COMPETITION

BERLIN FASHION WEEK JULY 2023 CONCEPT COMPETITION
Berlin stands for innovation, inclusivity and sustainability in the fashion field like almost no other location. The Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises / Project Future has been promoting Berlin's fashion industry for many years. Therefore, a competition will be conducted in order to strengthen the innovation and growth potential of the fashion industry, the stationary retail trade and local designers based in Berlin and Germany as well as Ukrainian designers. To this end, prize money will be awarded for particularly innovative, creative and sustainable concepts that will be presented during Berlin Fashion Week which takes place from July 10 to 15, 2023.
Falls du die deutsche Version der Wettbewerbsbeschreibung und/oder Formularstruktur benötigst, wende dich bitte an bfw@fashion-council-germany.org.
COMPETITION CATEGORIES AND PRIZE MONEY
- STUDIO2RETAIL: B2C Store and Atelier Events (up to 5.000,- EURO per concept)
- BERLIN CONTEMPORARY: Fashion shows and presentations (up to 25.000,- EURO per concept)
The Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises / Project Future intends to offer prize money (De-minimis grants) for the most convincing competition entries. The jury will award prize money in the different categories between 5.000,- EURO and 25.000,- EURO.
TIME FRAME
March 20th 2023: Announcement of the call
March 29th 2023: Opening of the application process
April 16th 2023: Application deadline followed by jury voting
Until May 3rd 2023: Announcement of the winners

The competition is funded by the state of Berlin and EFRE funds.
DETAILS AND ENTRY CONDITIONS PER COMPETITION CATEGORY
STORE AND ATELIER-EVENTS
The Senate Department of Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises / Project Future provides prize money to support concepts of stationary retail and Germany-based designers (preferably from Berlin) that take place during the Berlin Fashion Week in July 2023. The prize money is to be awarded to outstanding creative and sustainable B2C event concepts.
The 5 most convincing concepts can each win up to 5.000,- EURO in prize money. A jury of international experts in the fashion industry will determine the winning concepts.
Participation requirements
The participant must
- be registered in Germany, preferably in Berlin and
- employ no more than 30 staff members.
Documents to be submitted, expectations of the concept:
- The event concept must address and benefit end consumers and
- it needs to contain a reasonable cost planning (cost and financing plan) and viable chances of realization and
- the submitted answers and documents need to be complete and truthful.
- In addition, the declaration “Erklärung zur Kenntnisnahme des Merkblatts zur Achtung der Charta der Grundrechte der Europäischen Union (GRC) im Zusammenhang mit der Umsetzung des angestrebten Vorhabens” (“Declaration of acknowledgment of the information sheet on compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (GRC) in connection with the implementation of the intended project” and the declaration “De-minimis-Erklärung über De-minimis-Beihilfen nach den EU- Verordnungen für De-minimis-Beihilfen“ (“De minimis declaration on de minimis aid under the EU Regulations for de minimis aid”) must be completed, signed and submitted with the application.
Selection criteria
The event concept must
- highlight its uniqueness and added value for the Berlin Fashion Week,
- achieve an above-average media impact (proven by references, such as Instagram followers or press clippings and provided by a strategy),
- achieve an above-average number of visitors (proven by references and provided by a strategy),
- communicate current relevant topics related to the fashion industry or enable an exchange between fashion designers and interested guests and
- contain sustainability1 in its corporate model as well as the event concept.
Your event concept must portray your company, the event idea, the uniqueness of the event idea and the aspect of sustainability, both in the company's corporate model and in the event concept. In addition, the probability of realization is evaluated on the basis of a basic cost breakdown, the corresponding financing plan and a brief project plan with time-based mile stones. Please address all the above-mentioned participation requirements and selection criteria.
Furthermore, we would be happy if you register your store or studio at STUDIO2RETAIL as part of our network. As of now on, Berlin-based designers, retailers, collectives and organizations can apply. Please note: The submission of the concepts should be in English.
The submission deadline ended on April 16, 2023 and all applications are currently being reviewed by the jury.
THE JURY
SCOTT LIPINSKI, CEO Fashion Council Germany; JOHANNA DRAMÈ, Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, HERBERT HOFMANN, VP Creative & Buying, Highsnobiety; JULIAN DAYNOV, Global Trend Scout, Buyer & Portfolio Consultant, DONELIA DARTHUIZEN, Vice President Fashion, Sports & Beauty, OTTO; NINA TRIPPEL, Founder, Cee Cee; STEFAN SAUERBREY, Fashion Editor, Tip Berlin
FASHION SHOWS AND PRESENTATIONS
The Senate, Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises / Project Future provides prize money to support aspiring designers and fashion labels from Germany, preferably from Berlin, as well as from Ukraine, whose fashion shows and presentations take place during the July 2023 Berlin Fashion Week. The prize money will be awarded to outstanding, creative fashion presentations, with a focus on sustainability2.
