Bread&Butter Business

It's summer & that could only mean one thing - trade fair time. This week was Bread&Butter in Berlin, my favourite show of the lot. Seeing as I didn't get to Florence for Pitti Uomo I decided to plan a two day trip in Berlin to make sure I saw everything (I still needed more time but hey!).
I landed yesterday lunchtime & headed straight to the first fair called Premium. I'd never been there before but Michael & Katarina from our German office & Sirfraz from New York were all heading there so I thought I'd give it a go.
It was quite good but mainly women's wear & a bit tamer than B&B. We were there for about 2hrs then headed off to East Berlin to look at the shops. We went to a fab trendy area & didn't have anywhere near as much time as I'd have liked to wander but I got an idea. At 8pm the next stop was my hotel so I could finally check in. I was staying at the Hotel Bogota & I loved it! The rooms aren't ensuite, you share showers & loos with the rest of the floor but it's fine. The whole place is really old fashioned but still cool & it's only €40 a night! Can't go wrong!
Later on we headed out for dinner to a Turkish restaurant & by this time Mili had joined us from Mumbai. We nattered away while the poor waiters couldn't cope with the number of groups in due to the trade fairs & ended the night with a (big) glass of wine down the road from the hotel.
This morning it was time to hit Bread&Butter, it's the only trade fair that really gets me excited about everything. The show is held at a disused airport & as you walk in & see the rafts of people going in, the lights down low & the music pumping, just try to stop me! The first stop of the day is the old baggage carousel to pick up a brand bible & then you're off. 
I managed to get on most stands, though the world of shirts is looking a bit bleak for SS12. Stands that would normally have loads of shirts only had a small collection & filled out the rest of the space with chinos! When will this trend end?! Most of the shirts that were there were ginghams in every scale possible as well as some denims, oxfords & lovely vinatge effects.
The theme this year was Luna Park & there were some pretty creepy characters walking/riding around. There was even a robotic radio controlled horse that breathed fire! Sadly there was no Ami James tattooing this year but Avril Lavigne did walk past me on the way to her clothing stand!
Unfortunately I didn't quite get to finish looking around before I had to negotiate the hideous taxi line & traffic to the airport. I love driving around Berlin, it's an awesome city & I've gotta come here on holiday with Adam again so we can explore more. Thankfully the roads were quite clear & I arrived at the airport with enough time to grab a 3:30pm lunch & I discovered how yummy currywurst is! Nom! I'm now waiting in departures to board my flight but won't post this entry till I'm back in Blighty, I may love my blog but not so much to pay my bill if I use the net abroad!

xKtPx