Milan & Berlin Fashion Week 2011

MILAN

Being passionate about fashion is an understatement for the Milanese. Upon landing and entering the terminal you can see they would rather go naked than be seen in last seasons collections. We discovered Italian etiquette within minutes too,concerning coffee in this instance; stand and hurry the hell up. Perfectly groomed with immaculate detail and an edgy exterior is how to best describe the Milanese. We were very jealous.

Milan Fashion Week is special. Beside the wonderful grace of the city and its people, it finds the balance of being London without the crap. Its expensive but endearing because everywhere you stop to drink/eat is so beautiful (even the central McDonald's has a Prada and LouisVuitton beside it). You become wrapped up in the scene immediately.

The real reason we had arrived in Milan was for the inauguration of the new Avista Showrooms located in the the lower South West side of the City. Our new European agents Acrex have recently opened the showroom to be the most innovative multi-label showroom in all of Milan, if not Italy. We sit beside some of the finest up coming and established brands currently available. Nicole Fahri's choice and commitment to the Avista showroom demonstrates the purse strings yet the team at Acrex believe passionately in long term growth and development from campaign to campaign which is why we said yes.

The ANW AW2011 collection looks stunning in the midst of some incredible brands. The finish of the showroom with its bar/lounge area and touch screen collection visuals makes this a buyers heaven. Fingers crossed the campaign reflects this with the immense hard work that went into ensuring the showroom and the collection was 100%.

The Avista Showrooms have a fantastic new site where ANW features in their AW11 campaign videos. The link is:

http://www.avistashowroom.com/sito/home.html

BERLIN

When you mention Berlin people tend to follow with 'has the best night life in Europe'. With time restrictions we didn't manage to explore much, however the focus for this trip was the Bread and Butter trade show which sees all the top brands from around the world under one roof. The venue is the magnificent Airport Berlin - Tempelhof. During the Second World War Tempelhof was a major logistical centre for all things in the sky. The building is stunning; a huge mile long hanger which acts perfectly in holding every major brand in the world for three days in mid January.

Inside the Hanger

Registration Zone

B&B is many things but in essence the show offers a panoramic view of the entire portfolio of brands, which are presenting collections, visions and highlights in the industry. And Now Wee was a visitor this year so not presenting but watch this space. Meeting and speaking with other brands is important. The amazing walk away feeling is the under lying respect that each brand has for one another. Each is exploring their own journey of innovative and design.  

Mercedes Cat Walk  

Ambassadors House 

Point Square

Berlin is an incredible city and ANW sees a future in Germany's Capital. As this B&B adventure came to an end it definitely marked the start of something small but very special for the brand going forward.

 

http://www.avistashowroom.com/sito/home.html