Major shows, memories and buyer favourites: FW26 highlights from Berlin

Following fashion weeks in Paris, Milan and Copenhagen, all eyes have been on the German capital in recent days. Berlin Fashion Week has established itself as a hub for emerging talent and a new destination for international brands. It was indeed global labels this season that made up the big names on the calendar. These include the Berlin-based label GmbH and the Japanese brand John Lawrence Sullivan, which made its debut at the fashion week.

An overview of the highlights and buyer favourites.

Memories

This season, several brands explored their past and memories. London-based designer Andrej Gronau interpreted the doll's house as a concept for individualism and comfort. He drew on two family memories for this, taking inspiration for his colourful collection from the interior of an old villa where his grandmother celebrated her 80th birthday. Wall decorations and childlike motifs such as unicorns found their place in it.

Adebayo Oke-Lawal, the Nigerian designer behind the brand Orange Culture, recalled past days playing in the garden with his late mother. The inspiration was reflected in the collection through a versatile colour palette with intense tones and prints sketching mother and son. Flowing fabrics and various textures embodied the richness of nature. Macramé pieces, knotted by a former headmistress in Nigeria, were particularly striking.

Bobby Kolade, designer of the circular-oriented label Buzigahill, drew inspiration for his latest collection from the 1960s and 1970s in East Africa. The central question was why millennials from this part of the world feel nostalgic when they see pictures of their grandparents dancing on a parquet floor or posing in front of a Citroën. The period after countries like Uganda and Kenya gained their independence was characterised by a sense of freedom and new beginnings. Textile factories flourished in both countries, and wide collars and bell-bottoms were in fashion. Kolade translated this nostalgia into the twelfth part of his ‘Return to Sender’ collection, for which he worked with second-hand clothing from the Ownio Market in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The clothes mostly come from Europe, the US and Asia, where they are to be returned after his design process. Patchwork, knotting techniques and mixed materials dominated the looks.

Fashionable sounds

The Berlin-based label GmbH looked back at its own history, spanning 10 years, which is marked by “the refusal – or perhaps rather the compulsive inability – to remain silent in the face of the atrocities in the world,” according to the show notes. The current collection is intended to recall the brand's beginnings, closely linked to music and club culture. It brings together personal thoughts and historical moments. The focus is on Berlin's experimental music scene of the 80s, which was characterised by synth music and resistance.

To these industrial sounds, the GmbH duo, consisting of Serhat Işık and Benjamin Huseby, presented a sombre collection in a former thermal power station that also houses the techno club Tresor. Fluffy outerwear and large fur collars were featured alongside dark suits and body-hugging tops. Tailoring was paired with sporty elegance. Black floral prints were among the key design elements, while the colour palette was restrained with black, white and grey.

Musical influences also inspired Arashi Yanagawa, the Japanese designer behind the brand John Lawrence Sullivan, who made his Berlin debut on Monday. The former boxer combined his past career with stories from friends who are part of the Norwegian metal scene and have parties in the forest, the designer explained. The rock-inspired collection was primarily based on long leather pieces such as coats, boots and gloves, combined with strong tailoring and transparent mesh elements.

Hard guitar riffs also rang out at Dagger. Founder Luke Rainey sent skaters down the runway in ripped baggy jeans and accessories like Vans slip-ons and Eastpak backpacks, which were ‘smeared’ with drawings and slogans, as was popular with teenagers in the 2010s. Rainey focused on growing up in Portrush, Northern Ireland, which was characterised by boarded-up amusement arcades and harsh coastal weather. Various knitwear pieces depicting a punk with a mohawk were seen alongside patterns such as leopard print, stars and stripes. In contrast to GmbH and John Lawrence Sullivan, various colours and pattern mixes played a central role at Dagger.

Grand stage

Several brands in Berlin impressed not only with their collections but also an exciting backdrop.

The Augsburg-based brand OBS built three different sets, which were connected by door frames on the round presentation area. The runway was divided into a living room, a workshop and an outdoor landscape.

Outerwear and workwear paired with sets – including trousers and overshirts – fitted harmoniously into the overall picture. The focus was also on the brand's various bags, for which it is known and which also attracted the interest of Shuhei Iwasa. The buyer for the Japanese department store chain Takashimaya explained that he would be keeping an eye on the brand.

SF1OG also played with a special runway presentation. An installation with several sinks from which water trickled was set up in the middle of the industrial show location. The collection presented, including tight jeans, double-breasted jackets and large bags, analysed the era when stars were chased by paparazzi to get the ‘perfect photo’. In this context, the Berlin-based label also addressed the question of who we are when no one is looking, according to the show notes. Hiding and protecting are two central mechanisms that resonate here.

Haderlump invited guests to the Wintergarten variety theatre and presented its collection on a stage and the adjoining raised runway. After a piano solo, the red curtain opened to reveal models in various large coats and pinstripe suits, but various chunky knit pieces were also on display. Overall, the silhouettes were rather wide and grand. Elements such as a sailor's cap and historically inspired cuts on the jackets also created the feeling of watching a play rather than a fashion show.

Richert Beil provided the grand finale of the fashion week. The Berlin-based label invited guests to a fashion dinner, where they sat on chairs with mini-tables and were served various courses. The service staff's looks played with details such as cloth napkins and maid's aprons. Between the partly edible courses, models moved gracefully through the rows of chairs. Silhouettes ranged from a tight-fitting latex look to a grand dinner table. ‘The dessert’, the final course, was an ostrich egg from which guests pulled a pair of black ruffled panties. The accompanying soundtrack and individual elements created a rather dark atmosphere. A poison container was presented while guests drank a mushroom potion from a matching vial.

Buyer favourites

William Fan staged his shop in the middle of the rectangular runway, to which the collection was also dedicated. For this, the Berlin-based designer took inspiration from his customers who have visited the store in recent years.

Fan's show was also one of David Smedley's highlights. The head of buying at US menswear retailer SVRN said in a voice message after the fashion week that the use of textiles, patterns, shapes and silhouettes stood out for him. The movement in the garments and the shimmering fabrics stayed with him.

“I love the layering, the colour, texture and pattern blocking,” said Smedley. “Although they were wearable garments, they all looked as if they were composed of different parts and elements of other things, and everything merged into something seamless and harmonious.”

Smedley seemed so enthusiastic that he is also seriously considering adding Fan to his assortment. The brand, which according to its own statements combines European and Chinese influences, would be a particularly good fit for the San Francisco location. This is because of the large Asian diaspora there and the “deep appreciation for artists and fashion designers with a similar ethnic background”.

However, Fan was not the only one the buyer remembered for potential orders. Berlin-based design veteran Michael Sontag, who played with draping, various textiles and modular elements, and the Cologne-based label Marke were also on his list.

Marke, the menswear label by designer Mario Keine, has increasingly won over buyers and the press in recent seasons. Smedley was particularly impressed by the poetry of the collection, the shirt layering and the “masterful tailoring”.

Sontag, Marke and Fan are also on Stavros Karelis's list. The founder of the London concept store Machine-A, which offers a mix of renowned brands and emerging talent, is considering adding these brands to his range. Other brands such as GmbH, Orange Culture and Buzigahill are also included. Who will actually make it onto the shop floor in the end still needs to be coordinated internally, Karelis told FashionUnited on request.

For Iwasa, it is already clear that he will be ordering Buzigahill for Takashimaya. He said this between the shows of the Intervention presentation format by the PR agency Reference Studios, in which the label participated alongside brands such as GmbH, Dagger and John Lawrence Sullivan. He would also consider Marke and OBS.

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