OFFICIAL OPENING  OF SÖKTAS INDIA

On May 12, Werner International had the privilege to assist to the official opening ceremonies organized by Söktas India, a new company located at Kolhapur, South of Mumbai.

Söktas India Pvt Ltd is a subsidiary of Söktas Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticaret based in Söke, near Izmir in Turkey, and has integrated operations from yarn dyeing to finishing.

The new yarn dyed fabric shirting fabric plant, which reached already an annual capacity of 4 million meters (soon to be increased to 6 million) has been erected and started in record time.

Werner International Vice President, Mr Alain Mathieu was present at the ceremonies: "The plant is impressive and the organization is already answering to great expectations. The Turkish and local management have executed impeccably and we are still impressed by the swiftness at which the operations reached their cruising efficiency and quality level".

The CEO, Mr Muharrem Kayhan, presided over the ceremonies in presence of Turkish Consulate representatives in India, local dignitaries, agents, clients, suppliers, consultants and all its employees at Kolhapur.

Werner International took an active part in the project by implementing a Quality Control system in the yarn dyeing, weaving and finishing sections and by developing a fast reacting fabric sampling facility.

MAPPING OF THE EGYPTIAN TEXTILE AND APPAREL INDUSTRY

The Egyptian Textile Chamber in Egypt has chosen Werner International to create a mapping of all the Egyptian textile, apparel, and home textile manufacturers in Egypt.

The ultimate objective of the project is to build a complete and easy to use database and lay the foundations for a more focused understanding of the Egyptian textile industry and the factors that may contribute to the increase of textiles production efficiency, integration of the Egyptian textile supply chain and an accurate mapping of the Egyptian textile and apparel sectors.

Werner has been present in Egypt for more than 50 years providing services for the Government of Egypt in creating its upstream textile manufacturing base in the 60's and its textile sector development strategy in the late 70's. Werner support to the Egyptian textile industry has maintained its momentum in the 90's to support Egypt's plans of privatizing its textile manufacturing companies.

Werner International services has been extended in the past 10 years to support the growth of the Egyptian and Foreign investment private sector textile and apparel manufacturers capabilities in increasing their competitiveness and raising their production efficiency through the support of the Industrial Modernization Program which is funded by Egypt's Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade.
 

FASHION WEEK IN BERLIN (July 1 - 5, 2009)     

Bread & Butter Back in Berlin

B&B July 2009 Edition was organized in its original hometown on July 1-3, 2009, at the historical Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Germany.

B&B returns to Berlin, its birth place, so check in and get your boarding pass, grab your Brand Bible from the conveyor belt, choose your start destination from the announcement board, go to the gate and get ready for your ride through the hangars.

Brief History

The Bread & Butter Fair was first launched in July 2001, in Cologne, Germany. In order to captivate the entire European market, the fair has been expanded into Barcelona, Spain, as of July 2005. "With two major equal events in Barcelona followed by Berlin two weeks later, BBB covered the complete European market by establishing a north-south axis." Over the years, B&B has gained a brand awareness to bring together the global, trend-setter street- and urban-wear brands.

Location

After 4 years in Barcelona, the fair has returned to its hometown in Berlin at the Tempelhof Airport. The site of the airport was originally Knights Templar land in medieval Berlin and from this beginning came the name Tempelhof. Later, the site was used as a parade field by Prussian forces, and by unified German forces from 1720 to the start of World War I. In 1909, Frenchman Armand Zipfel made the first flight demonstration in Tempelhof, followed by Orville Wright later that same year. Tempelhof was first officially designated as an airport on 8 October 1923. Lufthansa was founded in Tempelhof on 6 January 1926 (www.wikipedia.org).

"Today, the closed-down Tempelhof airport, with its spectacular terminal building, seven hangars, roofed apron system and open airfield offers excellent conditions for the Bread & Butter, both in terms of logistics and representation" (Karl-Heinz Muller, Managing Director Bread & Butter). "With a strong character of its own, the c-shaped complex of buildings with the open airfield provides plenty of room for creativity and individual brand representation of the B&B exhibitors."

Brands and Organization

All in all, 567 brands exhibited in Tempelhof compared to Barcelona's 800. B&B chief Karl-Heinz Muller said: 'It's a part of our concept. We have less space here in Berlin, about 71,000 sq meters compared to 95,000 sq meters in Barcelona. In addition, the market in Spain has a different structure. In Spain we had lots of small brands with small stands; in Germany the situation is totally different. As it is the strongest market in Europe, most brands will have bigger stands' (by Melanie Gropler).

