Premium, Seek and FashionTech to return all under one roof

Trade shows Premium and Seek and conference event FashionTech will all be making their return this year, set to take place in Berlin Messe, Germany, with the addition of a new D2C festival, The Ground. The collective, operated by Premium Group, will all take place from July 7 to 9 for its return to the group’s home city of Berlin for the coming season.

“All our events take place in one place and are finally becoming the central meeting point for the entire industry,” said managing partner Anita Tillmann, in a release.

Tillman continued: “Trade fairs have to be concentrated. Of course, each format is evolving on its own and there are many innovations. More importantly, we have created a holistic fashion ecosystem that is future-proof. The world has turned completely around more than three times in the two and a half years of the pandemic. Now we can finally get started again.”

The new The Ground Festival will see the group open its doors to customers for the first time, targeting consumers from Gen Z and Gen Y as well as those living in Berlin. Industry professionals will be able to meet consumers through brand presentations, pop-ups, panel talks, workshops and live performances, all designed in a playground-like atmosphere that encourages exploration.

Special events as part of the festival include a #FashionUnites parade, hosted together with Platte.Berlin, which will start at Berlin’s Victory Column on July 7. Additionally, a charity campaign supporting Be An Angel will also take place during the event, for which customers can purchase items from a merchandise collection made in collaboration with a selection of brands, including Eastpak, Lee and Lala Berlin.

New formats for the trade shows

Premium and Seek trade shows will also be welcoming some new features to their format, including the Seek Conscious Club, a separate exhibition area focusing on sustainability. More than 80 sustainable brands have joined the club so far, including Veja and Kings of Indigo. A stage programme focused on the subject will take place July 8, hosted by the club, with well-known brands and speakers set to talk about various topics related to sustainability.

Premium will also have new changes for this edition, dividing into three sections for the first time: High, Icon and Volume. While High will focus on brands that operate above the premium segment, such as Nove and Lala Berlin, Icon will cover the classic premium segment, and will include brands like Mos Mosh and Denham. Volume, on the other hand, will feature commercially successful brands from the middle of the market, with the likes of Mexx and Pierre Cardin to be shown in this section.

Finally, the fair’s FashionTech conference, set to start July 7, will also be returning, as commented on by managing director, Jörg Arntz, who said: “We will talk about how the use of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) design will influence value creation processes to create new sales opportunities, to avoid overproduction and to minimise the risk of goods.”

Arntz continued: “These include OMR, Joor, P4Markets and McKinsey. We are supported in the curation by Anna Franziska Michel from Yoona Technology. In addition, on the day after FashionTech, our customers have the opportunity to offer smaller-scale deep dives in the form of masterclasses to deepen the topics discussed on stage.”