Post-Fashion Week Musings from Berlin: Schmidttakahashi Collections

Schmidttakahashi SS 2011 collection (above images)

Schmidttakahashi FW 2011/12 collection (image here to below)

Schmidttakahashi was one of writer Emilie Florenkowsky's favorite picks from the Green Showroom at Berlin Fashion Week. You can read more about Emilie's thoughts on this Berlin-based design duo in her previous post for Ecco*Eco. All photos courtesy of Mueller & Zenone PR.

Freelance writer and translator Emilie Florenkowsky has lived in Berlin since 2005. Check out her online journal of art, science and all points in between, META magazine. 

Post-Fashion Week Musings from Berlin: Part 1

Freelance writer and translator Emilie Florenkowsky provides Ecco*Eco readers with a three part review of last week's premiere green fashion event in Berlin. (above image: Asandri turban-esque headwear and "travel-inspired" prints, made in Europe)

Last week marked the fifth year of Berlin Fashion Week and the third year of a strong eco presence among the festivities. I visited the Green Showroom, which has become the salon of all things grüne Mode (green fashion) in the German capital. Less in search of eco fashion than of eco fashion business, my visit was about observing how sustainability is finding a home within the industry in Europe. The scene at the swank Hotel Adlon Kempinski – third-time home of the Green Showroom – was more establishment than avant-garde. I took this as a herald for the near future – more brands adopting better practices, catering to a new client base and perpetuating business as usual. New materials and production guidelines are achieving ever more mainstream appeal. 

Here are some vignettes from the Green Showroom:

Studio Ecocentric's collection "Für Immer" (forever) interprets classics from the 30s to the 70s, creating wardrobe staples from materials like plant-dyed wild silk, produced in northern India by fellow-Berlin textile agency Lebenskleidung.

Salmon leather, a re-purposed by-product of the fishing industry, adds an edge to the timeless shoe designs of Hamburg's Alina Schuerfeld. 

Dutch label Jux frees hemp from any leftover hippie connotations and utilizes soy and seagrass fibers for trendy basics like sweater sets and tunics. This perforated seagrass fabric feels as light and supple as it looks. 

Mass producer of costume trinkets, BlackBead Jewellery is exploring alternatives to plastics in their range of petroleum-free, compostable baubles. "Liquid wood" bangles are molded from the pulp of post-consumer paper waste. 

All positive signs of eco fashion's potential for becoming business as usual. But it is actually those doing business as un-usual that will affect real change at the consciousness-changing level. The influence of early "better fashion" luminaries was evident at the trade fair. Katharine Hamnett's ethical slogan t-shirts from the '80s are referenced in "Collection of Hope", the charity label created by students of ESMOD Berlin International University of Fashion.

Jux also tries their hand at message making by paying tribute to their producers…or to their own fair trade practices, depending on one's outlook. 

Stay tuned for part two of Emilie's review tomorrow.

Freelance writer and translator Emilie Florenkowsky has lived in Berlin since 2005. Check out her online journal of art, science and all points in between, META magazine. 

Berlin (Eco) Fashion Week: July 2011

Mikenke at the GREENshowroom Salonshow (January 2011)

The guide to eco fashion at upcoming Berlin Fashion Week, 5th to 10th of July, 2011, is viewable here. Most events and designer showcases will take place between the 6th to 8th next week. Exciting news that the Ethical Fashion Show will exhibit in conjunction with the GREENshowroom at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski. I will not be attending the eco festivities in Berlin, but I will be traveling to Europe very soon. See you on the other side of the pond for updates on new art/fashion/textile writing projects and travels for the remainder of 2011. 

Mikenke at the GREENshowroom Salonshow (January 2011)

*images courtesy of Mikenke and GREENshowroom

'Rita In Palma' Adornment

As discovered at the GREENshowroom Berlin.

Learn more here.

Berlin Fashion Week A/W 2011 Report

ELEMENTUM by Daniela Pais A/W 2011-12

I am now settled in again here in snow-coated Sofia, but thoughts about Berlin Fashion Week are still swirling around after last week's excursion to review local and international fashion talent in Berlin's thriving art/fashion capital.

Humboldt University adjacent to Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin

Berliners definitely love fashion, despite their beloved city's industrial gray palette and bone-chilling temperatures. There was not a single cab driver who did not have something to say about the sartorial goings on, and I adored that the organizers of the Lavera Showfloor Berlin runway events opened several of their shows to the public. This was such a great way to energize a city's populus in the depths of January.

Magdalena Shaffrin (image via EcoFashionTalk)

THEKEY.TO showfloor from above (photo: Abigail Doan)

My principal focus while in Berlin was to attend the GREENshowroom at Hotel Adlon and THEKEY.TO's  ethical and sustainable fashion showcase. I was also fortunate to also catch Isabell de Hillerin's runway show in an amazingly renovated transformer station, as well as having appointments with several movers and shakers on the local scene.

ELEMENTUM permutations by Daniela Pais via Vogue Italia

I concluded a few key things during a three day span that seemed way too short to absorb the energy and creative spirit that was surely just revealing itself to me:

• People love fashion, and we should not assume that they do not want to be a part of or participate in current initiatives. If we really want to create a 'conspiracy' in (sustainable) fashion, then we should continue to find revolutionary ways to democratize fashion and future fashion week events.

