The most recent Bread & Butter fair, held on Jan. 21-23 in Barcelona, featured 800 brands and 79,942 visitors from more than 100 countries, slightly below figures from last year. After four years and eight shows, it was the last time it was to be held in Barcelona; next year it will move back to Berlin, which is the home of the organization’s headquarters.
Karl-Heinz Müller, the managing director of the show, stressed that the move “has nothing to do with anything not being good” in Barcelona. Rather, in these economic times, the market is the boss, and “what this boss needs is a profound renewal and progression.” He said the new location, in the unused airport of Berlin-Tempelhof, will help redefine and reposition Bread & Butter.
The airport, which is one of the longest continuous buildings in the world, will be rebuilt with an eye to its protection as a historic building. Bread & Butter has a deal with the city to use it for 10 years, with an option to extend that by another 10 years.
The next show is set for July 1-3, serving as the kick-off show for the textile industry and retail. In the new venue, exhibiting brands will be presented in “neighborhoods” according to genre. Bread & Butter will continue to focus on denim, young fashion and sport lifestyle. The Source, its platform for marketing and communication for the apparel sourcing industry, will be further integrated into the overall show.
Before deciding to go back to Berlin, Müller and his team had reportedly taken other venues into consideration, such as Milan or Marseille, France. The city and the fair of Barcelona have reacted to their announcement by saying that they will try to put together an alternative international fashion exhibition, with a wider product spectrum.
Bread & Butter started in Berlin in January 2003 after three successful off sessions in Cologne. In December of that year the organizers bought a former Siemens factory to host the show in German capital, but resold the building after moving the fair to Barcelona from July 2005 due to space and transportation constraints. Other fashion-related events have continued to take place in Berlin at the same dates. Described as a symbol of humanity and fraternity, the famous Tempelhof airport stopped operating last October.
