A year and a half after the initial date, the Denim Première Vision fair held its first edition in the German capital on May 17, at the Arena Berlin. An event that generated great dynamism among the visitors, with around 80 exhibitors present.

This first edition of Denim Première Vision in Berlin was initially scheduled for November 2020, but had to be postponed because of the pandemic.

A smaller fair than previous editions held in Paris or Milan, the show was set up for two days in a pavilion by the Spree River, where suppliers, weavers, spinners, dyers and finishing professionals presented their latest novelties for autumn-winter 2023/24.

Starting at 10 a.m., professionals were greeted by a trade fair team dressed in denim overalls designed by Berlin-based designer Andrea Bonfini for his brand Fade Out Label. An hour after the opening, the booths of exhibiting brands such as Isko, Advance Denim, Bossa, KMT, Kassim Denim, Chottani and Callim Denim were already bustling. The turnout picked up again at noon.

«It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve participated in a trade show,» Keith O’Brien, public relations director for Isko, the Turkish denim specialist, told FashionNetwork.com.

«We didn’t have high expectations, we were just happy to be able to present our innovations and exchange ideas with the denim community after a long time. We see customers regularly, but it’s still special to meet in an environment like this,» he detailed.

Junaid Mushtaq of Pakistan’s Kassim Denim is happy to be physically present again at an event of this magnitude. «We are very happy to be back in direct contact with our customers,» he said Tuesday.

«Before the pandemic, we met every month to exchange ideas. For a long time this could only be done digitally,» the representative said.

Virtual exchanges also had their advantages during the crisis, especially in terms of logistics. But for the companies that FashionNetwork.com met, whether from Turkey, Italy, China, Japan, Pakistan or Bangladesh, the return to the physical format and direct contact is a breath of fresh air.

Denim Première Vision is organizing a Digital Denim Week in parallel to the Berlin edition, from May 16 to 20. Two of its digital «talks» were broadcast on Tuesday on a Denim Première Vision screen, displayed in the «Trends Agora» space, located in the center of the pavilion. Manon Mangin, Première Vision’s denim fashion specialist, and Marina Coutelan, sustainable fashion consultant, gave an update on the latest sustainable innovations for the fall-winter 2023/24 season in this format.

Another of the talks was an opportunity to discuss traceability and responsible denim. These discussions were complemented by a seminar given by Manon Mangin on next season’s trends.

The organizers had promised a new space for this edition, the «Fashion District», a pop-up area distributed among the stands, which is one of the highlights of this edition.

For the first time, Denim Première Vision presented 10 ‘prêt-à-porter’ and accessories brands specialized in denim.

These capsule collections were made using the materials and know-how of the show’s exhibitors. The pieces were presented alongside the different brands’ current collections. The brands participating in this collaboration were Denzilpatrick, Von Dutch, Fade Out Label, Peppino, Blue Of A Kind and Gimmi Jeans, in addition to Milena Andrade, Braves & Company, Jonathan Christopher and A New Kind Of Blue.

The next edition of Denim Première Vision will take place on November 23 and 24. This time in Milan.