From the 4th to 6th July 2012 took place one of the biggest sports and street tradeshows in Europe if not the world – the infamous ‘Bread and Butter’ (BBB) tradeshow. Founded in 2001, and this year titled ‘THE ROCK’ Bread and Butter now houses around 600 of these fashion exhibitors. It presently takes place at the historical venue which is the Berlin-Tempelhof Airport and all I can say is that this event is DOPE! (even if my flight back to London got cancelled…tut tut Easyjet…)
Firstly I would recommend visiting BBB in the summer show as Berlin can be biting cold at times in the winter Jan shows, and can be very warm in the summer July shows, secondly book ahead and register ahead in time so you don’t have to go through the huge queueing system to register once you arrive; thirdly book ahead of time your flights and your hotel as you can imagine thousands of people are hitting Berlin during this season and even Easyjet can take advantage of this time and extensively overcharge you for a near 2 hour flight into Berlin from London…the next show lands in Berlin from January 2013 so you have been pre-warned.
Another…the 2nd to last point to note is to wear comfortable shoes and comfortable clothes. Airport Berln Tempelhof is a huge airport and spans a 1.2km quadrant so if you are like me and once you get to one end and realise y ou need to meet a company at another end then flat comfy shoes are the way to go as you WILL be walking lots and for hours too. AND the final point is to bring plenty of business cards – come stacked up…even myself, I ran out of my Africa Fashion Guide bcards as I tend to network with everyone I meet.
My very short trip was brief and my focus on this trip varied but I did want to being to you the Africa focused fashion streetstyle that I came across at the trade events I visited which on this occassion were Bread and Butter and also Bright Tradeshow too.
See below for the streetfashions I spotted who were repping African threads.
Author: Jacqueline Shaw
Photo credit: Africa Fashion Guide
Website: www.africafashionguide.com
