Bread & Butter, the Berlin-based trade show, is on hold as city officials are preparing to use its venue at the shuttered Tempelhof Airport as a place to house the surge of refugees fleeing the ongoing conflict in Syria and Iraq.
On Monday, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel said the country is expected to take at least 80,000 asylum seekers this year.
Bread & Butter was saved from bankruptcy when it was acquired by Zalando, the European fashion e-commerce company, in June. Zalando promised to unveil a new concept for the show in January, however, a company spokesperson Boris Radke confirmed to Business Insider Australia that it has agreed to cancel the event. Radke said the Berlin Senate spoke to the company about the possibility of using the site for refuge relief efforts.
Zalando is considering an alternative charity event that would benefit the refugees.