German fashion is back where it vibrates with life in the capital.
German Fashion is back where it vibrates with life in the capital. Fashion Week got off to a good start. The designers are happy about new forces that the departure of the main sponsor has released.
“You know what?” said the Uber driver. “When I look at things at Fashion Week, I always ask myself, who should be wearing this?” And when I need a shirt, I go to Jack & Jones, they have the regular stuff there. The fashion world is alien to him, and he thinks many Berliners feel the same way: “I don’t know anyone who walks around like the people at these shows.”
Berlin Fashion Week is back, and with it the age-old question: can Germany do fashion? Berlin can fashion? What the Uber driver is right about: Lots of people in Berlin don’t care. They live their lives, wear their shirts and express themselves without feathers or fanfare. However, hardly any other European city breathes so much of what fashion really means: zeitgeist, dynamism, warmth – even when it’s cold, energy, fun to try and exuberance. And what they wear on their bodies in big cities naturally interests Berliners.
With Mercedes-Benz, Berlin Fashion Week lost its main sponsor. She said they only want to work with individual brands in the future. This year it’s Mark Cain. This means that designers must take care of the function rooms themselves. For example, Kilian Kerner, Danny Reinke, Marcel Ostertag and Rebecca Rotz joined forces to show their new collections in the same location.
The Week Started off Strong
But it also means that Berlin’s designers can focus on their strengths, on this city’s strengths: a little bit of club culture, a little bit of underground. Berlin is like a black box that you love to lock up for a few days, but then you don’t know exactly what happened inside. Berlin is getting more expensive, like everything else, but it’s still exciting. Berlin is shaking. “Berlin is so inspiring,” the late fashion designer Thierry Mugler told this paper in 2020 of his adopted home. “There’s a wonderful balance between real life and beautiful, relaxed life – and at the same time extreme nightlife.”
The week started with a bang: from a fake email address, activists called an alleged Adidas event on Monday, a new co-CEO was supposed to be appointed, and the collection was also reportedly designed by the pop star. Pharrell Williams. Himself. Then, on the runway, the models, who appear to be bleeding or injured, wear scraps of fabric called “reality clothes” – supposedly made from clothes worn by textile workers in Southeast Asia months earlier. And the new CEO? Former employee from Cambodia.
The fake show was organized by the New York group “The Yes Men”, who wanted to draw attention to the poor working conditions in the Adidas factories. During the pandemic, Adidas did not ensure that workers in producing countries received their full wages; Activists said workers laid off due to the pandemic have not received severance pay. Adidas rejected the allegations at dpa’s request: the company “has ensured fair and safe working conditions for employees in its supply chain for over 25 years with a variety of measures”.
Party in Killian Kerner, work casual in Odie
Then, on Tuesday: business as usual. Kilian Kerner shows a lot of color, neon pastel tones, long, sparkling, sometimes transparent dresses, sparkles, sequins, everything that makes for a happy night, in addition to a focus on Berlin in the truest sense of the word: the music is only in German, everything is from Fuffifufzich, a find in the environment.
The fake show was organized by the New York group “The Yes Men”, who wanted to draw attention to the poor working conditions in the Adidas factories. During the pandemic, Adidas did not ensure that workers in producing countries received their full wages; Activists said workers laid off due to the pandemic have not received severance pay. Adidas rejected the allegations at dpa’s request: the company “has ensured fair and safe working conditions for employees in its supply chain for over 25 years with a variety of measures”.
Party in Killian Kerner, work casual in Odie
Then, on Tuesday: business as usual. Kilian Kerner shows a lot of color, neon pastel tones, long, sparkling, sometimes transparent dresses, sparkles, sequins, everything that makes for a happy night, in addition to a focus on Berlin in the truest sense of the word: the music is only in German, everything is from Fuffifufzich, a find in the environment.
