There’s a new age in Berlin avant-garde design with the launch of Berlin’s very own alternative fashion week, promoting pioneering vision and funding grass roots sustainable fashion production. Following successful launches in cities such as London and Brighton, it has moved to the continent and set up shop, right here in Berlin. Whilst Berlin may never challenge the superpowers of fashion capitals such as Paris or Milan with global corporations like Gucci and Chanel, Berlin nevertheless has an up-and-coming fashion scene that shouldn’t be overlooked. Whilst Berlin lacks the Haute Couture scene of Paris and its domestic consumers invest in high designer brands abroad, the city does however possess a freedom of aesthetic, where people can come as they want, with no prescriptive dress code. This ethos feeds directly into a fashion scene comprised mainly of independent designers, individual aesthetic, and start-up companies taking their first steps into the world of fashion. In such an over-saturated industry, many grass-root brands found here stand little chance in the fashion markets of Paris or Milan. But with the growth of organisations like Berlin Alternative Fashion Week promoting and supporting cutting-edge creativity and design, they may just stand a chance in this city and within Germany.
Taking place between the 1st and 5th of October, Berlin Alternative Fashion Week will be a truly sensual experience, incorporating plural art forms and hybrid performances, from inventive theatre, mysterious installation, African folk art, experimental film, showgirls and drag artists, heated debates, live music, parties, open air markets, to catwalk shows. It promises to be a truly breath-taking event, bringing together the very best creativity and art that Berlin has to offer, and it will no doubt become a mainstay of the Berlin fashion calendar in the years to come.
