Bread & Butter update

The Bread & Butter tradeshow opened its doors in Barcelona this week with new objectives and high expectations. The indisputable success it has achieved over the past few seasons has led to incredible growth, and the show is now as much a place to see and be seen, as it is to do serious business. B&B's expansion has been notable, with visitors up 90,000 from last season, and new areas, including the Palau Nacional and The Mies van der Rohe pavilion expanded to over 100,000 square meters.

A new season also means new business opportunities. There was a taste of what is to come in The Source Area, a fair within a fair consisting of production planning, laundry industries and other relevant providers which will officially launch next July. A new Sportswear Area mixed fashion with activewear, and the kidswear area has been replaced as it no longer fits the profile of the trend-led show. At 10am the show was already abuzz, with visitors browsing for the next big trend, happy to accept the many goodie bags and information packs on offer to take home and peruse.

The denim pavilion, one of the most popular of the show, was also the set of a competition where brands compete to offer the biggest and most elaborated stands. Norbert Loew, marketing manager of Bench, a British brand founded in 1998 commented: “BB is the leading tradefair for this segment. Our collection is bigger then last year and so is the stand. Twice as big. We’re growing fast. We have doubled the turnover in comparison to last year. It’s all about getting to know people.” Regarding to the business made during the fair he added: “We do not do orders on the fair.”

Audrey Morin, sales coordinator for the Spanish brand Lois commented: “It’s very important to be here (for us). We’re a Spanish brand, but to get international clients we have to be here. In Spain it’s going very well but with exports we just began. In the 70’s and 80’s this brand was booming, but now we have to conquer the international market again. We’ve seen our existing clients today and we hope to make new clients tomorrow.”

Another highly visited area of Bread & Butter is the Superior Hall, where predominantly premium and edgy denim brands were on show. Whether it’s luxury denim, formal urbanwear or lifestyle sportswear, the women’s, men’s and unisex collections in the Superior Area are cool, glamorous, and wearable. Gaia De Lezze, marketing assistant from the American firm Woolrich gave her impressions of the fair: “It’s the second time we’re here. It’s a great window for contacts and a great support for our agents in Spain. There are many potential contacts and press. We got really new business here.”

Of all the tradeshows, Bread & Butter has made its mark as it not only caters to a host of brands and designers, it also offers activities and interaction amongst visitors and participants. The G-Star show, for example, is one of the most highly visited, with the brand emphasizing a catwalk that is new, contemporary and unique.

For those lucky enough to catch the WSGN seminar “Street Directions 2009” will know first-hand the growing casualwear trends for the coming season.