Frankfurt is Everywhere

FRANKFURT FASHION WEEK FRANKFURT IS EVERYWHERE!

Covid was still crashing the party this summer, but Frankfurt Fashion Week intends to define the future of trade shows in winter 2022. Anita Tillmann, Managing Director of Premium Group, and Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board at Messe Frankfurt, explain what the future may hold in an interview with Stephan Huber.

Interview: Stephan Huber. Text: Nicoletta Schaper. Photo: Frankfurt Fashion Week

January instead of July – is this not an excellent opportunity to align oneself even more precisely with a fashion industry that is changing at an accelerated pace?

Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board at Messe Frankfurt: Yes, a crisis always harbours opportunity. Much has happened in the industry. Corona has accelerated so many processes and exposed shortcomings of the textile and fashion industries. Simultaneously, a rethink is underway on the consumer side. Awareness of sustainable consumption is one of our central themes, for which we as Messe Frankfurt and the FFW strive to be a new catalyst and inspiration source. Anita Tillmann, Managing Director of Premium Group: We need a fresh narrative for trade shows and fashion weeks, that was already obvious before Corona and our relocation to Frankfurt. We launched Fashionweek Studio, a new digital format focused on how to intelligently shape change, at the beginning of July. Not being able to host a physical event was painful in many ways, but it also gave us respite to synchronise the teams and to consider everything more closely. Now we are ready to go full-throttle in January.

Detlef Braun and Anita Tillmann intend to transform the trade show from a marketplace of products into a marketplace of ideas.

Everyone is missing the personal exchange. Yet who will actually be meeting in the future? Up until now, fashion fairs have essentially been the domain of brands and retailers. If trade shows are to be the marketplaces of ideas, then the target group should be significantly expanded and ultimately include the key players of the entire supply chain.

Anita Tillmann: Yes, and B2B and B2C will converge even more in the future. Back in my early days in the industry, fashion fairs such as CPD mapped linear

processes. Today, this fashion ecosystem has become a circle in which everyone interacts, of which retail and product are still the heartbeat. But what is the product now? A t-shirt, software, data, or a new retail concept? As this ecosystem changes, so does the interaction between all participants. We intend to be a platform and stage for this interaction. As a trade show, we provide the backdrop for product presentations, deals, communication, networking, and the exchange of ideas. Topics such as recruitment and education are equally important. Those are covered by our Fashiontech formats. We aim to provide answers to the key questions of our industry and offer an experience. Will we manage to achieve all this in full by January? No, but we are working hard on getting there. 365 days a year. It is a work in progress. Detlef Braun: Messe Frankfurt hosts over 68 textile events with more than 25,000 exhibitors worldwide. Our Texpertise Network covers all stages of the value and supply chain. The fashion segment, involving our partner Premium Group, will be the cherry on the cake, so to speak. We are inviting all players to Frankfurt, including manufacturers on an international level, as our network extends to 188 countries. That is a genuine USP. Frankfurt is everywhere! We provide a meeting point at Frankfurt Fashion Week, in the heart of Europe. This is the vision that we intend to implement step by step.

The digitisation of the supply chain is not only sparking what is arguably the most radical revolution since the beginning of industrial mass production. Does this mean a trade show needs to be a place of learning?

Anita Tillmann: Standstill is no longer an option. One must remain curious, always be prepared to learn something new. Keeping up and shaping the future requires great creativity on all levels. Not only the designer is creative, but also the entrepreneur, the fabric developer, the data scientist, or the influencer. We want them all to meet at Frankfurt Fashion Week, to get to know and inspire each other. This applies in particular to young people, the future fashion generation. We wish to invite them specifically, because it is hugely important to promote new talent. This allows them to experience first-hand what a great industry we have and what diverse opportunities it offers. It pays to think differently and bring together the future players who want to achieve something. Now is the chance to implement something truly extraordinary.