Bread&&Butter Brought Fashion and Culture to 2010's Berlin
Nostalgia is more than a feeling at this point—it’s a way of life. Remember the 2010s, when social media still felt like something fun to do in your spare time, and fashion was something you could experiment with without a million eyeballs on every one of your outfits? We’d essentially be wearing business casual to the club, and no one had anything to say about it. Ripped tights and ankle boots? Done. Fake glasses and a studded choker? Why not! A full beat of neon makeup before work at 8am? That was just a normal Tuesday in 2016. When did everything get so serious?
When reaching back into the annals of the mid-2010s, we stumbled across an event series we hadn’t thought about in a while, but immediately brought us back to the carefree mindset we were living in a decade ago. Bread&&Butter was a festival put on by Zalando in Berlin that mashed together the worlds of fashion, music, art, and culture with fashion shows and performances taking place in a massive warehouse filled with activations from some of the hottest brands around. It was very much a “you had to be there” type of situation.
It also embodied the type of energy that was rampant in Berlin at the time, where youth culture, fashion, and music would all converge under the same roof, often for days at a time. The event was held at Arena Berlin, right at the border of Kreuzberg and Treptow, at a time when warehouse parties were cheaper, and, if we’re being honest, cooler. B&&B comfortably slotted into that environment and created a space for the city's style community to come together and experience the highest caliber of what the streetwear scene had to offer.
B&&B was unique: create an grown-up playground where guests could get a first look at an insane array of products from their favorite brands, see both new and established musical acts, cross paths with other streetwear fans, attend panels hosted by some of fashion's biggest names, and see runway shows of the latest trends. B&&B had been a well-established trade fair before it partnered with Zalando 2016 and really kicked things to the next level. Previously a business-to-business event, Zalando opened it up to the public so that anyone could experience what their international selection of brands had to offer, not just industry insiders.
The headliner that first year was A$AP Rocky, Gigi Hadid was in attendance and brands like Eastpak and Vans were offering tons of limited and exclusive drops and sneak-peek collections to attending fans. It was kind of a new kind of festival—actually stellar curation on the performance side, as well as enough swag to feel like you got even more bang for your buck.
Highsnobiety was present in full force in 2017 with our own Highsnobiety Lounge directly on the premises, reporting on everything from Viktor&Rolf’s fashion show to a keynote speech from the one and only Vivienne Westwood. Wrangler put on a fully functioning roller disco, and FKA twigs headlined the main stage alongside Austrian heavyweights Bilderbuch. Virgil Abloh even DJ’d the closing party. It was a moment.
The last B&&B was in 2018, and we still have goosebumps from seeing Ms. Lauryn Hill perform right after a life-affirming set from the late, great SOPHIE. The North Face had a massive climbing wall that guests had to scale in order to grab exclusive swag, and Vans pulled up with their House of Vans concept store, complete with its own performance lineup, including a baby Sam Fender. The weekend ended with a voguing ball, bringing dancers from all over Europe to blow the audience clean out the building.
Wish you had been there? Take a stroll down memory lane with us and check out all of our B&&B content from back in the day—and keep an eye on this space. 2016 may be closer than you think.
