On July 6, 2018, Dorothee Bär, the Federal Government's Commissioner for Digitalization and Minister of State at the Federal Chancellery, hosted a reception at the Federal Chancellery for selected guests and opinion leaders from the German fashion industry, in cooperation with the Fashion Council Germany (FCG). The fact that a meeting between the Chancellor and representatives of the German fashion industry actually took place during the reception was certainly the surprise highlight of Berlin Fashion Week. Dorothee Bär had originally invited select guests, designers, and opinion leaders, including John Cloppenburg (Peek & Cloppenburg), Nina Kuhn and Rianna Nektaria Konou (Rianna + Nina), and Dorothee Schumacher, to the Federal Chancellery for an exchange of views.

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Angela Merkel herself also attended to learn about the current state of Germany as a fashion nation and to meet some of the representatives. For Dorothee Bär, the reception was "the start of a dialogue to advance fashion designed in Germany in the digital age." The fact that the Chancellor herself came to the reception demonstrates "the importance of the fashion industry for our country." A gathering with true symbolic significance.

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The creative industries have rightly criticized the fact that, unlike in neighboring countries such as France or Italy, fashion is not taken seriously as a cultural asset in Germany. This is despite its economic power. After all, around 135,000 people are employed in the textile and clothing industry in Germany, generating an annual turnover of approximately 35 billion euros. The FCG (German Fashion Association) will use the resulting discussions as an opportunity to stimulate the development and implementation of joint strategies to support the German fashion industry in seizing the opportunities available to it. The aim of these activities is to firmly establish German fashion as a cultural and economic asset within society as a whole.