Eco-Fashion Sets The Stage For 2017
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer
At a time when many of us value the importance of sustainable living, taking that large step towards the progression of saving the environment creates a very positive footprint for all to follow, now and in the future.
The fashion world has quickly caught on to this environmentally friendly concept. Perhaps that is why the Greenshowroom Ethical Fashion Show, which took place in Berlin, attracted a record number of attendees with enthusiasm, passion and excitement , advantageous qualities to build awareness for this crucial platform. The stylish event was held at the Postbahnhof Venue for three green-filled days, January 17th through January 19th, 2017. “The duo of green trade fairs won over their audiences with the extremely high quality of the collections displayed within a newly expanded space. The high visitor numbers seen on all three days of the events prove to us that the great diversity of what we are offering is of genuine appeal. Particularly from mainstream retailers, we are registering even higher levels of interest,” says Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies at Messe Frankfurt. With close to 180 international labels, the pair of trade fairs has once again earned its place both as the main platform for ecologically and fairly produced fashion during Berlin Fashion Week and as a unique hotspot within Europe for sustainable fashion.
The Greenshowroom was modeled exactly as the name alludes to. Designers hailing from 40 international contemporary labels wowed audiences as they mixed styles with a skillful sense of expertise and turned glamour into sporting chic. For the coming autumn/winter season, you will begin to notice that colorful and contrasting looks are on trend. These include broad silhouettes combined with tailored fits and dusky tones set against showcased hues. “We’ve enjoyed three very successful days. As well as our many existing clients, the newly added ‘Active Slow’ area has made a positive impact and enabled us to hold some good conversations,” explains Florian Werner, Managing Director of Werner Schuhe. At the Ethical Fashion Show Berlin, 139 different labels successfully showcased a wide variety of looks for the next autumn/winter season. Buyers and industry players in an expanded space were exposed to a broad spectrum of sophisticated fashion.
As the Managing Director of Mud Jeans, Bert van Son, described it well, “We’ve been involved right from the very start and we love exhibiting at the Ethical Fashion Show Berlin. We are really happy about the growth in the two events and are pleased to have taken part in the new Sportswear International area in the club. Both German and international retailers have placed orders with us and they were excited by our concept.”
This eco-fashion trend is gaining momentum as more mainstream retailers are becoming interested in participating in this event, not only because of the platform it stands for, but, because each year the visitor count continues to rise. Many of the designers involved in the “Salonshow” were able to showcase some of the most exciting trends in contemporary fashion for Autumn/Winter 2017/18. For the very first time, Messe Frankfurt (almost like the largest trade fair in Frankfurt) arranged for the catwalk show to take place in Berlin’s Energieforum, a dynamic setting for the highlights of the new collections. The show included pieces from a highly varied selection of current labels, including outfits by Austriandesign.at, Biaggi, Blue Valley, Inti Ferreira, Johanna Riplinger, Lanius, LaniusXKunert, Royal Blush, Studio Elsien Gringhuis, Studio Jux and Xess+Baba. “The Salonshow was a complete success,” says Katharina Ley, Head of PR at Lanius. “It gave us a great opportunity to present our partnership with Kunert on the runway. We had goose bumps when we saw the front row nicely full of top journalists and celebrities like Eva Padberg, and the bright eyes of the sell-out audience.” Musical accompaniment was provided by Mischa Blanos. Fresh new looks were shown by brands such as B Frog, C. Pauli, Chapati, Jaspe, Komodo, Organication and Shirts For Life. The finale of the show was one of the highlights. Iavera Naturkosmetik presented the collection of the winner of the January 2016 Iavera Green Fashion Award: Paul Iby and Johanna Winklhofer. Music was supplied by Delfonic.
With PrePeek, the organizers of the trade fair duo, for the first time, arranged a blogger and influencer initiative – in cooperation with Hamburg-based fashion website kleiderei.com and with support from Weleda. The bloggers and the influencers brought appreciative success to this event. Those taking part chose items from the collections of the participating labels and included them in photo shoots to present to their online communities. In this way, new routes of communication were opened, via the bloggers and influencers, to consumer audiences.
For those that were not able to attend this exciting leap into the world of eco-fashion, there will be another opportunity this summer as the next editions of Greenshowroom and the Ethical Fashion Show Berlin are getting prepared to do this all over again from July 4th through July 6th, 2017. See you there!
Photo Credit: Facebook Page of Greenshowroom
