Bread & Butter cancelled

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Dec 4, 2014

Bread & Butter will not be taking place in January 2015, as first speculated by FashionMag Premium last Friday. But with Karl-Heinz Müller and his right-hand people absent, it was anything goes in the trade press this Thursday morning.

A pure and simple cancellation, via Sportswear International Thursday morning. News that was not reported by newspaper Textilwirtschaft, which belongs to the same German media group as Sportswear, DFV, very up to date with the German scene for advertising reasons. Textilwirtschaft did report that the trade fair will have a new, and much smaller location in Berlin, not big enough to hold the 200 expected exhibitors, the latest official number... While Drapers, for the English audience, reaffirmed that Bread & Butter will indeed be held in a single hall in the Tempelhof airport.

According to our information, Bread & Butter has indeed been cancelled. And even if it hadn't, it would've been unrecognisable. We were told, and have already reported in FashionMag Premium, that only 80 brands were actually signed up for it and not 200 as indicated above.

And, in the end, even if had continued with a single hall, granted it is the Tempelhof airport's biggest one, would any pertinent brands for denim and streetwear buyers have been there? The announced end of Bread & Butter, which does not prevent a comeback with new foundations, has in reality been a long agony and to pretend that it hasn't would be a lie.

What about the departure of G-Star, whose founder, Jos van Tilburg, who showed his friendship and loyalty for Karl-Heinz Müller. What about the departures of Tommy Hilfiger, Levi's, Wrangler.... What about the arrival in 2012 of Tom Tailor and its 5,400 ft²… And what about the following season with an entire hall dedicated to the Danish giant of Fast Fashion Bestseller… Two groups criticised for years by the Bread & Butter teams.

Added to all this is also the commotion linked to continuously contradictory announcements... The children's trade fair announced to the press that never took place, opening the doors to the public which never happened, just like the inexistent move to Barcelona, initially scheduled for this winter.

All that being said, in the end is Bread & Butter not just the story of a brand which, concentrating on its square feet of sales space, has lost its identity and its community?