The car company is apparently withdrawing as a sponsor – there will still be a fashion week in January. And it is lush, like it hasn’t been for years.
Manuel Almeida Vergara
Lots of newcomers, some old hands: After a break of several years, the Odeeh label is also coming back to Berlin.Imago
The German fashion industry had been wondering for a long time how long the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin would continue in its current form. How long the car company will stick to its commitment in the capital. Now it seems that what has been circulating as a rumor in the Berlin scene for a few days has been confirmed: after around 15 years, the company is withdrawing as the main sponsor of the German fashion week – the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week will apparently no longer exist in its previous form.
In a statement by the car brand, which is exclusively available to the Berliner Zeitung, the events are only indirectly confirmed: On the one hand, Mercedes-Benz AG emphasizes its global commitment in the fashion sector; in fact, for years the company has been and continues to be a sponsor of the fashion weeks in several cities and countries such as Madrid or Mexico.
However, the Berlin format says: “In order to reach target groups and customers in the best possible way, all communication platforms at Mercedes-Benz are continuously and individually checked. This also includes the brand’s commitment to international fashion weeks and events. This also applies to the German market in the fashion metropolis of Berlin.” And further: “We are currently working on a new concept to present the brand’s commitment to fashion on the German market in 2023.”
This is by no means a rejection of the German fashion location – but it is an indication that new presentation platforms and therefore new partners are being looked for. This goes well with a message sent a few days ago by the Fashion Council Germany (FCG), the German moderator who represents the industry before politics and business.
With the great creativity of the participants, the concept competition has produced many innovative and sustainable ideas for the Berlin Fashion Week.
It does announce a fashion week for the usual period from January 16 to 21, 2023, but the “Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin”, which was only a part of the entire fashion week anyway, no longer appears in it. According to the announcement, the largest sponsor for the events in January will be the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises.
With funding from the Senate, the Fashion Council Germany announced a competition that produced 29 different prize winners. They were selected by a jury of experts, including MCM creative director Dirk Schönberger and Herbert Hofmann, creative and purchasing director of the internationally renowned Berlin media format Highsnobiety. Overall, the funding provided by the Senate is apparently in the seven-digit range. “With the great creativity of the participants, the concept competition has produced many innovative and sustainable ideas for the Berlin Fashion Week,” says Economics Senator Stephan Schwarz; we look forward to the implementation and congratulate the winning brands.
They could apply for the funding with presentation projects in three categories: Concepts for classic fashion shows were submitted under the heading “Berlin Contemporary”. The 18 winning brands, each receiving a grant of 25,000 euros for their show, include established labels such as Odeeh, which is thus celebrating a return to Berlin Fashion Week after a few seasons of hiatus, or the internationally renowned Berlin brand Rianna + Nina, the sold her designs herself in the New York department store Bergdorf Goodman.
We feel a new spirit of optimism – a new togetherness. We have to use this momentum to present fashion in and from Germany.
Among the smaller – and quite promising – up-and-coming labels that are hosting a fashion show in January are Namilia, SF1OG and Sia Arnika; the latter label is even worn by Kylie Jenner. “I’m always surprised how much potential there is in the German fashion scene,” says FCG CEO Christiane Arp. “We sense a new spirit of optimism – a new togetherness. We have to use this momentum to present fashion in and from Germany.” Berlin is the right place for this.
Another category is titled “Studio2Retail”, here special retail and studio events are funded with up to 5000 euros each, including the clothes shop Berlin or Wardrobe Affair. The highest prize money was awarded in the “BWF Multiplier Formats” category. Up to 189,000 euros will go to concepts that aim to give Berlin Fashion Week a stronger international focus and increase its profile. Among the winners are, for example, the Berlin sales agency Melagence or the event platform “202030 – The Berlin Fashion Summit”, which makes sustainability issues visible and communicates them in various ways.
And then there are the fashion fairs of the Premium Group, which have been a fixture on the international fashion calendar and at the Berlin Fashion Week for 20 years, regardless of Senate funding. After a two-year break due to corona, the events of the trade fair boss Anita Tillmann and her business partner Jörg Arntz took place in Berlin for the first time at the beginning of September. From January 17th to 19th they will be held again on the premises of Messe Berlin – this time with an even more sophisticated, varied program: In addition to the usual trade fair operations, there will also be parties, talk formats and podiums, which, for example, deal with topics of the Discuss sustainability or fashion technology.
A surprisingly lavish program overall, the likes of which have not been seen at the Berlin Fashion Week for years. In this respect, the word “spirit of optimism”, which appears several times in the announcement by the Fashion Council Germany, actually only seems a bit euphemistically at first glance. Rather, it seems as if Berlin doesn’t just want to know it again – but that the repositioned Fashion Week should really become something.