Ultimately, everyone involved was happy that the fashion fairs Premium and Seek were able to take place again after the compulsory break caused by the pandemic. After the comeback in Berlin, which was celebrated from July 7th to 9th, the organizers of the trade fair company Premium Group still see room for improvement.
“It’s been quite a rodeo ride, putting together two B2B trade shows, a D2C festival, three conferences, parties, dinners and receptions for so many different audiences and all while the pandemic is still in full swing – times apart from rain and flight chaos,” said Anita Tillmann, Managing Partner at Premium Group, in a statement published on Tuesday. “I would have wished that even more visitors would have come, but overall the restart was much better than expected. It was definitely an announcement.”
In view of the ongoing adversity, however, previous records were still unattainable: the number of visitors had reached about seventy percent of the pre-crisis level, the trade fair company announced in its balance sheet. That was “satisfactory, but definitely could be optimized”. The fashion and culture festival “The Ground”, which was tailored to a young target group and which took place alongside the specialist events on the exhibition grounds under the radio tower, was very popular. According to the organizers, the event, which was also open to the public, attracted almost 6,000 interested people at its premiere on.
Managing Director Arntz sees “great basis for the next seasons”
Jörg Arntz, the Managing Director of the Premium Group, saw the overall successful comeback as an incentive: “We are glad that after two and a half years we have brought the entire industry together,” he explained in his closing statement. “It wasn’t all perfect, but a great basis has been laid for the coming seasons. The partners and brands also see it that way. The voices are consistently positive. It has been shown that the industry needs a platform to inform, connect, be inspired, meet in person and see new things.”
The return of Premium and Seek was a big step forward for Berlin as a whole. The next one is to follow in the coming winter season: As it was announced on Monday, the fashion shows of the Berlin Fashion Week will be held at the same time as the trade fairs for the first time since January 2020. The date has already been set: from January 17th to 19th, 2023, the premium events “with a B2B focus” are to take place on the exhibition grounds. It will be a very special event for the main trade fair Premium: It will then be able to celebrate its 20th anniversary.