On the contrary to the main important fashion fairs, B&B has been organized in an interesting scene setting this year. Choosing the historical Tempelhof Airport for the organization allowed the brands to have a more open and creative approach to their stands. Also the structure of the airport allowed having 8 main sections which were clearly separated and identified with the center airfield area and the various hangars on each side.

As the heart of the B&B brand portfolio is denim, the Denim Base was located in the center hosting well-known global brands such as Miss Sixty - Energie - Killah, GAS, G-Star, Levi's, Lee Cooper, Pepe Jeans, Freesoul, Mustang, Colin's, Mavi Jeans, LTB, etc., grouping not only denim based brands but also lifestyle brands with denim products in their collections.

Right across from the Denim Base, on the open airfield area, the 'Luna Park' has been constructed to offer a relaxation area for the visitors - or the "B&B Community" as Muler calls it. Also, several exhibiting brands were able to organize special activities such as the fashion show by G-Star Raw, the spectacular steep face motorbike show by Wrangler, live concerts, massage service, international cuisine and drinks, and much more.

The other hangars were grouped as Sport and Street, Street Fashion, Fashion Now!, Style Society, Urban Superior Women, Urban Superior Men, and L.O.C.K.

Other activities and special areas have been dedicated to the following, where all or a portion of the revenue would be donated to charity:

Denim Laboratorio - where the visitors can order their own custom-made jeans.

Bread & Butter Charity - where donated products by the exhibitors are sold, with prints, embroidery or labels with the respective event motto.

Bread & Butter Flea Market - a rare access to collector's items from the previous season as well as items from some of world's renowned shops is offered to visitors.

Atmosphere                                                                

The general atmosphere of the fair was easy-going, relaxing and fun. While having business meetings, giving or taking orders, looking for partnerships or selling the brand, people were able to enjoy themselves with the various activities organized all around the airport.

B&B has proved that attending fairs is still an enjoyable event. It has to be effective in terms of building and developing business relationships, but at the same time visitors need to relax, enjoy and be entertained.

Moving back from Barcelona, there were doubts that the fair might not be able to attract as many exhibitors and visitors. However, the B&B Fair which has gained a brand value over the years for bringing together hip, trendy, contemporary and casual brands, mainly in the urban- and street wear segments, has not lost any of the attention in terms of traffic. The Fair Management has decided not to declare the total number of visitors from this year onwards. However, at a press conference in the morning of the first day, it has been announced that there were 25,000 visitors from 89 countries during the first day (Melanie Gropler).

"Altogether, 567 brands, labels and designers, often with great and creative stands and presentations, were present on the new B&B fairgrounds - up to now, the strongest exhibitor portfolio since the event's existence. Nearly all important and market-relevant Street- and Urbanwear brands and labels, up to the peak, were present. The new segmentation in the seven hangars and the roofed airfield, in which each area represented a store concept, was very well-received.

Walking along the various hangars every company, especially on the denim base, were competing with one another in terms of the design of the stand, promotional gifts, location and treats as well as their collections of course, thus the visitors were entertained. The sudden rain and hail showers were also providing quick refreshment during the warm and humid days of the B&B.

The organization of the fair was very successful as well. The regular shuttles and golf carts were helping visitors go from one part of the fair ground to the other.

Muller has signed a 10-year contract with the Tempelhof Airport. The motto for the next tradeshow will be "The Original", scheduled for January 20-22, 2010, in Berlin - Tempelhof Airport. The Denim Base area will be constructed as to be winter-proof for the January Edition.

Muller is expecting that the Mercedes Fashion Week and the Premium will be organized for the same week.

Premium                                                           

PREMIUM has been first launched in January 2003. PREMIUM's visionary concept of selection, high quality and exclusivity in a modern ambient has proven itself and indeed made a mark nationally as well as internationally.

PREMIUM has provided a contemporary trade platform for choice collections, international newcomers and exclusive trend products. Selected for innovation and quality, the Spring | Summer 2010 PREMIUM presented about 900 international women's and men's collections, a wide assortment of accessories, lingerie and shoes, as well as fine fragrances and cosmetics. As the largest European market - coupled with the creative potential and dynamics of Berlin - Germany is galvanizing broad international interest, appeal and media power (http://www.premiumexhibitions.com).

This fair was organized at the former postal freight depot at Gleisdreieck - in the heart of Berlin, with an exhibition area of over 20,000 sq meters. The exhibitors were more design oriented and upper scale compared to B&B. The rise in the Scandinavian brands was also reflected on the number of exhibitors from Scandinavian countries.

The layout of the stands were smaller compared to B&B. The fair ground was divided into 7 main sections for menswear, womenswear, accessories, denim, shoes, sense and SEEK (targeting the modern need for showcasing likeminded contemporary brands in a setting that best suit their style, and providing a new buying experience in Berlin).

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