Berlin Fashion Week, which took place in the German capital earlier this month, emerged not only as a showcase for fashion, but also as an engine for change, innovation and economic development in the region.
Until 2022, the German automobile company Mercedes-Benz was the main sponsor of the city’s fashion week. Now, under the leadership of the Fashion Council Germany, the event stands for the promotion of emerging talent and places a new focus on sustainability and inclusion.
FashionUnited spoke to Christiane Arp, who, as founding member and CEO of the Fashion Council Germany, takes stock of the success of the last edition of the event, the funding and support of emerging designers, including initiatives to support Ukrainian couturiers, and future plans for sustainability and funding sketched.
How do you assess the success and impact of this year’s Berlin Fashion Week?
We have seen the growing relevance of Berlin Fashion Week in recent years and the February edition is another important step in the right direction.
I am confident that the new formats of Berlin Fashion Week and the reactions of national and international opinion leaders will lead us in the right direction. The positive feedback has reinforced our vision and we want to build on this great foundation.
The international success of Berlin Fashion Week is primarily due to the talented designers who are presented in formats such as Berlin Contemporary, Der Berliner Salon, Intervention and Studio2Retail. These events highlight the great design talent in Germany.
“When we launched the event 18 years ago, there was no stage for designers to convey fashion.”
With the implementation of the “Berlin Contemporary” format as part of the 2023 concept competition sponsored by the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Enterprises and in view of the ongoing war in Ukraine, we want to continue our support for Ukrainian fashion designers.
Every season we award 25,000 euros to four talented winners. The designers had the opportunity to take part in the Berlin Fashion Week program and present their collections in a fashion show. We look forward to continuing to support Ukrainian Fashion Week and welcoming Ukrainian designers to the Berlin Fashion Week catwalks.
The Berlin Contemporary competition selects 18 established and emerging brands that impress with style, craftsmanship and a concept with international trade potential. The selected brands receive prize money of 25,000 euros for staging a fashion show, support with communication and show design as well as valuable network connections and contacts in sales and PR.
The winners of this year’s edition, who took part in the event in February 2024, were: Avenir, Dennis Chuene, Kitschy Couture, Lou de Bètoly, Lueder, Malaikaraiss, Marke, Namilia, Olivia Ballard, Rianna + Nina, Richert Beil, SF1OG, Sia Arnika and William Fan from Germany, as well as the Ukrainian brands Bobkova, DZHUS, Glück Clothes and PLNGNS.
How important is the fashion industry for the Berlin economy and how does the current budget for Berlin Fashion Week compare to previous years?
Berlin Fashion Week and the fashion industry are important economic factors for Berlin.
More than 25,000 people work in almost 5,000 fashion-related companies that generate around 5 billion euros in sales annually. The fashion industry therefore plays a crucial role in Berlin’s economic growth. After the previous main sponsor left, the direction and organization of Berlin Fashion Week had to be changed.
The Berlin Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Enterprises invests around two million euros per season in the various formats of Berlin Fashion Week.
Although we only started our collaboration in January 2023, we have already taken a significant step towards the success of the BFW.
How do you imagine the future development of the financing and funding structures of Berlin Fashion Week?
We firmly believe in promoting young talent programs and are convinced that we must offer a platform to promising design talent in Germany. We want to further establish Berlin as the capital of emerging talent and are proud that thanks to our previous measures, Berlin has found its place in the international fashion week calendar.
In addition, we continue to firmly believe in supporting young talent programs and are convinced that we must offer a platform for promising design talent in Germany. We therefore want to bring additional partners on board from 2025 and expand our portfolio of partnerships to secure financing for future programs. Our values of inclusion, diversity, innovation and sustainability form the foundation of Berlin Fashion Week.
Size and age diversity was noticeable at most Berlin Fashion Week shows this season. In castings like that of William Fan, who wanted to show that his clothes were suitable for everyone, many of the models were cast “directly from the streets of Berlin”.
Dominated by the color black, a range of undertones emerged on the runway that celebrated the diversity of identities and perspectives that enrich Berlin’s social and cultural fabric.
This translated post originally appeared on FashionUnited.ES.