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Berlin Fashion Week – Summer 2010
13 July, 2010

The Berliner Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft presented the student collection “30 Paar Hände” (30 pairs of hands).

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© Joachim Schirrmacher

Five trade fairs, more than 2,000 exhibitors, 70 shows, and 150 events in four days – the Berlin Fashion Week simply can’t be beat. by Joachim Schirrmacher

In Berlin the spectrum is large: from jeans and street wear (Bread and Butter), women’s clothing and menswear (Premium), high fashion (MercedesBenz Fashion Week Berlin in the viewing tent on Bebelplatz), green fashion (The Key.to and Green Showroom), and commercial (though at least very lavish) presentations (Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, and Michael Michalsky) to artful productions in galleries (especially lovely: the label Odeeh).  It all draws prominent guests like model Milla Jovovich, hat designer Philip Treacy, photographer Miles Aldridge, athletes such as Boris Becker and Vitali Klitschko, and many actors, like Jessica Alba, John Malkovich, Ewan McGregor, Diane Kruger, and Matthias Schweighöfer.

Berlin inspires

It is no wonder that the answer to the question “Berlin or New York?” is clearly “Berlin!”  Foreign journalists find Berlin especially inspiring.  “Berlin is just a great city. It is bohemian and experimental, it is colorful, stimulating, and an exciting place to be,” said Caia Hagel, a writer from Canada whose work has appeared in Code, Rolling Stone, and Wallpaper.

Why is Berlin so important?  As Michael Michalsky explained to the German daily paper Welt: “The things being shown in Mailand, Paris, and London are interesting, but follow an out-dated understanding of fashion.  I don’t know anyone for whom this fashion is relevant in daily life.  In Berlin things are being shown that people wear every day.”

The search for normality

At first glance it’s not easy to decipher the trends.  After all the “bling bling” of the past seasons, a longing for normality and simplicity reigns.  It is being shown at the trade fair Bread and Butter in the category “L.O.C.K.” But it is a romanticized look at the past.  Many exhibitors provided a glimpse into their production processes and are standing at their booths in leather aprons as if they were handworkers.  Can one combine handwork and high-tech, social responsibility and the designer’s rational?

Strikingly, it is the men’s fashion that is fresher and more expressive.  It has the interesting colors and is clearly further ahead.  The women, in contrast, seem downright traditional and restrained: A trend that applied both to the fashions being shown as well as the visitors.

The smaller the better

Professionalism is being supported through a series of contests like the prize “Designer for Tomorrow by Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf” and the Berlin Senate’s “Start Your Fashion Business” contest in which participation requires both a technically mature collection and a convincing business plan.

It is extremely hard for young designers to break into the German market.  “Buyers are reserved, and there are hardly any investors,” explained Tanja Mühlhans, a consultant for creative industries in the Berlin Senate.  The winners of both prizes were graduates of the Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee.

In order to continue to help build up the success of the young, the Berliner Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft implemented the project “30 Paar Hände” (30 pairs of hands).  Students of design, technology, and economics are developing a collection in the frame of a practice company – from the initial idea to the final marketing.  Each semester a new team of students forms to put the concept into practice.  The models presented are convincing with few exceptions and don’t need to hide behind established collections.

The House of World Culture wants to, in the future, dedicate itself more to fashion, as “fashion is the most dynamic area of culture.”  So said Director Dr. Bernd M. Scherer at the opening of Dysfashional, and it was a statement that set the tact for the Berlin Fashion Week (going on until July 17th).

Dyfashional showed specially manufactured objects from renowned fashion designers like Hussein Chalayan, Raf Simons (Jil Sander), Antonio Marras (Kenzo), and Michael Sontag.  “This is about questioning the borders between fashion and art,” explained Curator Luca Marchetti.

That sounds like Berlin.

An unabridged version of this article is available in German.

Published

Young Germany, July 13th, 2010, with the heading “Longing for normality

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  • 1. Caia H:

    Great overview Joachim!

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