How OutDoor by ISPO Broadens the Focus With THE BORDERLANDS™

Scaffolding will be erected next to freight containers and food trucks, a lounge with tables and seats will create a coworking atmosphere and invite visitors to exchange ideas about the "outdoor of tomorrow". In short: "The hall will be like a small village", said Constanze Fuchs, Community Manager Sportsfashion / Health & Fitness at ISPO Group. We are talking about Hall B4 at OutDoor by ISPO (30th of June to 3rd of July 2019), where part of the area will be entitled THE BORDERLANDS™ . Here, the trade fair offer brands the chance to break out of everyday life.

Moreover, THE BORDERLANDS™ is to stand for the future of outdoor. Together with the online platform Vanish.today, a media platform for Outdoor Life & Style from the USA, OutDoor by ISPO has developed a new concept: technical and urban products are complemented by photography, design, art and food.

"The aim is to sound out the boundaries of 'outdoor' and to redefine them," said Fuchs, who therefore wants to attract new companies and visitor target groups who hadn't necessarily thought of visiting the outdoor trade fair before. She is thinking of fashion companies, for example. On display will also be the hiking shoe of the future, which was created with the help of handicrafts and 3D printing.

Thus, in this hall, the selection of exhibitors will also expand. The technology magazine Techhunter will present itself as well as Adidas, which, like other exhibitors, will occupy space in the future workshop in addition to the usual large exhibition stand. The focus is on the triad: "Nature, Future, Culture". All three components should work together to promote innovation in the sports business.

That's why fashion and technology will stand side by side. "This may seem strange to some companies from the original outdoor sector at first, but we want to venture a look at the future," explained Fuchs. In this atmosphere, the companies will probably quickly get used to it.

Because the future includes the fact that sport and clothing have already changed in the present - from physical exercise to lifestyle. This also changes the demands placed on manufacturers. It is no longer enough just to manufacture sportswear; companies now have to blur the boundaries between work and leisure or even work and company fitness. "In the mega-cities in Asia, some people make their road bike tours at night in order to escape the smog. This requires new ways of thinking."

More and more people now train on their way from work to home or right at home in the living room, but other customers are now also strolling through town in outdoor jackets or wearing them at work because it suits their style.

"The collections' long-term, very one-sided focus on outdoor high performance alone is not enough these days," said sports fashion designer Nora Kühner. "We must rethink function and develop it in a contemporary context."

Therefore, the ISPO Academy Masterclass will also be part of THE BORDERLANDS™. The Masterclass took place last at ISPO Munich 2019 and has been held four times in total so far. In the sports sector, it is aimed at the "designers of tomorrow". At OutDoor by ISPO, too, the goal will be to give young people the opportunity to further develop the sport through innovative ideas and thus broaden the focus of the entire industry.

"Due to the great feedback we received at our booth at ISPO Munich 2019, we are seeing THE BORDERLANDS™ as the right location for us," explained designer Kühner, who developed and manages the think tank. "Showing the sports industry contemporary ideas and new ways has been the driving force of the Masterclass from the very beginning."

Fuchs, too, finds the link appropriate because of the similar target group and because the young designers have ideas "that open our eyes to future solutions". "This is exactly the inspiration we are looking for," several companies told Kühner at ISPO Munich 2019. She therefore wants to make the Masterclass an integral part of the sports world.

The meeting in the inventive Hall B4 could now mean a successful departure into the future of the outdoor sector. "The four workshops have so far shown that design talents ask the right questions, give exciting impulses and create perspectives for sport beyond short-lived trends," said Kühner.

In contrast to ISPO Munich, fewer young designers will take part in the workshop in June (about 15 instead of 29), and the objective has also changed: instead of "starting from scratch" again, the four best concepts of ISPO Munich 2019 are to be expanded this time. Participants will also hold public creative debates on health & fitness or outdoor fashion in the 21st century with trade fair visitors and exhibitors.

Different outdoor perspectives are not only guaranteed by the selection of exhibitors, but also by the selection of design students taking part in the workshop. They come from very different parts of the world - from Finland, Sweden, London, Portland in the USA or China's capital Beijing.

Sports in nature and sports in the city are already two poles among the young developers. This allows designers to work together to develop ideas for multifunctional sportswear all over the world.

"The resulting demands on sportswear and equipment must finally be incorporated into product design," Kühner announced. THE BORDERLANDS™ and the Masterclass are now trying to sensitize the entire sports and outdoor industry.

For the freight containers and the scaffolding, this year's OutDoor by ISPO will certainly not be the last: "There's not much going into the trash," said Fuchs. "Our concept is sustainable. After the fair, the scaffolding will be back on the construction site."