We rocked up in Berlin this month for the Bright tradeshow at its new location in Kreuzberg. Overall a much better space for the exhibition than previous years with bigger booths and adjacency to Seek Berlin which meant there was more traffic from a greater cross section of buyers. Despite the booth looking like a fucking car crash when we arrived, we quickly ordered several fat German booth builders to follow our instructions and whip up a decent looking construction from a pile of timber. A bit like McGyver. I'm good with a drill.
We were positioned next to Criminal Damage, so had a strong contingent of British Streetwear in Germany over the three days. The show saw many international buyers come through with new accounts picked up in Dubai, Sweden, Andorra, and Korea. However, despite a very good first day, the second and third days saw the overall footfall in the show drop off dramatically. Whether this was down to the show planning, new location, or buying habits of many stores, now using online tools, who can say? All I know is that some well known brands spent mortgage deposit sized sums on booths that were visited by no more than 15 buyers in 48hrs. Not a good look.
Overall, it was a considered success internationally, but for our domestic German distributors, it was a kick in the nuts. Suffice to say we will be at Seek next season or a private showroom alongside the sister brands of Urban Styles.