Leather, Latex and Itty-Bitty Shorts: The Best of Berlin Fashion Week

Everybody’s received some preconceptions about vogue in Berlin (town‘s type is so distinct that even the phrase ‘Berlin’ is now used as an adjective). A seatmate at a very ‘Berlin’ present – earlier than they’d simply flashed questionable slogan vests – informed me, “Numerous the style manufacturers in Europe are attempting to be ‘Berlin’. Berlin’s attempting to be Berlin, too.” It’s a well mannered means of suggesting it’s a bit clichéd, which is true to an extent. There’s a self-contained reference pool drawn from these throbbing darkish alleys and tobacco-tinged warehouses, however as a nationwide uniform for town’s younger, hardcore bon vivants, the crimson and black leather-based and latex seems to be fairly unbelievable. On the afterparties – of which there have been many – I began wishing I used to be a bit extra ‘Berlin’ too. 

The schedule for day one among Berlin Vogue Week was populated by designers with a worldwide attain because of the Reference Studio’s Intervention platform, which is now in its second version. “The designers that I selected signify the entire bandwidth of Berlin, throughout age teams, ethnicities, design strategies or aesthetics, and naturally factors of reference,” says Mumi Haiati, the founding father of the communication company and curator of Intervention. These included Shayne Oliver’s Nameless Membership, GmbH, Lueder, Dzhus and extra. “What connects all of them in all probability is their authenticity and powerful group focus.” Going down on the legendary Tempodrom, which as soon as began with a circus tent on Potsdamer Platz in 1980 and now operates as a efficiency venue, the setting speaks to town’s ties to music and tradition.

It’s thrilling to expertise Berlin throughout these 5 days, and there’s a sense that issues are simply getting began for a lot of of those manufacturers. It’s a bit like how London felt ten years in the past – a bit bit rebellious, anti-establishment, with two fingers as much as the established order. Haiati agrees: “I feel it was this very particular, inventive vitality about London that made it so thrilling. I’m glad Berlin appears to really feel like that now. It additionally comes as an thrilling problem to take care of, nourish, and construct on this vitality to create lasting alternatives for our designers.” The chance to develop these designers is backed by politicians who hope to bolster the area’s inventive scene, with state-run competitions like Berlin Up to date providing 25,000 euros for the highest 16 present ideas. The extent of help is superb – different cities ought to take heed. 

Under, we listing six of the very best exhibits from July’s Berlin Vogue Week 2024.

Shayne Oliver has nonetheless received it. The style trade wept when his most well-known challenge, Hood By Air, went on hiatus in 2017, having spent a bit over a decade shaking up vogue far past its streetwear roots. He went in-house at a couple of manufacturers together with Helmut Lang and Diesel, earlier than opening Nameless Membership in 2020 as a barely complicated ‘collective studio’ to shelter him from being the label’s sole figurehead, giving him a stage of ambiguity. Introduced at Tempodrom as a part of Reference Studios’ Intervention II, the place gaggles of lanky, uber-cool children funnelled into the concrete round auditorium for the night present, this was the second outing for his still-budding challenge. Contemplating the designer’s newfound trade reticence, the collective thirst for extra felt palpable. 

To the very best soundtrack of the week, (in addition to an unreleased monitor from Kanye West, who additionally allegedly hosted Oliver’s afterparty at Soho Home Berlin later that night), the gathering, titled Freudian Glitch: Fantasia 2024, was a surrealist tackle space-age-inspired streetwear. A hunched and hooded silhouette dominated the parade. Eliminating the neckline, this form flittered between trendy and menacing, whereas the wearer is cocooned and protecting in its gentle textile. Oliver’s subversive use of latex provided a darker edge.

Go behind the scenes with a photograph essay by Harry Miller right here.

