Bread & Butter announce changes for Summer 2014

“It's time for a change. Since the foundation of Bread & Butter in the year 2001 in Cologne, we have stirred the industry,” began founder and president of the Berlin trade show Karl Heinz Müller in an open letter to the press, brand

agencies and retailers.

Müller details the upcoming changes that will be introduced to the trade show in its July 2014 edition, which all revolve around bringing the end consumer into the picture like never before. He believes that the fashion industry has evolved into a “consumer driven market” and in order to stay ahead in the industry, the end consumer must be satisfied.

Berlin sees trade

show boom causing a "ruinous competition"

He describes the the danger of Berlin becoming “random”, due to the increasing number of new trade show and events occurring in the city each year. He adds that “hardly anyone has a clear profile, everyone addresses everyone...in Berlin, a ruinous competition has begun. We all know what it means if the supply overtakes the demand.”

Changes in the whole market, due to the “vertical providers such as H&M, Inditex, Uniqlo, Topshop," also influenced the decision, especially ones have entered the market armed with a number of concepts, such as “biotopes,” that are “strongly accepted by the end consumers”. Müller also pointed out that the rapid development of e-commerce for both multi-brands retailers such as Asos and mono-brands has caused a decreased of physical stores and encouraged a number of end consumers to treat brick and mortar stores as “the try on boudoir”. All these issues combined do not make things “any easier for the stationary retail”.

Müller adds that after numerous discussions with previous exhibitors at a number of trade shows, many leading brands seem to show less interest in “the classic wholesale business” and showcasing collections at trade shows. He stresses the fact that only the “classic fashion retail is able to establish and strengthen a brand or label in the market,” and that retailers need strong selling brands in their portfolios to stay on top in the fashion game.

The end

consumer is the answer

Since Bread & Butter finds itself “in the middle of a distinct structural change”, Müller concludes, the trade show must offer the right answers, “an answer that does justice to all market participants...including the end consumer”. He states that with consumers being better informed and knowledgeable than ever, thanks to new media outlets, “the whole market is much more depending on the positive image that consumers influence.”

Müller stresses that today, more than ever, the end consumer chooses what, when, where and how he or she purchases their goods. He acknowledges that the decision to introduce the end consumer to the trade show “will not be an easy task,” but in order to keep the interest of the retailer, and the industry a change was needed.

This is not the first time Bread & Butter have turned their attention to the end consumer. Last month, the trade show relaunched its website which featured more consumer related news and content. Further details on how Bread & Butter will involve the consumer in the trade show will be revealed during a planned event on the 16th of December in Berlin.

Photos: Courtesy of Bread & Butter