In Berlin, Emerging Fashion Goes Big on Diversity, Politics and Sustainability
At the last edition of Berlin’s fashion week, one show in particular made headlines and caused confusion around the world.
With help from international activist groups, a Berlin creative collective, Platte, hosted a “fake” Adidas show, complete with a press release and a realistic runway collection, to highlight Adidas’ alleged exploitation of workers on far-flung supply chains. The German company later denied the allegations.
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But before it did so, the fashion week event deceived more than a few industry insiders. Up until the last minutes of the runway show, many believed the whole thing was real.
During this Berlin Fashion Week, which starts Monday, the Platte collective isn’t doing anything quite as controversial (as far as anyone knows). But in keeping with what appears to be becoming a habit among the German capital’s creatives, they remain committed to making a political statement.
They’ll be presenting an award to a local designer that embodies values “such as inclusion, diversity and sustainability,” they say. Their winner is Melisa Mincova, the designer behind the upcycling-meets-club-culture brand Melisa Minca.
Fashion has always been political, Mincova told WWD. But Berlin’s fashion week is possibly more political than most, she confirmed. With its wartime history, liberal sensibilities and geography in central Europe, perhaps it’s not surprising that Berlin’s fashion week emphasizes the politics of clothing more than events in other European capitals.
“Berlin’s fashion community has undeniably embraced a political edge that resonates with [the city’s] historical and cultural context,” Mincova continued. “Berlin has an air of resistance and social change and that influences how and what people create.”
“Berlin, as a city, has a rich history of political activism and counterculture movements,” agreed Steve Legrand, the designer behind a new Berlin-based label, Costume Tje Legrand. “This heritage often influences the local fashion scene, where designers and brands seek to make statements and challenge societal norms.”
In his first collection, Legrand, who is of African and Caribbean heritage and who grew up in Germany, was inspired by the Harlem Renaissance in 1920s New York.
It’s also about money, added Lucas Meyer-Leclère, who will be presenting his eponymous collection at Berlin Fashion Week for the fourth time. “It’s obviously easier to be political if you don’t have the pressure of a multimillion dollar company behind you,” he said.
Even though the cost of living in Berlin is increasing, the German capital is still a less expensive place to live than other fashion capitals like Paris or Milan. That gives rise to a different kind of creative mindset, one that isn’t as predicated on making a profit, said Meyer-Leclère, a former resident of both Milan and London.
“That helps people blossom. It’s about humanity, not just profit,” he argued.
“I am definitely trying to interact with the [fashion] industry in a manner that’s not prioritizing financial profit constantly and that is, in essence, disruptive,” Mincova said. “As a community, we just won’t tolerate the status quo and we try to engage with global issues in a holistic way.”
“A big reason why presentations in Berlin can be so political, is that the brands presenting here are usually very small businesses,” said Rosa Dahl and Jacob Langemeyer, the duo behind one of the city’s hottest fashion week tickets, the SF1OG brand. “They don’t need to worry about their sales in certain markets.”
All of the designers WWD spoke to also credited the city’s government with making what they’re doing possible. The Berlin Senate still supports Berlin Fashion Week financially, spending around 2 million euros ($2.17 million) every season on funding runway shows, studio visits and events at retail, among other related projects.
The decision to support the sector this way is deliberate, Michael Biel, the city’s state secretary for economic affairs, told WWD. There are 25,500 people working in it and almost 5,000 associated companies, he noted, and the city’s Senate sees fashion as an integral part of multipolar, metropolitan networks of creativity that need support.
Biel believes Berlin designers’ staunch politics could be a unique selling point.
“Fashion in Berlin is political,” he said. “It’s very loud, it pushes the envelope. And there’s a lot of emphasis on diversity, inclusion, working in a community and sustainability,” he said, adding that the city’s legendary club culture also has a lot to do with how designers are inspired here.
Biel believes Berlin’s fashion sector could lead the way in how every local business grapples with sustainability. “For the young designers here, [sustainability] isn’t just superficial. They live it,” he said.
One could also argue that fashion in general has become more overtly political over the past decade. It has had to. The apparel industry is well known as a major polluter so a focus on sustainability is a necessity now. Additionally this century, consumers have become far more interested in a brand’s political points of view and “brand activism” has become common. Good looks, craftsmanship and heritage are no longer enough.
IPSOS surveys of consumer behavior conducted in February this year found that a brand’s “purpose” and the good it does in the world have an impact on between half to two-thirds of all purchasing decisions. In various polls, half or more of all consumers said that companies that make charitable donations, protect the environment and encourage inclusion and diversity were more likely to get their money. Younger consumers feel particularly strongly about this.
IPSOS also found that over the past two years, mentions of topics like upcycling, inclusivity and debates about fast fashion (where it is seen as a negative phenomenon) on social media have increased significantly.
Other research from the Paris-based Institut Français de la Mode suggests that a brand’s political positioning must be more than a T-shirt slogan deep. The French researchers noted that consumers regularly look beyond the superficial message shirt, preferring to show solidarity on social media or to look deeper into how a brand actually operates, and then make their purchasing decisions based on that.
Additionally, as Berlin designers Mincova and Legrand both pointed out, social media allows fashion creatives to send a political message exactly the way they want to. They have the opportunity to be more vocal about their own politics and social media helps them navigate around traditional gatekeepers, they both said.
So given all of the above, and with so many of Berlin’s up-and-coming designers keenly focused on environmental and personal politics, could it be that — as senator Biel suggested — the German city’s creatives have something to teach the rest of the industry?
“Berlin is obviously not a fashion metropolis,” conceded SF1OG’s Langemeyer. “But a great development is that what is offered mainly focuses on sustainability and diversity. In those terms, and in a new way of thinking about gender in fashion, Berlin has a lot to offer.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Scott Lipinski, who heads the local industry body, Fashion Council Germany, also thinks Berlin fashion has something new to offer.
Of the designers showing in Berlin, Lipinski said, “we sense an ideology that is deeply rooted in human understanding and has less of an economically oriented attitude. First and foremost, they’re using their creative work to push social change. Of course, it is and will remain a business, and the brands want to be able to pay their staff and suppliers. But this change of values really underlines a new mindset.
“Berlin brands,” he concluded enthusiastically, “are an example of how fashion can authentically embrace lived experiences, break conventions and create a more inclusive and progressive industry for all.”
Launch Gallery: Is Berlin Europe's Most Political Fashion Week?
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