A print medium from modekultur.info,
the online magazine for Berlin
available in january 2008

Foto: © modekultur.info / at ONO KOON, Berlin

»Trends are once again being set in Berlin. At the start of 2006, UNESCO awarded the city the title of “City of Design”. And that’s just the start!

In the fashion industry especially, Berlin is witnessing a sustained boom – but there’s nothing new there: as early as the end of the 19^th century, international trade was carried out in the distinguished Konfektionsviertel (fashion quarter) at Hausvogteiplatz and around the Gendarmenmarkt. Established fashion houses set the standards of style and in the so-called “Golden Twenties” too, the sketches of Berlin’s designers were influencing the international fashion scene. In 1927, the trade journal “Der Konfektionär” counted 800 ladies’ wear establishments in the German capital and the Konfektionsviertel was still the centre of the Berlin fashion world.

The fashion industry suffered a slump when the Nazis seized power as many of the fashion houses were at this time under Jewish ownership. These dark years in German history left their mark on the fashion scene too and looking back with today’s perspective, had some rather grotesque features. For instance, in 1936, the word “Konfektion” was put on the banned list and ladies’ lingerie was advertised as being “guaranteed Aryan”.

Nowadays a “Memorial to the Hausvogteiplatz Fashion Centre” can be found at the underground station bearing the same name. On its steps, nameplates remind us of the names of Jewish Fashion Houses and the dates when the Nazis ordered their owners to cease trading.

So things are slowly starting to happen again in the Berlin fashion world. Now numerous designers are working in the industry; nine schools of fashion offer training opportunities and scores of flagship stores, fashion fairs and trend scouts have returned Berlin to a prominent position in the worldwide fashion scene. Last but not least, as a highlight, so to speak, the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week takes place at the beginning and in the middle of the year. The thing worth noting among all of this is that the fashion coming out of Berlin is incomparable. Full of self-esteem, a unique style has emerged which boasts a refreshing variety. Fashion taboos are non-existent: whether tailor-made or off-the-shelf, elegant, avant-garde, hippie style or sporty, Berlin offers something for every taste - and rightly so!

At www.modekultur.info, our online magazine which is updated on a daily basis, you can find anything from portraits of Berlin fashion schools, events, new collections and store openings to sales and interesting reports, video clips and slide shows all on the subject of “Fashion in Berlin”.

This guide intends to lead you and lure you through the Berlin fashion scene.

Enjoy the journey!

Jörg Buntenbach
(Ed.)«

>>german version

 

modekultur.info, online magazine