2002 – FOUNDING The success story of PREMIUM begins in 2002 with the founding of PREMIUM Exhibitions GmbH by Anita Tillmann and Norbert Tillmann, who share a surname by coincidence only. At this time, Berlin is as good as fashion-free. But this is to change abruptly!
2003 – PREMIERE In January 2003, PREMIUM kicks off in a disused underground train tunnel right under Potsdamer Platz, and revolutionises the fashion sector with a completely new concept. For the first time, women’s and men’s collections, denim, sportswear, shows, and accessories are shown together under one roof – a completely new way of showcasing collections.
2004 – 2010 NEW GOALS Soon after founding PREMIUM, the duo dedicate themselves to a loftier goal: making Berlin an internationally recognised fashion location through establishing the city’s own fashion week. They draft the concept for BERLIN FASHION WEEK and present it to global Player IMG in New York, which has since then successfully co-ordinated the MERCEDES-BENZ FASHION WEEK BERLIN. A short time later, the Berlin fashion week gains an official mouthpiece, penned by PREMIUM Exhibitions GmbH: the BERLIN FASHION WEEK MAGAZINE. Symposiums and workshops round off the event portfolio. With ever-topical fashion themes and blogs, PREMIUM’s events attract retailers, journalists, and creatives to the specially created Symposium on the first floor of STATION Berlin. The demand for information events tailored to the industry is enormous, and the industry has responded appreciatively and in large numbers. In 2005, regional ordering events are introduced in Düsseldorf and Munich. These regional satellites complement the international PREMIUM in Berlin at a regional level. Retailers attend PREMIUM Berlin to view and make appointments, and to learn what is on offer internationally. Afterwards, they complete their round of orders at PREMIUM ORDER DÜSSELDORF and PREMIUM ORDER MUNICH. In January 2009, SEEK is founded, which fills a hitherto unoccupied niche in Berlin’s event landscape for authentic, unpretentious brands with roots in youth culture. The segment, which had previously been completely neglected in Berlin, quickly becomes a insiders’ secret for a small but very particular and demanding group of international purchasers, and grows rapidly over 10 seasons.
2011 – HALL EXTENSION PREMIUM writes a further chapter in its success story. Following the launch of PREMIUM in 2003, the number of exhibitors rises continuously from season to season. To meet the high demand from brands, extensions and alterations are made in Halls 7 and 5. The PREMIUM Showrooms allow brands to present their products exclusively, as in a showroom. The interior courtyard of STATION Berlin also offers new space for exhibitor presentations and special events. A container park especially designed for young brands gives these brands an exclusive, edgy concept for presenting their products. The PREMIUM Studio is used for the first time as an additional exhibition space, where Armani Jeans, who are celebrating an exclusive trade-fair premiere at PREMIUM, will take the stage in summer 2011. In summer 2011, PREMIUM will also be acting as a main sponsoring partner for the Japanese project Tokyo Goes Berlin, making space available for 30 young Japanese designers to present their collections. The project was inaugurated to help young Japanese designers continue their work and to survive in the fashion business after the catastrophe. Not only is PREMIUM Berlin growing, especially internationally; the number of ordering events is also rising constantly. Demand at both locations – Düsseldorf and Munich – is so large that the original exhibition space in Munich, Zenith Halle, was extended in winter 2011 to include additional spaces on the Zenith grounds, such as the Kesselhaus, the Georg-Elser-Haus Building, and the Zenith Tent. Five hundred collections are now presented on an area of nearly 10,000 sq.meters In Düsseldorf, a completely new location will be used from summer 2011, which meets both the high aesthetic expectations of visitors and increased spatial requirements. The old paper factory at Düsseldorf’s port, with a total of nearly 4,000 sq.meters, has enough room for more than 300 exclusive collections.
PREMIUM TODAY Today, PREMIUM presents around 1,400 collections and counts every season more than 60,000 trade visits. This makes PREMIUM the only trade fair in the world of this size and quality to combine fashion and lifestyle in the premium segment. Retailers from all over the world come to STATION Berlin at Gleisdreieck – since July 2005 the new home of PREMIUM – to view the latest trends, to place orders, and to be inspired. Alteration work on the STATION Berlin grounds is continuing, with Hall 3 to receive an impressive glass front which floods the exhibitor spaces with daylight. SEEK is growing continuously so that it was relocating in January 2012 from its original site on the STATION Berlin premises to its own, larger location – the Kühlhaus. Here, in close proximity to PREMIUM, around 50 collections will be presented on an area of 1,000 sq.meters spread over the two floors.
NURTURING TALENT A matter particularly close to the hearts of the PREMIUM initiators has been the fostering of young fashion design talents, which they have done since 2005. Each season, PREMIUM honours three promising emerging talents with the PREMIUM YOUNG DESIGNERS AWARD in the categories Womenswear, Menswear, and Accessories. The awards ceremony takes place in the PREMIUM fashion store F95 The Fashion Store. The PREMIUM WINDOW DRESSER AWARD was inaugurated by PREMIUM in 2010 to promote creativity in window dressing.
In recognition of their services to the city of Berlin, Anita Tillmann and Norbert Tillmann were awarded the Order of Merit of the State of Berlin by Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit in September 2010.
