WGSN Joins Berlin Fashion Week: Discover the Latest Trends and Insights!

Ashley Krupnik’s keynote discussion delved into the essential shifts in consumer attitudes and behaviors, largely emotion-driven, that are influencing the fashion industry’s progress towards circularity, innovation, and sustainability.

Exploring Future Consumers with Three Strategic Approaches:

• Encourage gradual change: By addressing changes in consumer behavior and the gap between intentions and actions, encouraging small, feasible steps towards solutions can guide behavior subtly.
• Focus on value: In response to the disruption caused by fleeting micro-trends, emphasizing core value can help navigate the volatility of fast-changing fashion tendencies.
• Practice transparency: In an era where consumer fatigue is shifting responsibility, it is crucial for brands to be upfront about their sustainable practices from the beginning.

The creativity showcased during Berlin Fashion Week was unprecedented, highlighted by Taskin Goec’s Digital collection at MOTOR: The Berlin Edition, a digital fashion event held on February 2. The showcase at DER BERLINER SALON in the Gemäldegalerie museum also featured a beautifully curated selection of Berlin’s emerging designers.

Rebecca Hill, a writer for Drapers & Marie Claire, moderated an insightful panel on the evolving retail landscape. Robin Balser, the founder and CEO of VINOKILO, discussed the platform’s journey since 2016, noting its success in mainstreaming vintage fashion and selling over a million kilos of vintage clothing.

Sydney Nwakanma, the designer and founder of Emeka Suits, highlighted the extensive issue of unseen clothing waste. Emeka Suits collaborates with a network of African tailors, utilizing donated fabrics and offcuts which are shipped to Africa in large volumes.

Niki de Schryver, the CEO and founder of COSH!, a platform for conscious shopping, shared insightful data revealing the distinct sustainable shopping behaviors between Gen Z and Millennials.

Cecilie Thorsmark, CEO of Copenhagen Fashion Week, and Scott Lipinski, CEO of the Fashion Council Germany, demonstrated their fashion weeks’ initiatives in implementing sustainability criteria for all participating brands. They discussed the challenges of defining impactful sustainability criteria and the necessity of involving external agencies to help implement and verify these standards. The success seen in brands achieving B-corp certification post-meeting these criteria was highlighted as a positive indicator of achievable change.

This event and its discussions underscored the power of meaningful dialogue in fostering a more sustainable future in fashion.

The Fashion Council Germany, including Stefan Bruner and Daniela Eichhorn, along with Ann Claes from Masjien Agency, not only provided a stage for showcasing Autumn/Winter collections but also facilitated discussions on foundational ideas that will shape the future of the fashion industry.