Designer Lucas Meyer-Leclerc said backstage after his runway show in the German capital last week.
After working for the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Jimmy Choo, the young Frenchman was looking back at the city he chose to base his business in after working elsewhere.
Meyer-Leclère’s charismatic, sometimes messy, collection of painted and ‘retailed’ vintage luxury clothes (the designer doesn’t like the word ‘upcycled’) is the product of his brand LML Studio. was noted as one of Berlin fashion’s preeminent shows. Last week, a week held over five days.
Rosa M. Dahl, designer of SF1OG, is another brand that has made local industry observers go wild, describing Berlin as “a very creative, diverse and open-minded city that feels free to be yourself.” You can follow your heart.”
But the long-running problem of Berlin Fashion Week was that this attitude, and the interesting outfits it produced, never seemed to make it onto the runways.
As an industry observer commented, “You’ll leave the show behind and wonder why the clothes people were wearing on the street were so much more interesting than what you just saw. ”
But that was not the case at the recent Berlin Fashion Week.
Last week, labels like SF1OG, LML Studio, Laura Gerte, Bondy and Platte lined up alongside heavyweights on the Berlin runway. The newcomer’s firm focus on limitless creativity, true sustainability and recycling, diversity and gender fluidity accurately reflected what was really happening in Berlin’s streets, galleries and clubs. .
Magdalena Schaffrin, co-CEO of Studio MM04, organizer of the 202030 Berlin Fashion Summit, said: “For the first time in the apparel industry, I realized that people watching some shows are wearing the same clothes as they are on the runway. It has great potential if we can develop it further.”
According to the organizers, the evolution of Berlin Fashion Week is no accident.
“Last year, when the Premium Trade Show decided to move away from Berlin, we started talking about the future of the event,” Schaffrin told WWD. She was referring to the fact that the commercial fair, which previously ran parallel to her Berlin Fashion Week and attracted buyers from all over Europe, has decided to move to Frankfurt in 2020 (then , they returned to Berlin).
“There was an understanding that we needed to focus on young talent, because they are the future,” Shafrin said. “And in every conversation with the bigger players in the industry, when I start talking about young talent, their ears perk up. Of course, they’re looking for new talent.”
“empty space [by the trade shows] Marte Hentschel, co-CEO of Berlin Fashion Hub added Marte Hentschel, co-CEO of network center Berlin Fashion Hub. “These very active communities have always been there. It just wasn’t as visible or taken seriously before.”
For example, the Neo.Fashion series of alumni shows, which began in 2017, was included on the official schedule for the week for the first time, due to the renewed focus on young talent. This year, 11 schools from all over the country gathered for 3 days, performing 15 shows with 900 different looks.
It was staged in a large art gallery and had a lot of the quirky, non-commercial looks you’d expect from a recent graduate. But there were also fascinating ideas and silhouettes, some of which were very well executed.
Bratewan
“I really believe things are changing,” enthused Jens Zander, founder and organizer of the Neo.Fashion event, after last Thursday night’s final showcase. .
For example, this is the first time that the Berlin Senate, who financially supports Berlin Fashion Week, participated in the Neo show. Senator for Economics, Energy and Industry, Michael Beale, was there that night. “Finally, we’re seeing the media and politics paying more attention to us. The industry really needs to come here now because this is where we find new talent,” he stressed. .
Hentschel, who is also the head of sourcing platform Sqetch, sees some advantages already for the up-and-coming Berlin-based brand. With the German capital at the center of both these areas, they are far ahead on the sustainability and digital side, she argued.
Furthermore, Hentschel added that despite the city’s rising rents, “there’s not a lot of pressure to commercialize here because there’s still space to be creative. We also see a tendency for independent creators to come here from established fashion capitals.”
All these aspects are now represented in the city’s fashion weeks, she says.
But despite the new spirit at Berlin Fashion Week, it’s also clear that the brands on display are preaching to converts. The local media were in attendance, but it was unclear how many serious buyers attended and whether there were avenues for young brands to take to ensure long-term profitability and professionalism. did.
For example, can a big Parisian luxury house come to Berlin to discover new star designers? Can Berlin compete with London as a center of wild inspiration and young fashion talent?
“It’s too early to judge,” Hentschel opined. “This is just the beginning.” Either way, Berlin isn’t meant to compete with other fashion cities, and “many of these independent creators aren’t waiting to be discovered. They’re not at all. We have a different way of doing business and a different kind of confidence.”
“There is still no road to success in the industry,” Schaffrin admitted. “We need more professional platforms. We need more networking and integration, and we need stronger curation for quality.”
Despite this, event organizers were overwhelmingly positive about what was to come. “It’s just a hunch right now, but there’s a lot of talent here. I think it’s the Berlin era,” Schaffrin concluded.
Hentschel was more decisive. “If buyers and the media want to understand what is going on in the future, if they have the urge for change, they will come to Berlin for inspiration,” she asserts. did.
