mpdclick's interview with bread & butter founder, karl-heinz müller

Mpdclick Managing Editor Sarah Wade recently had the pleasure of interviewing Karl-Heinz Müller, founder and Managing Director of the super-show for selected brands Bread & Butter. Karl-Heinz Müller discusses how the show has remained one of the world's leading trade fairs, and what he has planned for this year's much anticipated event...

Sarah Wade: Bread and Butter Berlin 2009 was a great success - were you pleased with the results?

Karl-Heinz Müller: Yes, we were very pleased with the results of our premiere in Berlin-Tempelhof -  in my opinion the last event has been the best BREAD & BUTTER ever. The visitor quality was on a level not reached up to now; it was trade-relevant and professional throughout. Buyers from the most important stores from all over the world came here to Berlin and amongst our exhibiting brands the most leading brands from the street- and urban wear section were present. With this tradeshow we have proofed that the return to Berlin was the right decision at the right time!

SW: How has B&B consistently remained as the leading trade fair for street/urban wear for the past 8 years? Bread & Butter started out with 50 exhibitors in 2001 to over 800 in January 2009. What do you attribute to the success of this?

K-HM: One of BREAD & BUTTER's main points of strength is that it doesn't present itself as trade fair in classical way, but as marketing and communication platform. At BBB the brands present themselves individually with all their qualities, in all their facets and identity and in their complete emotional environment. It is a unique meeting point for the whole industry, combining fun and profit, inspiration and business. The early date of BREAD & BUTTER marks the event as the kick-off fair date within the textile industry. At BBB information are being collected which lead to the final retail order.

SW: Trade fairs have a habit of going out of fashion, what does Bread & Butter do to keep the brand fresh?

K-HM: As mentioned before, at BREAD & BUTTER our brands present themselves in all their facets and with all their character traits. Art, music, design and also quality food are an integral part of our "tradeshow for selected brands" - as they are all valued facets which belong to fashion & lifestyle.

Our premier goal has always been to carefully select the brands that exhibit at our show and to meet only the highest demands in quality and expertise, in order to offer our visitors the best possible overview over the market. We don't stand still, our sales staff members are travelling a lot to visit our exhibiting brands. We believe in communication - only if you speak to your customers, you can offer the right solutions for the market. That is in the end what keeps the show fresh and progressive.

SW: Why does Bread & Butter appeal to the big brands such as G-Star, Levi's and Adidas?  How do you manage to maintain your relationship with these brands year on year?

K-HM: It has always been very important for us to maintain close contact to representatives of the industry and to foster direct exchange between retailers, buyers and brands. By doing so, we stay in direct touch with the market, which allows us to sense as early as possible new tendencies and developments.

Also we have always considered our brands rather as part of a community, than as mere business partners. Furthermore, BREAD & BUTTER has started off in 2001 with a close focus on Denim and Streetwear brands. This segment is our core business, even today. BBB is always close to its roots and represents the authenticity which meets the philosophy of brands from this segment. In the end BREAD & BUTTER is the strongest show where the strongest brands come to, they need a strong platform and rely on a strong partner.

SW: Was the move back to Berlin and specifically Tempelhof airport anything to do with the anniversary of the Berlin wall coming down in 1989 (20 year anniversary), or was it simply time to come home?

K-HM: Our return to Berlin was not bound to the coming down to the wall. Berlin also celebrated the 60 years anniversary of the Berlin airlift at Berlin Tempelhof this year - both were historically important events for the city of Berlin and a nice coincidence with our return. But you are right, it was time to move to the right city and the right location - and to come home. The historical airport Berlin-Tempelhof combines various aspects that are crucial to our show: is located in the centre of Berlin and is closely connected to all means of public transport, it allows for perfect logistics, has an impressive architecture. Tempelhof is one of the largest buildings in the world with a great historical relevance: it was here that the Berlin airlift took place from 1948-1949, a symbol of international solidarity. During BREAD & BUTTER, the airport Berlin-Tempelhof once again revives with people from all over the world working and communicating with each other in an atmosphere of mutual respect and acceptance.

On the other hand, Berlin itself is the place to be! It is a great city with an inexhaustible creativity and a lot of economic potential, located in the heart of Europe. And finally Germany is the strongest textile market in Europe, and for a show like BREAD & BUTTER a strong home market is of substantial importance.

All in all, BREAD & BUTTER, Berlin and Tempelhof result in a perfect symbiosis.

SW: Do Bread & Butter plan to remain in Berlin, if not what other cities would they consider- perhaps London would be a compelling alternative in SS12? To go alongside the Olympics?

