The world is changing rapidly – also in fashion. What’s “in” today may be obsolete tomorrow, and old rules are passé. For the industry and everyone who works in it – designers, stylists, journalists. and influencers – this presents great opportunities, but also enormous challenges. For the team behind ZEITmagazin’s Fashion & Style CONFERENCE, that was reason enough to create the fourth edition of the successful event series under the main title of “New Order.” The well-attended conference on June 27 marked the unofficial launch of Berlin Fashion Week, providing plenty to talk about at fashion shows and many side events. BIRKENSTOCK was an official partner of the event for the first time.

Weeks before the event, there were no places left at ZEITmagazin’s Fashion & Style CONFERENCE. More than 400 guests – decision-makers from fashion, business, art, and culture as well as various associations – gathered in the Crown Prince’s Palace, the iconic late neoclassical building on Berlin’s most prestigious road, Unter den Linden. Led by Christoph Amend, chief editor of ZEITmagazin, Tillmann Prufer, style director for the same publication, and Christiane Arp, editor in chief at Vogue, those in the industry spent a day discussing dramatic changes in the world of fashion, its new order, and the establishment of the next generation of designers.

The central question of the conference was: “Where is fashion headed as a system?” In the view of the conference organizers, nobody today could possibly imagine what new things await us tomorrow or what changes lie ahead. Citing some examples, Tillmann Prufer, style director at ZEITmagazin, referred to apps such as Snapchat. Among the guests who traveled to the capital were Leaf Greener, Chinese stylist and influencer, Imran Amed, CEO and founder of platform Business of Fashion, Ross Lovegrove, highly sought-after industrial and product designer, and Deborah Needleman, chief editor of the prestigious New York Times Style Magazine.

Without question, one of the conference highlights was the appearance of BIRKENSTOCK CEO Oliver Reichert. He explained how the company manages to remain successful with traditional products and not by chasing every trend. “That is quite surprising,” said Christoph Amend, chief editor of ZEITmagazin, noting that BIRKENSTOCK shoes change very little apart from their color and the shape of the leather straps. But that is exactly where the brand’s capital stems from, countered Oliver Reichert: “Anyone who brings themselves to wear these wide, ugly shoes once will remain loyal to them.

When Reichert explained that the company has hardly any accounts of its own on popular social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, a murmur rippled through the audience. Christoph Amend was curious to find out whether a brand could at all afford to have such an attitude in 2016. “Of course,” said Reichert. “BIRKENSTOCK fans are always very busy posting their own pictures online, soit is actually them who do a lot of the marketing work for the brand.”