We all dream about what Fashion Week is supposed to be like. Meeting influential people in the industry, innovative clothes that are so brilliant they make our heads spin. Basically an event Carrie Bradshaw would pull out all her best outfits for. Unfortunately, Berlin Fashion Week managed to go in the completely opposite direction.
It seems Berlin has lost the meaning and completely misunderstood the main reason for having a Fashion Week. Just to clarify, it’s so designers can come up with something new and show it off-get the ball rolling for the seasons to come.
Sadly, the entire event has become a rich kid’s sorority resulting in designers creating predictable collections to win membership. And those who aren’t invited to the party, well they just sign in as visitors and enjoy the free drinks.
It’s become a very sad private affair limiting international exposure and nit picking the wealthy, with the sole purpose of seeing how much change they can pocket. It’s all rather disappointing. Feel free to call us bitter but understand one thing, the more designers create to please a certain group of buyers the more they miss out on opportunities to elevate their work to the international level. It’s become repetitive with nothing new to show, we know what’s coming and guess what, it’s exactly what we get.
The biggest shame is the amount of money pumped into the entire affair. Upside, the venues are spectacular top of the range with every gadget and new invention you could possibly dream of. Downside, the shuttles used to transport the press weren’t working (Would you honestly not check this before you launch? We would), those who are truly interested in the industry weren’t included (the events were flooded with people looking for freebies, showing no interest in the shows) and lastly the little box they can’t seem to escape. It’s all become very comfortable. Liking sitting on your grandmas couch because you know the good spots.
The point is a lot of people go out of their way to get to these shows, most of which are scattered across the city resulting in everybody running around like headless chickens. It’s a stressful time we know that but at least plan your events properly, something has to make up for the very average fashion. The city has a tremendous amount of potential but lacks the correct guidance. It’s fair designers, investors and brands need to make money but it shouldn’t be at the cost of the industry. The best solution at this point is for them to look to other shows so they know what to aim for. Leave behind the superficial and very arrogant way of doing things. look at what others do and up your game.
Well Enough of that. Despite our disappointment we can’t take the spotlight away from our favourite four. These designers did more than catch our eye, we couldn’t help but love their creative and meaningful designs.
Marina Hoermanseder
Mariana held nothing back this year intriguing the crowds with her maze inspired runway and garments so spring ready we can’t wait to wear them. The pastel infused collection did the models justice in flattering cuts giving a lightweight illusion to heavily crystal encrusted corsets. Incredible detail went into the making of the collection with the designer expanding on her signature belts with cut out butterflies. As colourful as it was the collection was inspired by the disease formally known as “Crystal Skin’ shown by the clustered Swarovski Crystals. Giving deeper meaning to the butterflies the designs paid homage to children who suffer from the disease who are referred to as “Butterfly children”. Taking a different direction to her previous works which were once described as trendy or falling prey to fad, the collection as had a very playful and girly feel to it giving the show a very summer ready atmosphere despite its deeper and darker meaning.
Odeeh
The Odeeh duo went for a rustic location giving their work a very “rough spirit”. Otto Drogsler and Jorg Ehrlich, who launched the brand back in 2008 usually produce an athletic and minimalist influenced collection but this time managed to incorporated a few frills and beautiful light materials. The patterned materials did a good job of providing some fun to the darker colours, mixing well with the different textured materials used for both the men’s and women’s wear. Individually each item had a life of its own but put together it did come across as slightly overdone.
Perret Schaad
Johanna Perret and Tutia Schaad are the duo behind the labels very chic and elegant womenswear. “diverse, organic, urban, graphic and cool” was the aim and they absolutely succeeded. The collection used light materials with a mixture of patterns, lace and a few stripes here and there. It captured a very sophisticated flirty nature which is a true image of city women. Sticking with very natural colours such as light grey, navy, white, darker reds and bright greens-the collection worked as a whole with one look reflecting the other. The botanical prints and silks worked very well for this collection.
Dawid Tomaszewski
Dawid seemed to have been inspired by theatre costumes because his collection was a combination of mismatching materials with bizarre cut combinations. We loved it. It’s nothing new, the concept of mismatching materials has been used before but it was a breath of fresh air from the other designs. Feathers here, crystals there and silver pointed shoes-it’s something out of a fairy tale. He produced some very interesting pieces and when looked at individually the detail is impeccable and each piece can be styled appropriately outside the runway.
Images source: Vogue Berlin and Dash magazine