• There are indeed new markets for creating pieces that do more, while also looking genuinely chic and original. The European-made label, ELEMENTUM by Daniela Pais, is proof perhaps that six pieces can indeed by cleverly transformed into totally wearable ensembles. One simply needs to take the time to play with and accessorize one's wardrobe. Garment construction that aims for zero waste can also be extremely sexy and performative, see video below.

• In addition to recycling garments and textile waste materials, we have now entered an era where every single scrap counts. Designers can create the most remarkable and innovative designs out of seemingly useless bits and pieces that fall to the studio floor. This requires supreme technical artistry, though, not just a desire to be 'thrifty' or 'crafty'. The phenomenon of studio materials being factored in from start to finish is upon us. See my previous post on KM/A studio in Vienna.

• As the conversation about storytelling in clothing and the development of personal style continues, sustainable fashion designers are increasingly thinking and working as modern day anthropologists who now consider every aspect of how their design is used, interpreted by the wearer, and then continually updated to fit with each person's lifestyle. As street style blogs also continue to proliferate (though perhaps they have reached their peak?), we are more than ever considering what impressions we make and what narrative journey we embark on as we walk out the door. Knowing and working with your personal style is as vital to (sustainable) fashion as knowing what options there are for environmentally-friendly and socially-responsible designs.

• And perhaps this is obvious, but there is never a substitute for quality. Several of the designers at this past week's event have been working for years to create an ideal design equation that combines impeccable tailoring, innovative pattern cutting, attention to detail, the highest quality sustainable fabrics available, as well as a mission that addresses sustainable living and design. Collections by Camilla Norrback, Magdalena Shaffrin, Rianne de Witte, Isabell de Hillerin, and Reet Aus will never go out of style, and we should continue to support these refined fashion efforts and unique creative explorations. Fashion will reach the people if the story is a shared experience.

(ELEMENTUM video courtesy of Daniela Pais)

Berlin Fashion Week: One's To Watch 'MAICCO'

Unfortunately, I am going to miss MAICCO's show tomorrow afternoon as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin comes to a close. How amazing is this tunic/frock, though? I cannot wait to see what Georgian fashion designer Maia Samkharadze has in store for A/W 2011.

Berlin Fashion Week: 1.20.11

Augustin Teboul fashion presentation offsite at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin (1.19.11)

photo: Soeren Stache / EPA via Mish Whalen at msnbc

I woke up at 5:15am this morning due to a songbird outside of my hotel bedroom window. How completely lovely is that? A very busy day ahead visiting The GREENshowroom at  Hotel Adlon, where I hope to pick up a copy of Sass Brown's new book, as well as making the day's first visit to The Key (I will return after Isabell de Hillerin's show at 6:30pm).

Lucrecia Lovera/Platform for Textil Research: reTape innovation

Curious to see reTape's handbags crafted out of recycled film tape? This sort of looks like the coif above, no? How clever. You can join their page on Facebook here.

'From movie to thread' via reTape

See you in a bit to rewind the day.

Berlin Fashion Week: Image of The Day

image by TOMAAS

Does Sustainable Fashion Need A Conspiracy?

People Tree

AvantegardeGreen by Olcay Krafft Fashion

People Tree

"We cannot assume that the world will simply make a turn for the better. Just as we cannot count on the grey majority of the population to develop ethical and ecological awareness overnight.

We appeal to your bravery and your willingness to stand for the good things, to overthrow politics, and assume responsibility as a member of a global, sustainable, and rational consumer group.

To achieve this we must join forces and organize a conspiracy and spread the good in a Trojan horse of beauty."

The above quote is from THE KEY.TO's mission statement for the upcoming gathering this week during Berlin Fashion Week. I will be traveling to Berlin tomorrow to visit THE KEY as well as numerous fashion events and designer shows. As we look ahead to new and improved definitions for sustainable fashion and design during 2011, a 'conspiracy' might be just what we need, or at least some lasting goodness disguised as beauty. This is what I am searching for. Join me.

Berlin Fashion Week: Risto Precollection S/S 2011

Risto Bimbiloski has done it again. Gorgeous textiles and fluid graphic knitwear of the most feminine variety. I first wrote about Risto's ethical fashion knits from Macedonia in 2008, and I just cannot say enough about this stellar fashion designer who also knows how to make galaxies, volcanic activity, sunsets, and, oh yes, the girls look so pretty and out-of-this-world gorgeous.

You can see the entire Risto Bimbiloski precollection for Spring/Summer 2011 in the following video from Berlin Fashion Week.



*images via Risto and Stylemag.

Berlin FW: The Key to Isabell de Hillerin

My admiration for  German designer Isabell de Hillerin continues, as per this recent collection entitled, Faded, for Berlin Fashion Week's green showcase The Key.To.

"Pictures and memories of what once was, are bleached by the present. Out of focus but still visible. A thin line between now and then. Structured cuts and sensual materials encase the body in a grey scale of colours with light beige tones. Transparent but still visible. Smooth transitions between shapes and shapelessness." - Isabell de Hillerin

*Isabell de Hillerin