K-HM: Nice idea - however, Berlin is the place where we will stay for the next ten years. Furthermore our contract for renting the former airport location foresees another option for ten years. We believe Berlin has a great potential of becoming one of the international hot spots on the fashion map of the industry. For sure, Berlin will never become a second Milan, Paris or New York - for these city stand for another fashion segment. Berlin stands for the rough and the creative, for a certain mix of the progressive and contemporary clothing culture. This segment is what we cover with BREAD & BUTTER - street- and urbanwear. However, we believe that this segment will grow especially on the Asian market, so we could imagine establishing an additional tradeshow platform in Asia.

SW: How has the current economic situation impacted on the show and in his opinion which exhibitor profile has been most affected, for example Denim, Sportswear etc.

K-HM: I agree, crisis is always a chance for reinvention, and with our move to Berlin we met the crisis in the best possible way: with new ideas and the right decisions for the industry.

As the recent economic development has shown, definite prognostics are hard to make, as there are always changes and evolutions. In my opinion the concentration on core values and philosophy is the only thing that provides reliability: The people from the industry concentrate on BREAD & BUTTER as the strongest tradeshow in the segment of Street- and Urbanwear, and strong fairs give orientation.

In times of crisis and as well the same in times of regular economic developments, our philosophy is to keep on going straight ahead, while recognising the needs of the market and offering the right answers and solutions. We will continue to always stay flexible and innovative.

SW: How does Bread & Butter continue to develop its successful advertising campaigns, that vary consistently season after season?

K-HM: We keep on moving forward all the time - to always be searching for new ideas and inspirations, to always be hungry for new challenges is our motto. Like the fashion industry, BBB changes every season. Our aim is to react on current developments and tendencies of the market and to visualize this in our campaigns. We produce everything inhouse - our Creative Departments consists of very talented and fresh graphic designers who translate our concepts into the visual appearance in all our publications and on the show itself.

With the motto of the upcoming show "THE ORIGINAL" we would like to emphasise that every one visiting BREAD & BUTTER, whether it is our brands or our visitors, are individuals and Originals. The "Original" Campaign meets our concept of the B&B Community thought in the best possible way.

SW: What's next for 2010? What can we expect from the next edition of Bread and Butter?

K-HM: The next edition of BREAD & BUTTER will be very exciting! We have great new entries amongst our exhibitors, such as Diesel, Boss Orange, Barbour, Lacoste, Puma... and were able once more to upgrade the quality of the overall exhibitor portfolio. We will welcome around 600 exhibitors - already six weeks ago we were completely booked out.

We keep up the segmentation of the areas as in last July, it has proven to be very successful. Due to the C-shape of the building there are three natural walking ways which allows our visitors a concentrated visit of the show. The single hangars are conceptualised like special retail stores, the brands are defined and positioned according to their genre. By this we guarantee the buyer a best possible orientation within the segments in the areas of Sport & Street, Street Fashion, Fashion Now, Style Society, Denim Base, Urban Superior Men and Urban Superior Women as well as L.O.C.K. - labels of common kin.

The biggest conceptual change in terms of architecture is our presentation of the winter solution of the Denim Base area under the roofed airfield, which has been open on one side last summer. In collaboration with the Berlin based company System 180 we have developed a unique masterpiece of scenic architecture which consists of a modular steel pipe system, that reaches along the entire front of the 400 metres long and over 12 metres high roofed airfield, making up a temporary facade on the site of the historical airport of Berlin-Tempelhof. Next to the necessary weather and warmth protection for the exhibitors and visitors in the Denim Base, the impressive structure offers brands such as BOSS Orange, CUSTO Barcelona, Desigual, DIESEL, G-Star RAW, Levi's® and Wrangler the possibility of a new dimension of presentation for their collections. Through the up to 150 sqm large entrance portals, which will be individually designed by the brands as a lobby or check-in area, visitors can make their way via  a tunnel to the surrounding outside pavilions. These newly developed destinations are up to 700 sqm in size and enable the brands a detailed presentation of their various worlds of experience. Through the integration of the new destinations on the open airfield, an additional new exhibition space of about 5,000 square meters will be generated for the Denim Base.

Also connected to the construction from the mid outside and reachable via the Denim Base is the "Original Sin Saloon" - the winter solution for the Luna Park. In the approximately 3,000 sqm large, circular tent, the visitors of the BREAD & BUTTER will find a diverse range of catering  of the renowned Berlin restaurant borchardt over the three days of the event. The "Original Sin Saloon" will be used for a number of evening and music events such as the B&B Opening Party, where The BossHoss will play a live concert.

For the future we also think about a Kidswear segment for summer 2010. We have brands exhibiting which have great programs for kids in their portfolio such as Replay, Pepe Jeans London and Scotch & Soda. They look for the right environment which BBB is able to offer. Kidswear will fit very well in the concept of BBB. We also would like to expand the segments Sportswear and Casual Wear, there is a lot of potential. However, also here, we only want to concentrate on the right and the relevant brands - according to our overall concept.

Bread & Butter will be at Berlin's Templehof airport from Wednesday 20th January to Friday, 22nd January 2010.

Click here for Bread & Butter's website