Aptly titled Resistance By Rituals, fashions trudged via pouring rain on the slippery roof of Berlin’s Tempodrom for GmbH’s Spring/Summer season 2025 assortment, which celebrated the courageous communities which have been certain collectively within the wake of latest political agonies: particularly, the queer communities struggling in opposition to more and more far-right authorities, and the immigrant artists being censored in Germany because of their criticism of Israel’s acts of genocide. “Now, greater than ever, it’s vital to indicate our tradition and group in Berlin, our hometown,” GmbH co-founder Benjamin Alexander Huseby informed us. With slick tailoring that featured boxing-style hoods, tactical bomber jackets, itty-bitty shorts with Muay Thai elastic waistbands and asymmetrical attire with Marvel-esque sleeves that plumed from the wrist, every look got here imbued with a warrior preparedness – not solely to defend, however to battle – pumped via the carnal frisson of the throbbing Berlin occasion scene the place the model was born.

Learn AnOther’s interview with Benjamin Alexander Huseby and Serhat Işık of GmbH right here.

Nothing brings drama like a fucking large airplane. Introduced in Hangar 6 of Tempelhof Airport, Berlin Up to date winners Julius Weissenborn and Johann Ehrhardt regarded to Amelia Earhart for a co-ed assortment of flight gear reimagined as an city uniform. As many of those old-school uniforms was once, the shapes had been horny and menacing, as they swaggered round a classic fighter airplane as if prepared for fight. Bombers – a lot of them – had been draped and reimagined, worn with leather-based aviator caps, neckerchiefs and high-waisted trousers. Leather-based trenches added that edgy nod to town from the place Haderlump hails, aided by a soundscape that appeared to throb even louder in a desolate hangar. A tasselled corset would possibly make for a wildly inappropriate flying uniform, however Haderlump made a convincing case to take flight of their sexed-up soldering of road and sky. 

SF1OG took a danger with their location this season. It was a bit over an hour’s drive to the historic Umspannwerk in Reinickendorf from central Berlin, driving a wrecking ball via hopes of attending exhibits on both aspect of the schedule. Remodeling the disused electrical substation right into a bustling market, full with white market stalls to match the tough, chalky inside, the uncooked fantastic thing about the setting alone was properly well worth the trek. To the sounds of native rock band Golden Hours, out got here an intricate, styled-to-perfection assemblage of luxe menswear in recent hues of pink, blue and inexperienced. The combination of distinctive and opposed textiles proved to be probably the most fascinating half, utilising principally deadstock and vintage recycled materials, together with linen from the nineteenth century which echoed {the marketplace} setting. The all-white closing look consisted of a crocheted vest, some tactical vintage linen trousers, and a durag that fell right into a prepare, trailing metres behind. A stunning stage of expertise made this present a must-see, and an thrilling addition to the modern Berlin vogue scene.

There was magical trendy alchemy at play from the outset of Marie Lueder’s S/S25 present, as friends sat in a circle watching a vaping trickster wearing hooded casuals carry out an elaborate present that stuffed the Tempodrom venue with hazy smog. In a palette that drew from the colors of fireside, ash, wooden and greenery, the gathering noticed fastidiously manufactured twists on traditional denim and jersey items, fantastically draped attire and new adaptions of her signature ribbing strategies, constructed along with her free-spirited wearer in thoughts. “I realised that I needed to take care of and help folks via clothes,” Lueder informed AnOther beforehand. “It’s a [vehicle through which to] categorical myself and attain folks, and it’s additionally very tactile and intimate.”

Having been born and raised in Sauerland in rural Germany, designer Mario Keine is well-acquainted with the realm’s eccentric traditions and the uniforms that they comprise. This consists of Schützenfest, a marksmen’s pageant for which members of the native capturing fraternities try to gun down a wood hen hung up on a pole, adopted by the crowning of the Schützenkönig (marksman’s king). Whacky as they’re, Keine witnessed the exclusionary nature of the pageant, neglecting the admission of ladies and marginalised teams, and thru his S/S25 assortment reimagined the pageant’s rituals via a queer lens, mixing the masculine and female via his gentle use of color and ornamental silhouettes. Amidst all the raucous rave-ready numbers offered elsewhere in Berlin, Marke’s presentation felt recent and welcoming. Keine’s model has solely been up and working since 2021, and he’s already proving himself as one to look at.