Bread & Butter to return in July

"Karl-Heinz Müller’s biggest challenge, if he wants to make a come back, is his credibility when he makes statements," said many exhibitors during the shows that just took place in Berlin.

Bread & Butter’s founder won’t have taken long to make another! His latest press release has announced the return of the show from July 2-4 (Thursday to Saturday). The event, which will be held earlier than usual, will once again take place at the Tempelhof Airport, where Bread had originally planned on making its return to Berlin.

Christian Graf Brockdorff, the insolvency administrator chosen following the company’s declaration of bankruptcy in early December, said that investors have made the necessary financial resources available for a recovery. He also stated that Bread & Butter’s legal situation doesn’t allow it to terminate its lease with Tempelhof Airport.

All the same, the location is expensive! According to Sunday, January 18’s edition of Tagesspiegel, Bread & Butter rents the airport every season for 800,000 euros, with related costs (heating, security…) set at exorbitant rates. The newspaper also mentions a rumor that the airport manager would be looking for a new fashion trade show to rent the premises in order to recover back rent.

After an intimate Back to the Street this month, with forty exhibitors at the organizing company’s headquarters—an idea undoubtedly concocted so that the event wouldn’t completely disappear from the Berlin scene this season—Karl-Heinz Müller is considering a new concept.

Last Monday, he answered questions from FashionMag.com with a terse “I have no plans”… and affirmed the need to rethink trade shows, while no longer relying on purely BtoB shows the size of Bread & Butter in its prime.

"We are reworking our concept for July 2015, for the industry's challenges can surely not be solved with conventional trade shows alone. We are sticking to our 'fun & profit' success motto." The objective is to enhance the brands’ appeal and not the mere coverage of necessities,” he says in the press release.

In July, the initial draft includes a mix of fashion clusters organized by target groups, a "Design & Agents" area for agents, spaces dedicated solely to professionals with others for the general public...and some large-scale evening events such as parties, festivals and concerts with the incorporation of the brands and sponsors... not to mention the inclusion of brands from the lifestyle segment beyond the classic field of fashion apparel and accessories. Furniture, music, high tech?

The event must still convince brands and buyers who were burnt by recent events. Müller will have to choose his words carefully from now on.

Bread & Butter to return in July

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