Jul 1, 2009, 5:04 GMT
Berlin - Bread & Butter, one of world's leading street fashion fairs, opens in Berlin on Wednesday, alongside the fifth instalment of the bi-annual Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
The Bread & Butter fair, which returns to Berlin after a five-year absence, has taken over the city's historic Tempelhof airport, after this finally closed to air traffic last November.
A total of 550 so-called 'street fashion' labels will be on display until July 3, including brands such as adidas Originals, denim labels G-Star and Levi's and US singer-cum-designer Justin Timberlake, who will be presenting his first collection.
Up to 80,000 trade visitors will be expected to peruse next season's styles, while designers hope to strike lucrative deals with the stockists visiting the fair, which is not open to the general public.
Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit negotiated a ten-year deal with Bread & Butter to win the fair back from its previous home in Barcelona.
From its origins in Cologne, Bread & Butter originally moved to Berlin in 2003, billed at the time as 'the Mecca of Street Culture,' before moving on to Spain in 2005.
Wowereit's deal proved controversial, as the trade fair's two month-long bookings each year rule the grounds out for any other long-term projects.
At the same time, the fair reinforces Berlin's position as a design capital, while the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is also gaining increasing recognition on the international fashion calender.
The Fashion Week features household names such as Escada, Rene Lezard and Wolfgang Joop who is to present his Wunderkind label, alongside creative talents such as Lala Berlin, Michalsky and Kaviar Gauche.
A total of 33 designers will present their Spring/Summer collection, at fashion shows in Berlin's Bebelplatz and in boutiques and other locations dotted around the city.
Your Talkback on this Story