The wait was over on Thursday: fashion fairs were held in Berlin for the first time in two and a half years. In the morning, the sister fairs Premium and Seek opened their doors – and were gratefully accepted by the specialist audience. There was a lot of activity in the historic halls of the exhibition center under the radio tower. After the long forced break, the much-vaunted new normal seemed to have returned immediately.
The fact that the trade fair company Premium Group with its two events turned its back on the capital two years ago and wanted to become the cornerstone of the “Frankfurt Fashion Week” in Frankfurt am Main no longer played any role. After all, Premium and Seek could never take place in the Main metropolis due to the Covid 19 pandemic before the new Berlin Senate increased its commitment and thus made the return of the events possible.
For the first time, the Premium Group is bundling its event at the Berlin exhibition center
But a lot has happened since January 2020 – and so things were different at the Premium Group trade fairs when they restarted in the capital. First and foremost there is the location: For the first time, the trade fair company was able to bundle its events, which were previously scattered across the city, in one place for the “Premium Cosmos” with more than 800 exhibiting brands.
So Premium, Seek and the Fashiontech conference did not take place under one roof, but at least in a connected building complex. And that proved to be the right setting: instead of the rustic industrial charm exuded by the Arena Treptow and the halls of the former postal freight station at Gleisdreieck, the clear, rationalistic design language of the exhibition center in West Berlin, built in the 1930s and 1950s, created a restrained one , but atmospheric backdrop, which was used effectively by larger brands in particular with individually designed stands.
Premium and Seek are now the only fashion fairs in Berlin
The framework conditions are also new: the trade fairs of the premium group now represent the fashion industry in Berlin alone. The previous competing events have now disappeared from the scene: the mainstream trade fair Panorama and its sophisticated subsidiary Selvedge Run gave up after insolvency in spring 2020, the leading eco trade fair Neonyt recently took place in Frankfurt am Main as a purely public event.
This naturally had an impact on the exhibitor portfolio of the premium trade fairs: numerous brands that had previously preferred other platforms in Berlin are now represented on Premium and Seek. Both events are correspondingly broader – the clearly defined profiles of the trade fairs have been softened as a result, while at the same time they now offer the specialist audience a more comprehensive selection.
The spectrum of Seek shifted from a portfolio clearly geared towards sporty leisure fashion towards sustainability – pioneers of green fashion such as the Lanius label, which was previously on display at Neonyt, are now also represented there. This time, more than eighty sustainable brands will be presenting themselves under the umbrella of the new “Conscious Club” at Seek. The Premium, on the other hand, assimilated popular brands like Mango previously seen at Panorama.
Open to the public, The Ground fashion festival celebrates its premiere
The most revolutionary innovation in the “Premium Kosmos” could not really unfold on the first day of opening until the afternoon: With the area “The Ground”, which is aimed at a young audience, a separate event for the public was organized for the first time.
However, with constant drizzle and an outside temperature of 16 degrees, the desired festival mood did not materialize at first. But the event, where fashion, music and pop culture are on the program, should really pick up speed towards the evening anyway.
