Upcoming Bread & Butter January 2015 edition cancelled

After a week of rumors and speculation, a definite decision has been made at last: Bread & Butter has cancelled its January 2015 winter edition.

Karl-Heinz Müller, founder and managing director of the Berlin-based trade fashion show has stepped forward once more and issued another letter detailing his reasoning behind the cancellation. The letter was published on Tuesday, 9 December on the website of Bread & Butter and reads as followed:

“Not least due to self-inflicted turbulences, we have not been able to motivate a sufficient number of exhibitors to participate this season. I am convinced of the fact that our success concept cannot be continued by repeating the past. Maybe something great has to end so that something new can arise.”

“Our whole fashion industry is at a point of radical change. This is why challenges of the future have to be met with new solutions. For now, I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have supported and accompanied us in the last 14 years, above all to my numerous long-term employees and business partners. I owe special thanks to those in charge in the cities of Berlin and Barcelona."

“This is not the end. We will return.”

The final decision comes after Müller sent a letter to German news outlet Sportswear International on Friday, which left the future of Bread & Butter's January edition in the hands of the remaining exhibitors. The trade fairs' founder previously requested that any remaining exhibitors wishing to attend the event to reconfirm their attendance.

But now it has become clear that the lack of exhibitors, buyers and visitors interested in attending the trade fair was not sufficient for the January edition to go through, leading to Müller pulling the plug on Bread & Butter at last, at least for now.

The trade's cancellation signals the end of one of the largest trade events in Europe. Bread & Butter held its first event back in 2001, with fifty labels showing during the Herrenmodewoche and the trade fair Interjeans in Cologne. At the time, it was impossible to foresee that Berlin would become the fashion capital of Germany, but things were set in motion in 2003, when Premium held its debut event in the city and Müller decided to relocate Bread & Butter from Cologne to the Germany capital.

Since then Bread & Butter, also known as BBB, has grown to become one of the largest trade events in Europe. In the summer of 2005, Müller held the first edition of Bread & Butter in Barcelona, with 1,028 exhibitors and 71,000 visitors attending in just three days. Twelve days later he held a second event in Berlin, a move which was seen as wild and extravagant at the time, but proved to be Bread & Butter's pivotal growing point.

The following winter editions in Barcelona and Berlin went on to attract even more exhibitors and visitors, running two weeks apart. Then in the summer of 2007, Bread & Butter held a single edition in Barcelona due to increasing pressure from the international economic crisis, which attracted approximately 91,000 visitors. However this event was triumphed by the following edition in January 2008, in Barcelona, dubbed 'King Size,' which drew over 99.500 attendees.

In 2010 Bread & Butter decided to return home to Berlin and set up its base in airport Tempelhof. But the move proved to be insufficiently daringly enough for the trade fairs' founder, who aimed to continue to be innovative with his event. He went on to introduce a new format for the trade event for winter 2013, with stricter regulations that included denying admission to owners and employees of “vertical companies” such as H&M, Inditex brands and Primark as well as “fashion enthusiastic consumers.” He also decided to charge admission for external visitors from PR and marketing agencies.

The end of Bread & Butter... for now

Earlier this year FashionUnited.nl spoke to Müller during the May edition of Kingpins and Blueprint in Amsterdam. “Brands need to innovate. At Bread & Butter we have noted that as labels continue to grow and want to book larger booths in response, but I think that is something that buyers are not waiting for at all. You have to inspire, otherwise you won't be able to sell anything at all.”

At the time he also argued that consumers can also go to value or budget fashion chains for quality items, so brands should be prepared to set themselves apart. “Look at Uniqlo, they have acquired a top manufacturer or denim and are now producing the finest quality denim jeans for 40 euros. As a brand you have to be able to keep up with something like that.”

His policy when it came to running Bread & Butter was similar, and he regularly came up with new plans for the trade fair. In 2013 Müller announce plans to extend Bread & Butter to five days, and then dedicated the extra two days to consumers. However this radical change was not well received within the industry and two months later the director withdrew his plans for the consumer days. “The responses[for the open days] ranged from total euphoria to complete rejection.”

Last summer Müller made another big announcement: Bred & Butter would relocate its upcoming winter edition in January 2015 from Berlin to Barcelona. But the move was not meant to and after heated debates within the industry on the move, Müller cancelled his plans once more and chose to remain in Berlin.

However, despite Bread & Butter's January cancellation Berlin remains a vibrant fashion city, as other trade show continue to thrive and expand. Premium and Panorama previously announced plans to extend their exhibition space a by 4,500 and 4,000 square meters respectively for their upcoming January editions, with both trade shows boosting a host of new brand exhibitors.

Now the only question that remains is if Bread & Butter will continue with is plans for its edition in Seoul next summer, or will it face the same fate as its predecessor?