The big fashion circus is canceled due to the corona. As an emergency solution, the first Frankfurt Fashion Week is presenting a digital conference program with an important focus on sustainability.
Frankfurt / Main – Virtual conferences instead of big shows: The first Frankfurt Fashion Week has opened as a digital edition. Because of the corona pandemic, the trade fairs have been canceled, instead there is a comprehensive program online this week.
“We used the crisis as an opportunity,” said Anita Tillmann, managing director of the Premium Group organizer, on Monday. The digital format should also be used in future editions: “The future of the trade fair is hybrid.”
The Fashion Week wants to focus – now and in the future – on the topic of sustainability. After all, the fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. “Our claim is radically forward-looking,” said Detlef Braun, Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt. “We are pushing nothing less than the transformation of the entire fashion and creative industries into a modern, resource-efficient industry.” Panels, workshops and showcases will be broadcast worldwide from the “FFW Studio” until Friday. The progressive format shows what great potential there is for Fashion Week even after the pandemic, emphasized Frankfurt’s Lord Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD).
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who opens the conference “The New European Bauhaus – Workshop of the Future” on Tuesday, is also involved. One day later, the “SDG Summit” will be presented in cooperation with the United Nations. “There is a tremendous amount of action to be taken in the fashion industry,” Tillmann had already emphasized in advance. It is time to take on more responsibility
A year ago it became known that Berlin was losing several fashion fairs to Frankfurt. However, the makers had imagined the premiere very differently. The Premium, Seek, Neonyt and The Ground trade fairs are now expected to take place in the Main metropolis for the first time in January 2022.
Frankfurt is in the heart of Europe, a central trading center and one of the largest internet hubs in the world, added Braun. It is a matter of networking the most relevant representatives from different parts of the industry at Fashion Week and taking the entire value chain into account. The head of the trade fair even drew a comparison with the World Economic Forum: the aim is to “establish the Davos of the fashion industry”.
Despite the thick digital conference program, there will also be a bit of glamor this week. Regional designers use Fashion Week to present their work in different locations. On Monday evening, the young designer Samuel Gärtner (23) invites you to his show at the Senckenberg Natural History Museum. In addition, the “Bunte New Faces Award Style” will be presented. The first winner has already been determined: Berlin actress Gina Stiebitz (23, “Dark”) will be honored as a Young Style Icon.
On Tuesday, the Mainz designer Anja Gockel will present her new collection in the Frankfurter Hof. Then the Frankfurt Fashion Lounge will also open on Opernplatz – with a 25 meter long catwalk under the open sky. dpa
