Bread & Butter Berlin, a session in transition

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Jan 16, 2013

Tuesday morning, 10:45! From the pressroom with a panoramic view of Urban Base, formerly Denim Base, journalists observe the empty aisle in front of Desigual. The current Bread & Butter Berlin session is definitely about transition. At the press conference, show organizer Karl-Heinz Müller spent half his time talking about those not in attendance – Replay, Levi's, Bench, Miss Sixty, Ben Sherman. “Are there going to be fewer visitors at Bread & Butter? Obviously, the press reported the absences as a weakness of the show. But this brand is not exhibiting anywhere else,” said the charismatic boss.

Bread & Butter is definitely changing it up. Officially, the current show has 560 exhibitors, 100 who are new and 50 comebacks. And the show floor is smaller with a shocker explanation. “As the only managing shareholder, I decided to forgo 25% of revenues. It is an investment in the future,” said Müller. But like the under booked Paris-Berlin flights on Monday or the very German opening evening with guest star Nina Hagen, this edition of the show raises many questions.

To provide at least a partial answer, Karl-Heinz Müller warned that 2012, the best year of Bread & Butter (sic), was a year disrupted by the economic difficulties of southern Europe. “Perhaps I was naively wrong about the strength of the companies,” he admitted.

Today he announced that July 2013 would see a total reorganization of the Tempelhof Airport show grounds. The Lock and Urban Superior, always on the right of the entrance, will be moved to the left side. The reason is simple – an additional hall to the left will create a real womenswear counterpart for the Lock, along the lines of the new 14 OZ. store in West Berlin.

The Lock area, which is celebrating its eighth session, is dedicated to historical brands with a certain technical expertise and reflects the importance of this segment for retailers. Following the announced departure of Müller's right-hand man, Sebastian Hennecke, Alexander Kerlinger was named head of sales. The ex-Levi's Vintage manager has been with Bread & Butter two years now and was formerly in charge of the Lock and the Temple of Denim.

Regarding streetwear, Joey Elgersmam “our Dutch import” in charge of the Sport&Street, is taking over the position of director of marketing. All symbols of all the changes in anticipation of July 2013.