The top 10 concepts submitted by applicants registered in Germany, can each win up to 25.000,- EURO in prize money. In addition, 4x up to 25.000,- EURO of prize money can be awarded to competition participants from Ukraine. A jury of international industry experts will select the winning concepts.
Participation requirements
The participant must
- be a fashion label
- be registered in Germany, preferably Berlin, or have a Ukrainian background and
- employ no more than 30 employees
Documents that need to be submitted; expectations for the concept:
- the event concept must focus on professional visitors from the fashion industry and
- contain sustainability in the company´s philosophy and the event concept.
- In addition, the concept needs to be designed in the form of a collection presentation in front of an international professional audience.
- It has to include a coherent cost planning (cost and financing plan) and viable chances of realization and
- the submitted documents must be complete and truthful.
- In addition, the declaration “Erklärung zur Kenntnisnahme des Merkblatts zur Achtung der Charta der Grundrechte der Europäischen Union (GRC) im Zusammenhang mit der Umsetzung des angestrebten Vorhabens” (“Declaration of acknowledgment of the information sheet on compliance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (GRC) in connection with the implementation of the intended project”) and the declaration “De-minimis-Erklärung über De-minimis-Beihilfen nach den EU- Verordnungen für De-minimis-Beihilfen“ (“De minimis declaration on de minimis aid under the EU Regulations for de minimis aid”) must be completed, signed and submitted with the application.
Selection criteria
- Exceptional design performance of the brand and collection (design-related unique position of the brand),
- Marketability and potential commercial performance of the collection,
- The format should achieve an above-average national and international media impact and an above-average number of trade visitors. This needs to be proven by references and a provided strategy.
- Unique and innovative presentation concept
- The concept should contain sustainability in its corporate model as well as in the event concept.
The application should represent the brand, its aesthetics and communicative strategy, its concerns with sustainability and inclusivity, the company's innovation component, the planned collection and its inspiration (through text and visuals). Moreover, it should show the concept of the fashion show/presentation and its uniqueness. In order to determine the probability of realization, the application also requires a basic cost calculation, a supplementary financing plan, and a project-timeline overview. Besides that, kindly consider the selection criteria and participation requirements listed above in your application.
Designers and fashion labels can start applying for the prize fund as of now.
The submission deadline ended on April 16, 2023 and all applications are currently being reviewed by the jury.
THE JURY
SCOTT LIPINSKI, CEO Fashion Council Germany; JOHANNA DRAMÈ, Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises; DILYS WILLIAMS, Director, Centre for Sustainable Fashion; CHRISTIANE ARP, Chairwoman, Fashion Council Germany; THIBAUD GUYONET, Creative Director & Head of Buying, Voo Store; PATRICK PENDUIK, Senior Fashion Features Editor, Vogue Germany; ADRIANO SACK, Head of Department Style & Travel, WELT am Sonntag; MARK HOGARTH, Creative Director, Harris Tweed Hebrides; SIMONE HEIFT, Group Buying Director, KaDeWe Group
GENERAL CONDITIONS
All rights to the competition entry remain with the submitting party. The submission of multiple competition entries is permitted.
Please note that you can only submit one entry per category. In the case of multiple submissions, the first concept submitted will automatically be evaluated - if another concept is to be evaluated, an information e-mail must be sent to bfw@fashion-council-germany.org before the submission deadline.
The submitting party is liable to the organizer of the competition for the fact that the competition entry / submission does not violate any rights of third parties.
If necessary, the submitting party will indemnify the organizer of the competition from all claims and possible expenses that may be asserted by third parties due to an infringement of rights.
By submitting the entry documents, the submitting party agrees that the submitted work (photographic material, marketing texts, etc.) may be used by the organizers of the competition and its service provider in context of the application, documentation, marketing and reporting of the competition. The submitting party grants all necessary rights of use for this purpose. The right of use of the organizers is not exclusive, but unlimited in its duration and its scope of locality and refers to all known and unknown types of exploitation.
The organizers of the competition are entitled to pass on the submitter's personal data obtained in the course of the competition, such as names or photos, to third parties (e.g. to the media). If disclosure is not wished, the submitting party will inform the organizers of the competition at the time of submission to which data of non-disclosure refers to.
The submitting party must ensure that the payment of the prize money does not exceed the De-minimis grant limit of 200,000€ within three years. Prize money is also covered by this subsidy.
A party who already receives state funding for the submitted project cannot participate in the competition. A double funding is excluded.
There is no legal entitlement to the award of a prize or prize money.
1+2 Sustainable concepts from the fashion sector are ones that
- conserve finite, costly or urgently needed resources to a significant degree or significantly reduce energy consumption, and/or
- create more sustainable processes, e.g. with approaches from the circular economy or the inclusion of consumer wishes, and/or
- rely on transparent supply chains, and/or
- ones that focus on high social standards and inclusion of employees, produce products with added value and include inclusion in marketing as well as sales activities.