On Tuesday, the Seek fashion trade fair in the capital opened its doors to trade visitors. The platform for modern casual clothing, denim and sustainable brands has been around since 2009, but this time it finds itself in a completely new role: for the first time, Seek has to practically alone keep Berlin as a trade fair location for the fashion industry.
After the Premium comes to an end, the Seek is particularly in focus
It had been clear since November that the parent trade fair Premium would be discontinued, other events such as Panorama, the Selvedge Run or even the giant Bread & Butter event, which used to be able to attract tens of thousands of international visitors to the fashion week in the capital, were already underway abandoned in recent years. The catwalk shows at Berlin Fashion Week, which traditionally usually took place at the same time as the trade fairs, are not on the program until the beginning of February this time.
Despite all the upheavals, it is the location that creates continuity. The historic halls of the former postal goods station at Gleisdreieck, known as “The Station”, were the Premium’s domicile for years – apart from two trips to the exhibition grounds at the radio tower in City West after the pandemic-related break.
The trade fair presents itself clearly and homogeneously
But the Seek had already moved in there last summer – at the time still together with the Premium. However, due to the discontinuation of the former main trade fair, the space required is now smaller. Seek, with its almost 200 brands exhibiting this time, only occupies one hall of the extensive building complex and uses a few side rooms as cloakrooms and for panel discussions.
The Union showroom has once again been located in the neighboring cold store and, together with Seek, is also hosting the shared area “The Junction” for the first time.
So everything on the site seems more compact this time. In the exhibition hall too, unnecessary fragmentation is avoided by avoiding segmentation and special action areas. The sustainable labels belonging to the “Conscious Club”, which make up almost half of the portfolio, therefore naturally mix with their conventional co-exhibitors.
The community idea is moving even more to the fore
The spectrum of brands is also pleasantly homogeneous, 45 percent of which are represented at the trade fair for the first time. Large international labels from the sportswear segment, which used to be part of Seek’s standard range, can hardly be found anymore. Instead, the offering largely focuses on carefully selected brands outside of the commercial mainstream, alongside a few regulars such as Lyle & Scott, Sandqvist and Veja.
Ultimately, in the words of the organizers, the trade fair sees itself as a “stage for a progressive and future-oriented generation of players who bring and promote new values, visions and opportunities for the fashion industry”. This approach is even more clearly expressed now that Seek stands on its own and is no longer perceived as just a junior partner of the established Premium.
The new compactness can only be good for the community idea, which has always played a key role at Seek. Trade fair boss Maren Wiebus had emphasized this aspect again in advance: “People need to meet each other – now and in the future – to do things that need to be done, experienced, discussed, connected, learned and unlearned. There is a future for the place that gets this organized. And this place is the Seek,” she emphasized in a statement.
Seek wants to stand for “lived change” in the fashion industry
And on the opening day, the large audience, which always differed from the more traditional Premium clientele, also seemed appropriately community-conscious. This became particularly clear during the discussions on current topics in the fashion industry, which were dominated by the upheavals in the textile industry that were either hoped for or forced by the general conditions.
The trade fair explicitly wants to place itself at the forefront of these processes of change. The organizers had emphasized in advance that Seek “stands for lived change, new opportunities and a community that is ready to constantly adapt to new needs and explore new paths.” In view of the hustle and bustle in the halls on Tuesday, the impression was that the trade fair could hold its own in Berlin alone with this claim.
