I was so excited to get an invitation to attend one of the most important fashion events in Europe – the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, Berlin. Held in the first week of July this was a real opportunity to check out one of Europe’s premier fashion shows – and to pick up some tips for Get Waisted’s next catwalk show!
Berlin has become “the next big thing” on the European fashion circuit by concentrating on promoting the work of large numbers of exciting, talented and innovative young designers who continuously push the boundaries of creativity.
This show also has a real sense of place and occasion having taken place at the Brandenburg Gate in 2007. This year it was held at Bebelplatz in the centre of Berlin and was the perfect historical backdrop for the designer collections.
And so to the shows….what an inspiration with compelling collections from designers from all over the world that nonetheless reflected that ‘newness’ and creativity as opposed to the (possibly?) faded glories of the traditional couture houses that seem somehow less in keeping with today’s ‘zeitgeist’. We had Custo Barcelona, Black Coffee from South Africa, GANT (now Swedish with an American heritage), Anja Gockel from London and a number of German designers. Speaking of which my personal favourite was Schumacher. Dorothee Schumacher presented her Fall/Winter 2009/2010 collection which was all about understated elegance – full of soft shades like caramel and coffee – and very wearable but beautifully tailored fabrics in jersey, cotton, silk and chiffon.
It wasn’t all work though – I had the opportunity to sample the delights of Berlin’s most splendid boulevard, Unter den Linden, picking up a sense of history before moving (swiftly!) on to the luxurious Friedrichstrasse with its upmarket shopping and delightful bars and coffee shops. All this was conveniently close to Bebelplatz and the beautiful Hotel du Rome – an oasis of calm in our frenetic schedule.
Finally, a big, big THANK YOU to my friend Igor Srzic-Carthedge – expert guide and personal shopper & stylist par excellence. Brighton based Igor has a mind boggling knowledge of the worlds fashion hot spots (and is currently pursuing all that’s hot in New York). Ah well, it’s back to Brighton for me and getting on with putting the Get Waisted collection ‘out there’.