The Berlin Fashion Week Opening celebrates the extraordinary design achievements of the coming days and brings together over 250 guests from fashion, politics and the creative industries at the official Fireside Dinner in the Telegraph Office. With this, the Berlin Fashion Week starts the SS24 edition and continues the initiated change.
On Monday evening, Berlin Fashion Week was officially opened at the Fireside Dinner at the invitation of Franziska Giffey, Berlin Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, and Christiane Arp, Chairwoman of the Fashion Council Germany. The opening of the Berlin Fashion Week this season took place in a new form as a seated dinner in the Hotel Telegraphenamt at Monbijoupark with more than 250 invited guests. The most important actors and decision-makers in the fashion landscape, politics and the cultural and creative industries came together to promote exchange within the industry and to honor the designers who are presenting their new collections as part of Berlin Fashion Week .
During the Berlin Fashion Week from July 10th to 13th, 2023, innovative presentation formats, shows and events will be presented again, which will put Berlin as the central location of fashion in the focus of the international trade public and offer design excellence a stage. The labels are presenting their new collections at various historic locations throughout Berlin, including the Kronprinzenpalais, where the Berlin Salon is once again taking place, the Old National Gallery and the Zeiss Planetarium in Prenzlauer Berg. For the second time, a total of 14 German and 4 Ukrainian labels are organizing shows as part of “Berlin Contemporary”, including newcomers and well-known designers such as Milk of Lime, NAMILIA, RIANNA + NINA, Richert Beil, SF1OG, Sia Arnika and William Fan. In the run-up, the Fashion Council Germany had announced the competition on behalf of the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Businesses and awarded the best event concepts with prize money. The collection pictures of all shows and formats are published daily on the Berlin Fashion Week website.
Franziska Giffey, Senator for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, emphasizes her support for the Berlin Fashion Week in July: “We promote strong economic growth in order to further expand Berlin as a business location. The fashion industry with its around 5,000 companies and 25,000 employees is of particular importance. The Berlin Fashion Week embodies the unique diversity and the courage to be creative in our capital. It is the window into the international world of fashion. I find it very exciting how the outstanding concepts and visions of the designers are now being implemented on the catwalks of Fashion Week all over Berlin. Even small labels have a chance to prove themselves in international comparison. I am particularly looking forward to the presentations by the Ukrainian designers, who are once again part of the format as a sign of solidarity.”
The guests were welcomed by Christiane Arp, Chairwoman of the Fashion Council Germany, and the State Secretary for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, Michael Biel. In an inspiring atmosphere, he particularly praised the diversity of the designers and is looking forward to the Fashion Week with all its formats. Berlin is more creative than any other city in Germany and thus offers the perfect setting for a varied and diverse Fashion Week with international relevance. This also confirms the self-proclaimed claim of the Berlin Fashion Week: “The responsible movement of freedom, inclusion and creativity”.
Christiane Arp, Chairwoman of the Fashion Council Germany, emphasised: “With formats such as “Berlin Contemporary” we are setting an important example for young German designers and are thus paying tribute to the importance of Berlin Fashion Week. For me, the change that has been initiated is more noticeable and topics such as sustainability and innovation are coming to the fore. Berlin has its very own narrative.”
The momentum set in motion last season was constantly noticeable in the “Root” restaurant in the telegraph office and continued throughout the evening. The Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and the Federal Government’s official contact for the cultural and creative industries, Michael Kellner, also emphasized this in his welcome speech, which followed the speeches by Christiane Arp and Berlin’s State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Michael Biel. The presence of the German and Ukrainian designers, as well as the most important industry representatives and buyers, made it clear what Berlin Fashion Week is actually about: to honor exceptional design excellence as well as creative ideas and concepts and to offer them a stage.
Among the numerous guests were André Maeder and Simone Heift (both KaDeWe Group), Anita Gigovskaya (Condé Nast GmbH), Anita Tillmann (PREMIUM Group), David Schneider (Zalando), Désiré Feuerle (The Feuerle Collection), Esther Perbandt, Fiona Bennett, Grace Kenny (Selfridges), Ilse Cornelissens and Tim van Geloven (both Graanmarkt 13), Iris Spranger (Senator for Home Affairs and Sport), Jale Richert and Michele Beil (both Richert Beil), Jörg Koch (032c), Julian Daynov, Kerstin Schneider (Harper’s Bazaar), Manuela Kampp-Wirtz (Burda Style Group), Michael Kellner (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection), Michael Werner (TextilWirtschaft), Ravi Grewal (Stuarts London), Rianna Kounou and Nina Knaudt (Rianna + Nina) , Sayan Basu (Goat.com), Stefano Giurano (Quaranta), Yasin Müjdeci (Voo Store), Thorsten Mindermann (H&M), Tim Kälberer (Wormland), Valentin von Arnim (Iris von Arnim) and William Fan.