Bread & Butter quieter but très international

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Jan 22, 2013

Bread & Butter exhibitors and visitors had one question: how will the Berlin show perform, having had to cope with turbulence in the denim market, which boomeranged off the urban fashion industry? Ultimately exhibitors interviewed were relatively happy overall about the three days. The organizers do not provide attendance figures since they moved the show back to Berlin in July 2009. They simply said that foreigners represented 70% of visitors.

The number of Japanese visitors even doubled. However, on the first morning, attendance was unusually low. The organizers sort of confirmed what visitors were saying. “The earlier start also had a positive effect. Instead of the ‘casual Friday,’ Bread & Butter was frequented equally strong on all three days of show,” said a press release. “We had a good show. The customize-your-jeans event also drew a lot of people to the booth. There were not many French buyers, perhaps twenty,” said Philippe Atlani, head of the French subsidiary of Pepe Jeans. He met with buyers from Kaky Crazy, Fiesta, Gedenim, Citadium and Galeries Lafayette. “In Berlin we are clearly seeing that the offer is less concentrated and that Bread & Butter has become quieter, especially on the last day,” said Anne-Katrin Hummel of Flip*Flop.

Like every trade show, brands had different feedback depending on their location. “We are pleased with the fair and the hall was very good in terms of the brand environment. The show’s product offering had been reviewed and that was good,” said Jerome Tordjmann, in charge of exports for Eleven Paris.

But overall, this edition was one of transition. Karl-Heinz Müller spent his time at the press conference – maybe too much – explaining why major brands were absent (Replay, Miss Sixty and even Levi’s), but still sketched out the show for next July. The Lock section for classic brands such as Barbour, Aigle Armor Lux, will now have an as yet unnamed women’s component, an initiative to make the event more female oriented. “Retailers are looking for new female jeans brands,” said Emmanuel Goffaux from Liu Jo.

The absence of the big denim names and the reorganization of the halls undoubtedly benefited brands such as Freeman T. Porter, Eleven Paris, Le Temps des Cerises and Elvine by making their booths more visible. “We are at the end of an approximately ten year cycle. We had outdoor urban with Timberland, Chevignon, sport street with Com8, urban with Diesel, G-Star and Kaporal. And tomorrow? In my opinion, we will have British preppy or Italian bohemian,” said Jean-Paul Chouraqui, co-founder of the Fiesta brand.