Concept Competition AW25

The Concept Competition AW25 is closed. Applications can no longer be accepted. 

CONCEPT COMPETITION FOR BERLIN FASHION WEEK FEBRUARY 2025

Berlin stands for innovation, inclusivity and sustainability in the fashion landscape like almost no other location. The Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises / Project Future has been supporting Berlin's fashion industry for many years. Therefore, a competition will be conducted in order to strengthen the innovation and growth potential of the fashion industry, the stationary retail, and local designers based in Berlin and Germany. To this end, prize money will be awarded for particularly innovative, creative, and sustainable⁽¹⁾ concepts that can be presented during Berlin Fashion Week from 31^st January to 3^rd February 2025.

COMPETITION CATEGORIES AND PRIZE MONEY

• STUDIO2RETAIL: B2C Store and Atelier Events (usually 5,000 EUR per concept)
• BERLIN CONTEMPORARY: Fashion shows and presentations (usually 25,000 EUR per concept)

The Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises / Project Future intends to offer prize money (de minimis grants) for the most convincing competition entries. The jury will award prize money in the different categories of usually 5,000 EUR and 25,000 EUR each. 

TIME FRAME

13. September 2024: Announcement of the call and opening for the application process

29. September 2024: Application deadline with the following jury voting

Until approx. 18. October 2024: Announcement of the winners

Details and entry conditions per competition category:

STUDIO2RETAIL: Store and atelier-events

The Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises / Project Future provides prize money to support concepts of stationary retail and German-based designers (usually from Berlin) that take place during Berlin Fashion Week in February 2025. The prize money will be awarded to outstanding creative and sustainable B2C event concepts. 

The 5 most convincing concepts can usually each win 5,000 euros in prize money. A jury of industry experts will select the winning concepts.

Participation requirements

The participant must

• be registered in Germany, preferably in Berlin

• employ no more than 15 people⁽²⁾

Documents to be submitted, expectations for the concept

• The event concept must address end consumers and
• have a comprehensible concept for the realization of sustainability and inclusion in the company model and the event concept,
• contain an appropriate and comprehensible cost planning (cost and financing plan) as well as good chances of realization (effort to available time and professional skills and/or experience of the submitter) and
• the documents to be submitted must be complete and truthful.
• In addition, the self-declarations on the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the de-minimis declaration must be completed, signed, and submitted with the application. Winning the prize money must not exceed the De-minimis grant limit of 300,000€ over three years. Prizes and other grants are also included in this limit. 

Selection criteria

The event concept must

• focus on high-quality, creative and relevant fashion - designed in Berlin and Germany
• achieve an above-average media impact and visitor numbers (evidenced by references such as the reporting of its own event or strategy description backed up with examples of similar events) and
• emphasize its added value for Berlin Fashion by imparting knowledge on relevant topics related to the fashion industry and/or enabling exchange between fashion designers and interested guests.

Your event concept must portray your company, the event idea, the uniqueness of the event idea, and the aspect of sustainability, both in the company's corporate model and the event concept. In addition, the probability of realization is evaluated based on a basic cost breakdown, the corresponding financing plan, and a brief project plan with time-based milestones. Please address all the above-mentioned participation requirements and selection criteria.

Furthermore, we would be happy if you registered your store or studio at STUDIO2RETAIL as part of our network.

From now on, primarily Berlin-based designers and retailers can apply.

Submission Deadline: 29.09.2024, 11:59 PM

The Concept Competition AW25 is closed. Applications can no longer be accepted. 

BERLIN CONTEMPORARY: Fashion Shows and Presentations

The Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises / Project Future provides prize money to support promising designers and fashion labels (primarily from Berlin and Germany) and their fashion shows and presentations taking place during Berlin Fashion Week in February 2025. The prize money will be awarded to outstanding, creative, and sustainable fashion presentation concepts.

The top 18 concepts, submitted by applicants registered in Berlin and Germany as well as Ukrainian applicants, can each win 25,000 EUR in prize money. In addition, 1x 25,000 EUR in prize money can be awarded to contestants registered in an African country. A jury of industry experts will select the winning concepts.

Participation requirements 

The participant must

• be a fashion label
• preferably be registered in Berlin and Germany or an African country (additional prize money) or come from Ukraine and
• employ less than 30 people⁽³⁾.

