New positioning, new quality, new appeal – the first edition of Neonyt impressed visitors with streamlined fashion profile, in-depth contents and community building opportunities. There were 150 national and international sustainable fashion brands from 26 countries, making the Neonyt Trade Fair the biggest B2B event for sustainable fashion.
“We announced Neonyt as a real must-attend event and it certainly was. And not just in terms of visitor numbers: the feedback from everyone we spoke to – from visitors and exhibitors to speakers and partners – was extremely positive, whether regarding the style and professionalism of the exhibiting fashion labels, the variety and depth of the topics covered or Neonyt’s new look.
The Neonyt concept was a resounding success, also from a global perspective. Our visible partnership with the United Nations Office for Partnerships and the Conscious Fashion Campaign has attracted worldwide attention,” said Olaf Schmidt, vice president of Textiles and TextileTechnologies at Messe Frankfurt.
The fact that sustainability is one of the industry’s most future-relevant topics was underlined in particular by the large number of conventional buyers attending. “For us as a mainstream retailer, sustainability is a key topic for 2019.
We are noticing our customers’ interest and want to do better. Neonyt can help us with that. The significantly younger audience and the tech link are turning ecological fashion into a key innovation topic,” said Marc Ramelow, managing director of fashion store Ramelow.
This was also confirmed by Dr. Annette Hempel from Modehaus Hempel: “What really stood out to me was the increased number of conventional buyers and the significantly expanded fashion offer.” And the collections also lived up to the expectations of the fashion community: “It’s great to see fair fashion brands stepping up the pace and also that sustainable fashion is now sexy,” said Lisa Banholzer from Blogger Bazaar.
Johan Graffner, CEO of Dedicated from Sweden, said: “Neonyt is a hugely significant event as it conveys a different side to sustainable fashion, which is presented here in an inspiring, cool and exciting way! Neonyt therefore has what it takes to become a real movement. The tradeshow was very positive for us and we also noticed an extremely positive development: the market is growing, and new stores in particular are focusing on sustainable products.
Here at the fair we gained France as a new potential market. Apart from that, the Benelux countries are particularly important for us, as well as the German-speaking region and Scandinavia.” Constanze Klotz, co-founder of label Bridge and Tunnel, said: “This was our first time exhibiting here and we are really impressed by the Neonyt community spirit. There was an open and constructive exchange of ideas among exhibitors and visitors and the location is simply perfect!”.
“We saw the highest number of visitors in the history of the fair and were able to attract new international customers,” said Dietrich Weigel, owner of denim label Goodsociety. “The Fashionsustain conference, which I was involved in as a speaker, promoted the whole sustainability movement even further, raising awareness of a fairer and more environmentally conscious fashion industry. Thanks to Neonyt, sustainability is gaining recognition as a German export product!”
The fact that the Neonyt trade fair was combined with conferences like Fashionsustain, FashionImpact, the Silent Forum and the Thinkathon was unique for Berlin Fashion Week. “Neonyt has created something incredible. It’s exceptionally well-organised and very thoughtfully curated with experts and industry leaders. Learning, connecting, sharing and activating change are an absolute pleasure here. Neonyt has set a new standard in sustainability events worldwide,” said Patrick Duffy, founder of the NYC-based Global Fashion Exchange.
Under Neonyt’s overarching topic of “Water”, Fashionsustain brought together high-profile speakers from companies including WWF, Tchibo, Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Blue Ben, We are Spindye, Remei AG, Goodsociety, Pure Denim, Circular Fashion, Sympatex, Swedish Stockings and Langbrett.
