Bread & Butter isn’t down for the count——yet. The show may return as a street fair.
On Wednesday the trade fair confirmed in a letter that it had cancelled the January edition planned for Berlin because it was unable to attract enough exhibitors to participate in the show. In the letter, Bread & Butter founder and chief executive officer Karl-Heinz Müller thanked supporters and stated: “This is not the end. We will return.”
In place of the show, Müller is planning a “street guerilla fair” scheduled to take place at the same time as the other fashion trade shows in Berlin during January.
In a letter sent on Thursday to a select group of industry friends, Müller’s plans include building tents for larger brands and giving smaller labels a showcase space, to asking current Christmas market vendors to participate and offer treats like ice skating. Müller noted he does not know yet how to finance the project, but that he hoped to find support.
Speculation about the show’s future has been mounting since August when Müller announced the January show would move from Berlin to Barcelona and then cancelled the move. Earlier this month, before the January show was officially scrapped, it was revealed that it would be reduced from five exhibition halls to just one.