Interview with Jörg Wichmann, the director of Panorama Berlin and his review, outlook and highlights

We have evolutionised our event. In January, we presented ourselves as an industry event with numerous changes and strong content. For the upcoming season our key themes infotainment, entertainment and matchmaking are in the spotlight.

They stand out due to their sophisticated and inspiring manner of transferring knowledge. No boring, copied speeches will be held here. The speeches will be intriguing and will revolve around trending topics for the industry. It will mainly revolve around sustainability and how one can learn from other industries, such as gastronomy and the hotel industry. Marc Ramelow, Bruno Marti from 25hours Hotels, Ole von Beust, Theresa Schleicher from the Zukunftsbüro VORN Strategie and many more will be a part of the event. You can look forward to Christoph Sollich’s humoristic approach. You can read the whole spectrum on our website. We have established a programme, which will answer everyone’s questions.

A very positive one. The event in January was very successful. By integrating the Selvedge Run and Zeitgeist brands, we have shown retailers that a crossover of traditional and current topics is a social trend. Many visitors of the Panorama Berlin are looking for brands with a background story, they want to mix and make their product range more interesting. Niche products, such as those shown at the Selvedge Run, have a huge growth potential and tell authentic stories. Connecting these topics with Panorama Berlin has been a success.

The sustainable concept of Xoom has been newly established. In the middle of the exhibition area, a concept store by curator Silke Bücker will be displayed. Here the focus lies on the integration of ethical brands in retail. Silke Bücker will show how to integrate sustainable fashion inspiringly to the POS, as well as how sustainable fashion brands with conventional fashion naturally work side by side.

Since the industry has begun questioning a lot and seeking its orientation, an enormous movement has begun. Therefore, my prognosis for the future of the fashion industry is positive. New concepts are being implemented, such as the eventification of the spaces, a contemporary and modern customer approach, customer centricity marketing and of course a progressive digitisation and platform development. The industry confronts itself with its pain points. Due to this, a dynamic is established which forms a sustainable future. A change is currently taking place, which we will be able to see clearly in 2020. The industry is open to new concepts. In hall 6 we also promote another contemporary theme, which allows one to leave a significant impression at the POS. This is specifically revolving around the boom in reselling and pre-loved-segments, which is heavily discussed in retail. The fashion cycle is currently extremely popular with consumers. There are many dynamic aspects which can bring trade forward.

My team and I are especially looking forward to the community, to meeting the newcomers, as well as to the personal exchange with people who have been partners of Panorama Berlin for a long time and highly contribute to our success story.