Finally, the Frankfurt Fashion Week took place for the first time without corona restrictions. How and when she will return is unclear after the past week. Why is that? So far we know that much.
1. Will Frankfurt Fashion Week continue?
According to the city of Frankfurt: Yes. But after the past week, the event will be evaluated. “After Frankfurt Fashion Week, we will evaluate the structure of FFW2022 and its impact,” says City Councilor Stephanie Wüst in an email. “The aim is to create a sustainable future concept that builds on the impulses and initiatives in the industry and on the strong expertise of our trade fair. How, when and at what rhythm the Frankfurt Fashion Week will take place in the future must be checked.” The city will consult with the state of Hesse and the creative industries.
2. Where does the uncertainty come from?
The Frankfurt Fashion Week can no longer take place as planned after the fashion fair Premium decided to move back to Berlin in January. The original plan was for the different parts of the fashion industry to come together at the exhibition center in Frankfurt: fashion labels will present collections for the coming season at the Premium Group trade fairs. Machine manufacturers and textile producers from the upstream part of the supply chain show innovative ones production processes and textiles) at the events of Messe Frankfurt. One of them is Neonyt, where sustainable fashion labels present their collections. Fashion shows and events in the city should round off the programme.
3. Isn’t it possible without the Premium?
That is the question. The Premium fashion fair would probably have brought the majority of buyers from fashion houses and department stores to Frankfurt. Some people question whether the sustainable trade fair Neonyt can attract so many trade visitors to the Main metropolis. It’s also unclear how well the green fashion-focused event would do without a larger conventional clothing fair in its vicinity.
4. What’s next for the Neonyt?
Last week, Neonyt took place for the first time with a focus on end consumers. But where and how it will continue is not yet known. “The decision on which of the diverse formats and target groups to focus on in the future will be made in the near future,” says Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles and Textile Technologies at Messe Frankfurt. The trade fair organizer no longer organizes the Frankfurt Fashion Week since the Premium left.
5. Who is organizing the Frankfurt Fashion Week now?
The City of Frankfurt Economic Development has taken over the trademark rights from Messe Frankfurt GmbH. Together with 35 organizers, she brought more than 100 events to the city for this year’s Frankfurt Fashion Week. This included not only the fashion shows in the Frankfurt Fashion Lounge, but also the skate week and fashion shows with former participants of the television program Germany’s Next Topmodel.
6. Sounds like a mixed bag. How were the projects to be funded for the Frankfurt Fashion Week actually selected?
Wirtschaftsförderung Frankfurt GmbH, a 100 percent subsidiary of the City of Frankfurt, selected the projects submitted to it according to ten criteria: fashion reference, degree of innovation, sustainability, local economy, creative industries, art & culture, location marketing, those involved & partners, diversity & women , participants.
7. How much money goes into fashion week?
A whole lot. Originally, the city of Frankfurt, the trade fair and the federal state of Hesse wanted to invest 10 million euros in the Frankfurt Fashion Week within three years. After Messe Frankfurt handed over the trademark rights of the fashion week to the city, it repaid funds amounting to 760,000 euros. These funds will result in the continuation of Frankfurt Fashion Week 2022, as documents from the city council show.
8. What does the city of Frankfurt expect from the Fashion Week?
The city wants to expand Frankfurt as a “Creative City”, and the Frankfurt Fashion Week is also intended to increase the international appeal of the metropolis. The fashion week is intended to promote creative people from the region and attract international trade visitors and companies to Frankfurt.
9. But can Frankfurt fashion?
Spirits are divided on this question. There were many words of praise for the designer René Storck, who sent his models across the Frankfurt stock exchange in puristic designs. Other highlights were probably the show by the couturier Albrecht Ollendiek in the Carmelite Monastery or the impressive backdrop of the Iron Bridge as a catwalk for the designer Samuel Gärtner.
But even with his drafts, opinions differed. “An insult to the fashion trade,” said the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Other events also earned prophecies of doom. For critics, Frankfurt Fashion Week events were too arbitrary and even embarrassing; tax money should be better spent on something else.
10. So you’d rather not have a fashion week in the Main metropolis?
Many critics of Frankfurt Fashion Week drew the comparison to the program of fashion weeks in Paris or Milan to say that the city should better leave it alone. But: The establishment of a fashion event takes time, people quickly forget that when they see the pictures of the spectacular shows of the current fashion weeks. Cities like London or New York also had to slowly establish themselves. And there is always that too discussions about relevance) and quality. These lengthy developments are often forgotten between the headlines, but there is specialist reading on them.
11. Is everything a matter of time?
In Frankfurt it is initially a question of form. Messe Frankfurt initially had great international ambitions – also within the fashion industry. With its textile fairs and Neonyt, it has significant expertise and a large network.
But without a fashion fair like Premium, it will be difficult to bring buyers to Frankfurt. Messe Frankfurt is thinking about how to proceed after the textile fairs and Neonyt took place at the same time as Frankfurt Fashion Week. “The networking of these different interest groups enables us to evaluate which formats we will focus even more on in the future,” said Olaf Schmidt.
But does a new event always have to be able to keep up with Paris or Milan? Even if the big ambitions now have to be thought of on a smaller scale – is there something to be said against a local event for Frankfurt and the surrounding area that celebrates fashion as a cultural asset and brings it closer to people?