Berlin’s summer Fashion Week recently wrapped aptly coinciding with a timely summer heatwave. While there is much to love about Berlin, like it’s daring cultural character, the city has a long way to go until it can establish itself as a serious fashion contender. But there’s definitely some promise. Amongst a busy schedule of parties, presentations and tradeshows, CANVAS managed to find the best of Berlin.
Vladimir Karaleev
It’s no surprise Vladimir is top of our list. We discovered the designer six months ago, after his autumn/winter presentation. Showing as part of the How To Start Your Fashion Business competition, Vladimir again kept his focus on draping and folding to a restrictive palette of block colours. Transforming tailoring techniques and tactile materials, his work is like a statement in opposites. Soft, light fabrics are coerced into hard and sharp lines, constructing a modern identity through conceptual metaphor. There’s a scholarly interest from the designer in art and architecture; he’s previously spoken of his fashion as one of protection or enclosure, that covers the body. This collection is symbolic of Vladimir’s capacity to construct a fashion that has form and meaning, and is both functional and fashionable.
SADAK
It’s hard not to connect SADAK by Sasa Kovacevic’s style to predecessors like Walter Van Beirendonck or Bernhard Willhelm. SADAK shares the same cultural expressions of colour, humour and theatricality. It’s not so much abstract fashion, more like a rich fantasy or imaginary world. Brash slogans, graphic prints and geometric shapes hint to history and culture. In this case, traditional costume patterns from rural Serbia, 60s optical illusion prints and slogans from a new socialism. The collection is ambiguous and slightly absurd, dismissive of what is considered ‘good taste’. But it’s also an amusing, visual spectacle of fashion’s freedom of expression.
Perrett SCHAAD
We mentioned this designing duo in the lead up to Fashion Week. With their winter collection we felt an instinctive emotional connection to their work. It’s classic and an uncompromising, quiet vision of understated sophistication. Continuing on from winter, summer is defined by a fresh and clean colour palette. It’s an atmosphere of optimism, where whites and neutrals are awash with saffron, mustard, olive and grey. Perret SCHAAD are starting to carve out a niche as a talent for strong tailoring and sharp shirting. Proportions are altered to a slightly masculine level, yet sensitive to the female form, in a sensibility of clear lines and intelligent cuts.
Michael Sontag
Sharing a similar appreciataion in simplicity to Perret SCHAAD, Michael Sontag considers his women in a romantic vision of softness. And in the tradition of modern minimalism, a style stamp for coming seasons, Sontag relied on proportion, fabric and bright, one-coloured silhouettes for his summer collection. Perhaps drawing a relationship to Cubism, the collection is asymmetric, simple, comfortable. Like Karaleev, there seems to be opposing ideas at play. Self control and strength is met with fluidity, volume and drape. It’s not innovative, simply a fresh take on classic shapes, but it’s a beautiful way to dress.
All catwalk images are copyright, and courtesy of Andreas Schwinn and Dominik Hotzy.
