PANORAMA + SELVEDGE RUN AND ZEITGEIST : TWO PIONEERING TRADE SHOWS IN BERLIN
The fashion business is arguably one of the biggest and most geographically dispersed industries, operating across vast distances. But for a few days twice a year, fashion fairs (also called trade shows) bring together in one place people who are engaged in the production of fashion from a wide range of professions from many different countries. There, exhibitors, sponsors, visitors, influencers, journalists and other professionals or dilettantes trade, network, exchange ideas and knowledge about their industry. Trade shows are both fascinating marketing instruments, and creative platforms where form and content (location, design versus the fashion shown) interact heavily as they determine attendance, zeal and loyalty to the fair. Their future is however heavily discussed in the context of fast fashion, fragilisation of economic structures preventing independent and creative ventures, as well as understandable eagerness to preserve the deals already made in the past. But fashion fairs, when attended, do play a huge role for they constitute a kind of « neutral ground » onto which exhibitors inscribe their relative position vis-a-vis other exhibitors and « make » the market.
Founded in 2012, PANORAMA Berlin is a pioneering trade show focusing on Smart Formalwear, Casual- and Sportswear, Contemporary Styles, Denim, Heritage and Streetwear, Acessoires and Shoes as well as sustainable fashion and curated lifestyle products. To respond to criticism about the relevance of conventional trade fair formats, PANORAMA moved this January to Tempelhof Airport with a clear mission : to reinvent the concept of a trade show by giving visitors and exhibitors the opportunity to present themselves in a sharp and clear way and by organising countless conferences on very hot topics in the industry. On PANORAMA’s website, the motto is clear : « REBEL WITH A CAUSE ».
Pynck had the opportunity to be one of the few magazines to visit the fair. For this article, I picked a few highlights which particularly stood out and embodied new trends. It will be just as if you were there, only better, as both fairs, PANORAMA and SELVEDGE RUN AND ZEITGEIST, covered an approximate area of 4000 sq.m.
