The COVID-19 outbreak helped seal the fate of Panorama Berlin. The apparel trade show, which also owns Selvedge Run and Zeitgeist, announced this week that it has cancelled its June 30-July 2, 2020 event. The show was set to take place at its new home Tempelhof Airport.
The cancellation comes two weeks after the company filed insolvency proceedings. Organizers at the time had insisted that the show will go on—albeit in a different form.
However, amid the further escalation of the coronavirus pandemic, Panorama Berlin CEO Jörg Wichmann said the company “had to acknowledge that it would be impossible to make the necessary organizational plans for such an event over the next eight to ten weeks.”
“Without this certainty in terms of planning, neither we nor our partners would be in a position to hold a strong industry event this summer,” Wichmann wrote in a letter.
The silver lining, he added, is the opportunity to develop cost-effective and solution-oriented products to help manufacturers and retailers stay connected during a time when people are unable to physically meet up. Panorama Berlin plans to present its first solution by mid-April.
“We have already put together a taskforce who are working on a modern, digital product, which we are developing from our capacity as a tradeshow organizer,” he wrote. “Manufacturers and retailers really need this kind of exchange, which is why we want to offer them the platform and market overview they need.”
Digital will play a larger part in Pitti Immagine’s next event, too.
The Italian trade show organizer announced this week that its men’s event, Pitti Uomo, which is scheduled to take place June 16-19 in Florence, will be a combination of physical and digital.
The physical fair will be flanked by an updated e-PITTI Connect digital platform that will offer new functionality, more content and more opportunities for interaction.
“What we want to tell you loud and clear is that we are all working hard to open next June’s fairs on the dates announced,” the organizers stated.
