhat to a normal level, but more than in 2019,” says Hoben. In addition to Beyond Fashion Berlin, the label also shows at the fashion fair Who’s Next in Paris and Intersport in Heilbronn. For the future, Hoben would like to have a location for all trade fairs in Berlin to make it easier for buyers. But a clear demarcation of the brands that are serious about the others is important.
“I got to know a lot of shops that I knew before as an eco-aunt,” said Anna Stelmaszewska. She founded her own sustainable fashion label Wolf Mothers in December after many years in the Berlin start-up scene. Overall, she estimates that she had up to twelve conversations with buyers. Nobody has ordered yet, but she didn’t expect that from her first trade fair either. “It’s a loving community, the visitors were all super nice and incredibly helpful.”
All exhibitors at the first edition have already confirmed their participation in the second edition in the summer, confirms Sarah Schulze, who is also a co-initiator of the fair. And four additional interested parties have also registered.
