My experience at Bread & Butter by Zalando in Berlin

Everytime I go back to Berlin, I always feel like I am still a local, as if I never left it. I lived there for about two years and I’ll be honest, I am still madly in love with it: I love its tree-lined streets, its unexpected corners of silence, its crowded spots, and its creative coolness, always so effortless and avant-garde at the same time. I spent last weekend in Berlin to do some research and also because I wanted to visit the first Bread & Butter by Zalando, which I expected to be completely different from the previous ones. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised: it was super cool! Forget the old Tempelhof Bread and Butter: this year, the location was at the Arena, a group of buildings and warehouses on the Spree river. The three-day event was a good mix of fashion, music and food, and the difference with the last seasons was that this year the event was open to everyone: any fashion lover was welcome to come in, and discover the latest trends.
Zalando’s concept for Bread & Butter was “NOW”: anything you saw could be bought on the spot — and right after the catwalk shows, some items could be bought online straightaway. About 30 brands were available in there, including Vans, Tommy X Gigi, Levi’s, Lee, Eastpak, ang G-Star Raw. Some of the Boiler Room team took care of the event soundtrack and it was really good. Meeting Gigi Hadid was one of the most exciting experiences I had in Bread & Butter: Gigi was there to introduce the collection she was launching together with Tommy Hilfiger, “Tommy X Gigi”. She is way more beautiful live than in any photo: we took many selfies, and she even told me she loves The Blonde Salad! And so do we, right? 🙂 The Marni Experience was housed within a small brick building within Arena: the Italian fashion maison revisited four iconic shoe designs: Vans, Dr Martens, Reebok and Timberland — with excellent results! During one of the breaks on my first day I had avocado toast: it was so good it became my daily snack, and I wish I could eat it at least once a week for the rest of my life. There were 8 shows, and Zalando‘s was the most impressive of the ones I attended: it was a melting pot of different inspiration and the closing show too. I also liked the Ivyrevel show, designed by Swedish blogger Kenza Zouiten, and the Topshop one — a perfect match of 1980s punk and 1990s grunge styles.

As I said, it was a nice experience and I would go back there tomorrow… But I will have to wait until the next September. I already feel like going back to Berlin, too! And I think I will do that for my birthday in about a month!