The Modefabriek took place in physical form for the first time in two and a half years. At the fair in Amsterdam, which took place from Sunday to Monday, a good quarter of the exhibitors were newcomers – among them the traditional company Brax, the Düsseldorf women’s label Catnoir, the young men’s label Zuitable, the streetwear brand Distorted People from Germany and the Swiss watch brand Klokers . Whether represented by Dutch subsidiaries or local agencies, the representatives FashionUnited spoke to all agreed: They are at the show to make new contacts.
Brax
The traditional German company Leineweber GmbH & Co. KG, which has existed since 1888 and is a constant in German fashion retail with the Brax brand, has been active in the Netherlands since 2017 with its subsidiary Brax Netherlands BV. Jan-Henrik Vossenkampfer, Head of Wholesale at Brax Germany, was supported on site by his Dutch colleagues.
“The mood is great,” says Vossenkämper to FashionUnited. “Everyone is happy that they can experience a trade fair again, there is a lot going on”. A good time and talks, seeing collections and gathering impressions – that’s what Brax hopes for from the two days of Modefabriek.
“Basically, when talking to owners and buyers, you heard that there is a great desire to be inspired again. This also applies to us as the Brax brand in the Netherlands”. Above all, Brax is interested in a good appearance – with the 60 square meter stand, in the middle of which the current collection is presented on white mannequins, Brax shows a modern side.
Even if general trends have not yet crystallized, Vossenkampfer is struck above all by the variety of colors on the stands: “Crazy, magnificent prints and colour, colour, colour” is his comment on the general fashion trend. And Brax also shows its colours: the product displays feature bold colours, including pink, green and turquoise.
Orders are actually written less at Modefabriek – “It would be nice,” says Vossenkampfer, “but it doesn’t have to be. We are happy when we have good conversations here and then get the appointments later in the showroom”.
Catnoir
Catnoir was founded in Düsseldorf six years ago. The fashion label, which produces casual women’s clothing in sizes 34 to 46, specializes in developing print designs. The label is mostly sold in multi-brand women’s clothing stores.
Catnoir only sells through B2B channels. The label does not have its own points of sale, but business with trading partners is all the better: In addition to Germany, Catnoir has also recently been active in Switzerland and Austria. Next on the agenda are Belgium and Scandinavia, in addition to the start-up business in the Netherlands.
The label entered the Dutch market a year ago and now hopes to “generate more reach and make more contacts through the fair”, as founder Peter Hartmann says. At Modefabriek, Catnoir is supported by her Dutch agency. It is also the reason why the label is showing in Amsterdam at all – the agent knew about the importance of the fair on the Dutch market. “We were in Berlin before, and the mood here is also optimistic. People are happy to be in physical contact again and to be able to touch the clothes,” says Hartmann. “I would say things are going encouragingly so far. I mean it’s our first time here, we see the frequency is very good so all positive so far!”
Catnoir is also striking: color is everywhere, the stand shines in pink, green and turquoise pieces, animal prints and stripes line up with paisley patterns. “Prints are what attracts our customers,” affirms Hartman.
accessories
Zuitable is a Düsseldorf-based company that produces suits made of elastic fabrics under a brand of the same name. The formal suit gains versatility through the stretch fabric and also arouses the interest of a younger target group. Founder Christian Filusch came up with the idea during the pandemic, which was redefining the role of workwear and homewear.
Zuitable has been working with trading partners in Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries since January 2021. The brand wants to continue to expand and expand its B2B business. “We came to Modefabriek because we have these two agencies in the Netherlands and Belgium – they explained to me that this is the right fair to win new customers,” says Filusch.
“Currently we have a total of 200 customers in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, which is a good achievement considering that we have only been running the whole thing since January 2021”. With the German and Austrian markets, Zuitable already has over 450 trading partners. Despite the boom and the importance of the fair, Filusch also notes a certain hesitancy. “Especially nowadays it is difficult, there is a certain reluctance. The product must be able to do something that the other products cannot”.
The ‘Candy for Dandy’ line, which describes a series of suits in pastel colors, is particularly well received by visitors to the Modefabriek. Whether bright yellow, lime green, sky blue or a pale red – the suits attract attention and are currently the flagship of the brand – in a period of two weeks Zuitable sells around 4,000 pieces.
Distorted People
The German streetwear label Distorted People was founded in 2008 by the twin brothers Huy and Dung Vu. Distorted People addresses customers who represent “both poles of the male world”. The “delicate and stylish barber” and the “rough and somewhat tougher butcher” serve as a symbolic target group. This is also reflected visually in the logo, in which a razor crosses a butcher’s cleaver. Personalities such as Bastian Schweinsteiger, Robert Lewandowski and Wyclef Jean are among the brand’s clientele.
The label is represented in the Netherlands by the agency De Goede Label. The agency has its showroom in Breda – from there they hope to be able to convert the contacts made at the Modefabriek into tangible business relationships. “We are only here to inform, in the next two months everyone will be received in our showroom for orders,” De Goede Labels told FashionUnited. “We hope that we can gain some awareness, expand the network and address new shops – the mood is very good!”
For Distorted People, the mode factory is the first trade fair appearance in the Netherlands – so far the label has eight of its own sales points in Germany and one in Austria. In addition, the label works with retail partners. No own stores are planned in the Netherlands for the time being – but the label is looking at international markets, they recently opened a store in New York. “In Holland, Distorted People is not that well known, so far there are about 25 stores where we sell. If there are more, it could well be that their own shop will be opened as well,” says one of the agency representatives. The choice of Modefabriek was obvious for De Goede Labels: one of the agency employees has been working in the fashion industry for twenty years and knows how many contacts the Amsterdam fair brings with it.
## Klokers
Klokers is a Swiss watch brand that operates in the upper price segment. In the Netherlands, the label is represented by the agency Take Me Home, run by Niko Fragkos. At the Modefabriek, the Take Me Home stand is one of the few that does not offer fashion in the form of clothing. For Fragkos, this makes no difference: “Nowadays it is different – we no longer need watches to tell the time – watches are accessories and accessories are fashion!” Klokers describes his concept as a mixture of “watchmaking, fashion and design”.
The label is currently present in Switzerland with three points of sale, in Luxembourg with one and in the Netherlands with eight trading partners, but Klokers is also active in much more distant countries such as Japan, Iran and the United States. The Swiss marker has only been working with Take Me Home for three months – since then, Fragkos has already gained 24 new trading partners in the Netherlands. “We are trying to expand very quickly. In addition to jewelers and goldsmiths, we will now also enter the fashion market more strongly,” he says.
The entrepreneur notes that many of the visitors are still reluctant, despite the general enthusiasm for communication: “You see a lot of people walking around with their hands in their pockets,” he says, pointing to a few passers-by who are approaching the stand. It seems some are still getting used to the return to normal. “I think a lot of people come here to look around. There are no really new products on the market – the factories in China were closed, there were lockdowns in the Netherlands, in Germany too,” Fragkos continues.
“We are trying to explore new possibilities here, to acquire new customers and to explore new horizons”. From Fragko’s point of view, Modefabriek is a good opportunity for the agency and the accessory label it represents, despite its specialist focus on fashion, because “the fashion market is much larger than the jewelry and goldsmith business”.