The Fashion Council Germany eV presents its first study on the digital status of German fashion at Berlin Fashion Week. The study clearly shows that fashion is a relevant and promising economic and cultural asset in Germany, but requires more support.

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Germany ranks second among Europe's largest fashion brand providers, clearly demonstrating the high national and international relevance of Germany as a fashion hub. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of political and social acceptance of fashion as an important economic and cultural asset.

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Since its founding, the Fashion Council Germany e.V. (FCG) has been committed to political lobbying for the cultural establishment of the fashion industry, alongside its mission to guide the German fashion and design landscape toward a visionary, technological, and sustainable future . "In recent years, however, we have realized that we lack a tool in Germany to engage in a well-founded dialogue with policymakers and businesses—one that provides facts, analyses, and recommendations for action. An industry-wide study was needed," says Scott Lipinski, Managing Director of the FCG. The German fashion industry's advocacy group is therefore announcing today that it has achieved this milestone.

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The Fashion Council Germany will present its study "Status of German Fashion," funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, on the importance, relevance, and size of the German fashion industry as part of Berlin Fashion Week. Together with the renowned Oxford Economics Institute, which was commissioned to conduct and produce the study, the findings will be presented to a professional audience via digital video conference. This is the first survey to depict the German fashion industry as a cross-cutting sector encompassing all sub-sectors and its entire value chain.

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The study shows that "Made in Germany" is still a globally accepted seal of quality; German fashion companies are considered reliable partners internationally. Furthermore, their strengths lie in sustainability, technology, and innovation, especially textile development. Germany also stands out like no other country for innovative global sportswear brands and leads the international market with industry giants like Adidas and Puma. And yet, it often goes unnoticed on the international stage.

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For this reason, and based on many other findings of the study, there is an urgent need for action so that Germany can maintain and expand its position as a key player in the fashion industry in the long term and in international competition. Therefore, the study on the status of German fashion is intended to serve as a basis, an appeal, and a set of recommendations for shaping the future of the German fashion industry together with the entire sector and policymakers.

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“We are delighted to have been able to respond to the personal request from Chancellor Angela Merkel to analyze the state of fashion in Germany. We thank the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), as the study would not have been possible without their excellent cooperation and support,” said Marie-Louise Berg, founder of Berg Communications and founding and board member of the FCG.

"The study highlights the importance of the German fashion industry as an ecosystem within the German economy and clarifies the existing opportunities for the economy that lie at the intersection of the creative industries, the digital economy, fashion design, the clothing industry, and materials research. For the first time, a study examines the share of fashion in overall economic value creation and employment. Within a scientific framework, an attempt was made to capture the significance of fashion for various economic sectors and to identify potential areas for policy action." Bernd-Wolfgang Weismann, head of the "Cultural and Creative Industries" department at the BMWi, commented.

“The fashion industry is an enormous economic factor. Therefore, the need to create a positive economic and other framework for the fashion industry must be taken seriously. What we have achieved so far in this regard is certainly thanks to the Fashion Council – and projects like this study are the way forward ,” says Dr. Christian Ehler, Member of the European Parliament.

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Part of the expert interviews Those involved in the data collection included Alfons Kaiser (FAZ), André Maeder (KaDeWe), Bianca Lang (brookmedia), Dr. Christian Ehler (European Parliament), Christiane Arp (VOGUE Germany), Dieter Holzer (Marc O'Polo), Heiko Desens (PUMA), John Cloppenburg (Peek & Cloppenburg), Jürgen Leuthe (Luisa Cerano), Michael Kliger (MyTheresa) and Olaf Schmidt (Messe Frankfurt).

The "Status of German Fashion" project was conducted by the renowned Oxford Institute for Exonomics and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy based on a resolution of the German Bundestag. Project partners include VDMA Textile Care, Fabric and Leather Technologies. and the German Fashion Association (Modeverband Deutschland eV)