Documents to be submitted and expectations of the concept:

• The event concept must focus on professional visitors from the fashion industry and
• be conceived as a collection presentation in front of an international professional audience,
• have a comprehensible concept for the realization of sustainability and inclusion in the company model and the event concept, 
• include an appropriate and comprehensible cost planning (cost and financing plan) and good chances of realization (expenditure to available time), and
• the documents to be submitted must be complete and truthful.
• In addition, the self-declarations on the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the de-minimis declaration must be completed, signed, and submitted with the application. Winning the prize money must not exceed the De-minimis grant limit of 300,000€ over three years. Prizes and other grants are also included in this limit. 
• The questionnaire on the Sustainability Requirements must be filled out completely and truthfully.

Selection criteria

• Exceptional design performance of the brand and collection (design-related unique positioning of the brand)
• Marketability of the collection 
• The format should achieve an above-average national and international media impact and an above-average number of trade visitors. This should be made comprehensible through own or comparative references.
• Unique presentation concept (including location, collaborations, innovation).

The application should represent the brand, its aesthetics and communicative strategy, its concerns with sustainability and inclusivity, the company's innovation component, the planned collection, and its inspiration (through text and visuals). Moreover, it should show the concept of the fashion show/presentation and its uniqueness. To determine the probability of realization, the application also requires a basic cost calculation, a supplementary financing plan, a project-timeline overview, and the naming of a potential location. Besides that, kindly consider the selection criteria and participation requirements listed above in your application.

Fashion labels can now apply for the prize money.

Specifics for fashion labels from an African country: 

The award-winning fashion label from an African country receives support for the show production, including guest management from a local production agency. The Fashion Council Germany also provides support with PR and invitation management. The winning brand is responsible for organising the trip, including travel expenses, shipping the collection and customs clearance.

Submission deadline: 29.09.2024, 11:59 PM

The Concept Competition AW25 is closed. Applications can no longer be accepted. 

General conditions

All rights to the competition entry remain with the submitting party. The submission of multiple competition entries is permitted. 

Please note that you can only submit one entry per category. In the case of multiple submissions, the first concept submitted will automatically be evaluated. If another concept is to be evaluated, an information e-mail must be sent to coordination@fashionweek.berlin before the submission deadline.

The submitting party is liable to the organizer of the competition for the fact that the competition entry/submission does not violate any rights of third parties.

If necessary, the submitting party will indemnify the organizer of the competition from all claims and possible expenses that may be asserted by third parties due to an infringement of rights.

By submitting the entry documents, the submitting party agrees that the submitted work (photographic material, marketing texts, etc.) may be used by the organizers of the competition and its service provider in the context of the application, documentation, marketing, and reporting of the competition. The submitting party grants all necessary rights of use for this purpose. The right of use of the organizers is not exclusive but unlimited in its duration and its scope of locality and refers to all known and unknown types of exploitation.

The organizers of the competition are entitled to pass on the submitter's personal data obtained in the course of the competition, such as names or photos, to third parties (e.g., to the media). If disclosure is not wished, the submitting party will inform the organizers of the competition at the time of submission to which data of non-disclosure refers.

The submitting party must ensure that the payment of the prize money does not exceed the De-minimis grant limit of 300,000€ within three years. Prize money is also covered by this subsidy. 

A party that already receives state funding for the submitted project cannot participate in the competition. A double funding is excluded.

There is no legal entitlement to the award of a prize or prize money.

^{(1) Sustainable concepts from the fashion sector are those that}

• ^{conserve finite, costly resources or resources that urgently need to be reduced to a considerable extent or significantly reduce energy consumption and/or}
• ^{make processes (more) sustainable, for example, with approaches from the circular economy or the inclusion of consumer wishes and/or}
• ^{focus on transparent supply chains and/or}
• ^{focus on high social standards and/or inclusion of employees, produce products with added social value and include inclusion in marketing and sales activities.} 

^{(2) Employees are defined as permanent full-time and/or part-time employees and working students. Freelancers, interns, and mini-jobbers are not included. If the definition is unclear, please contact coordination@fashionweek.berlin}

^{(3) Employees are defined as permanent full-time and/or part-time employees and working students. Freelancers, interns, and mini-jobbers are not included. If the definition is unclear, please contact coordination@fashionweek.berlin}