Independent Fashion Fairs in Poland and Their Spatial Contexts

For a long time, fashion events have played important roles in the fashion ecosystem, ranging from gatekeeping to networking and the promotion of new developments in the sector. Their emergence and continuity have also contributed to the enhancement of the image and attractiveness of the cities and spaces in which they took place. Thus far, the professional events that have most often been analysed in the scientific literature have mainly included fashion weeks, fashion shows and major fashion and textile fairs with a dominant B2B orientation. In recent decades, apart from the emergence of a new segment of such events with a clear sustainable focus (e.g. sustainable textile fairs), in the Polish context, one may observe the rising importance of independent, B2C fashion fairs. Following a comprehensive mapping of such events in Poland, including the classification of independent fair venues, this chapter analyses the issue taking into account the location of the fairs within the country, the range of functions they fulfil and the choice of particular venues to organise them. The events under research are diverse in terms of the organisers, the type of garments and fashion accessories presented, the exhibiting designers and producers, as well as the main target consumer segments. Consequently, there is a variety of independent fashion fairs in terms of places and spaces where they take place linked with intangible location factors such as the atmosphere, character or image of the given event intended by its organisers. They function both as important cultural and economic intermediaries in the (sustainable) fashion market and as providers of an interesting leisure time offer, especially in larger cities. For many fashion professionals, in particular small, independent fashion firms, they are important temporary clusters and relational spaces for showcasing products, promotion, exchanging experiences and establishing relationships with consumers and other fashion producers. As such, independent fashion fairs are part of broader, complex phenomena linked with urban cultures, transforming consumption patterns, the festivalisation of urban space, the creation of temporary third places of social encounters and new forms of leisure or place promotion. New trends in the selection of venues for independent fashion fairs and their diverse meanings for visitors who frequent them call for comprehensive research of this phenomenon from the point of view of the geography of fashion.