SEEK Berlin Diary

Seek is a trade show, a specialized exhibition in which brands demonstrate their products. We’ve participated in it for the first time and now want to tell how it was.

This trip was another opportunity for us to strengthen relations with Berlin. It was achieved due to cheap plane tickets, a lot of creative people, a lot of excellent locations, as well as our partners - Endayz store, which we have been cooperating with for several years. We even have a separate Instagram volchokberlin with local heroes and locations and hope in the future to open our own store here.

January 13th. Installation
We arrived the day before the exhibition. We stopped at Endayz, brought them a new supply and lent a steamer. By 7 o’clock in the evening we arrived at the site, quickly passed registration and were engaged in installation. We decided to debut on Seek with minimum area. We took 5 square meters for €1,750. There was only some basic equipment. In our case, it was a metal rail, two chairs, a small table and three sockets. Each stand has a laconic transparent plate with brand name. We had to lay out accessories, business cards, hang posters, hang up and steam clothes. We also took with us a small TV from Moscow to show our videos on it. What we forgot was a printed line sheet and generally any printed and advertising products. But we had a tablet with us, on which we had a line sheet and a lookbook.

We rented an apartment 11 minutes on foot from the site. Settled, left our things and went to the store for Jagermeister and great variety of vegan stuff.

January 14th. Day 1
The first day of the exhibition. We’ve got used to the whole space, our corner, neighbors and shared vibe. B2B exhibitions traditionally take place in a quieter atmosphere than public events, however, it’s all about internal stress; the goal is to get to know the buyers, try to build bridges and be friendly in all the turmoil. The level of work of the Seek team is very pleasing - comfortable minimalist corners, friendly guys, food, convenient navigation, sockets, and, of course, great separate Wi-Fi for guests and exhibitors. The only disadvantage was the pay for the wardrobe (€2).

In addition to VOLCHOK there also were such Russian brands as SHU, ZNY, GJO and White Crow x Verisium. SHU had the largest and busiest corner, Andrey as usual has a lot of plans to take over the world. One can envy at their productivity and speed of development. Also they were pouring cocktails based on branded vodka. You see, they were prepared that much.

You have a small chance to get a wholesale order on Seek without a database of contacts. There are a lot of participants, and your corner may not be noticed, or they may even skip your
row. We did a mailing list and wrote to several familiar stores on
Instagram. Someone answered that they are in Paris now, and someone promised to come tomorrow. After Seek went to meet Nina and Flo from the Melt Festival to drink wine and discuss another collaboration.

January 15th. Day 2
The main day of the exhibition. This is felt both by the number of people and by their interest - everyone is ready for dialogue, happy to exchange business cards and contacts. The exhibition has collected a diverse list of brands, here you can meet giants like Champion and exclusive knitwear from Estonia as well.

Of those whom we wrote, only the buyer of the Hannibal store from Turin got to our corner. He looked at the collection and told the story of how his girlfriend took his Russian Underground t-shirt. Of course, we gave him a new one. Now we hope to expand our geography to Italy as well.

Despite the fact that Berlin is associated with techno, it was some mainstream hip-hop music that played during Seek. The site has access to the embankment, but in winter, of course, it’s not very cozy there. Our favorite second day corner is a free bar by Jameson. In general, in the evening everyone begins to pour cocktails at their corners. Take note of this.

While Misha and Maxim were at the corner, Vika was looking for shooting locations.

After the exhibition and some rest at home we went to a party by Seek. Unexpectedly for Berlin, the party was as friendly as possible. Free wardrobe, 5 bar vouchers, but, unfortunately, hip-hop was in the lineup again.

January 16th. Day 3
A relaxed day. Someone is missing, someone is packing, and someone even left. Most active ones fly directly from Berlin to Paris, for example, guys from ZNY. GJO are vacuum packing their puffer jackets. Despite a small number of people, sometimes
influencers and buyers drop in, with whom you can have a small talk, give them some accessories, exchange contacts. At Seek each member has a QR code that can be scanned using a special application, but almost no one uses this, although perhaps the old school does, who knows.

You have some time to calmly wander around the exhibition. We chatted with ZNY Max - he told, for example, how they sent the delivery to Lebanon, and then the civil war began and all the transfers were frozen. The Low Bros brothers also visited us. We first met at the Dom Kultur when they came to Moscow. They promised to come again.

We’ll see the results of the exhibition later, but overall, it’s a great opportunity to meet buyers and other industry people who might be occasionally in Berlin, as well as gain experience and inspiration.