February MBF Picks Special Edition: Berlin Fashion Week Round Up

Berlin's Fashion Week was just a few weeks ago and we at MBF Trend Consulting, took a break from NYC and flew to Germany to catch in on all the action. As always, the 5 day venture felt too short as each day was packed with a never-ending to-do list. From attending various trade shows, handpicking new and innovative designers, visiting new concept shops, and trying out the latest restaurants, this was definitely a fun and inspirational trip.

For this month's MBF Picks, we share with you some of our favorites, highlighting what we think were the most interesting places, people, and events. So without further delay, here is our favorite picks!

1. Events
To mingle and catch up with friends, we checked out the Wood Wood shop in Mitte. Pointer, the London based footwear brand, recently collaborated with the popular Danish brand Wood Wood for their spring 2011 and developed new, exciting color ways for their classic "Cargo" shoe. The collection is exclusively presented by the Front Line Shop. Check it out!

2. Shops
Torstrasse is the most talked about street right now in Mitte, Berlin's coolest neighborhood. Here, you can find the best selection of chic galleries, shops, and restaurants. And might we add, a perfect place for style watching!

Each month, Dudes Factory invites different artists to collaborate and create collections for their shop. The designs from these collections are the raw materials for the lab, their online software for customers to remix and individualize dude products. Find out more here.

Happy Shop carries a mix of both emerging and established designers from all over the world. Presenting an adventurous collection, sourced everywhere from South American markets to Parisian luxury designer showrooms, this shop offers a truly unique experience!

Best of Germany  offers a selection of traditional German pieces and special editions like books, toys, cuckoo clocks, glass, cards, German beers and much more. Check out their latest selection here.

Inspired by glamorous movie icons of the 40s and 50s, Lena Hoschek's designs combine nostalgic patterns and high-end tailoring. A lover of punk music, bad guys, and fast cars, Hoschek's collection is always sensual and fierce. Click here to view her most recent collection. 

3. Restaurants

Pret A Diner is a trend-setting culinary experience for a private circle. It's so secretive we needed a special log-in to even get into the website! In a very Berlin tradition, the entrance to the restaurant is led by a candle light maze in an underground hallway. Once you find the door, there is a beautiful bar and another separate entrance to the restaurant. Brought together by an international team of young chefs, the food was fresh, seasonal, and regional. It was a great night with wonderful food and fabulous friends! 

4. Designers

Ann-Kathrin Carstensen and Nuria Ana Schmidt, designers behind the label Rita in Palma, work in collaboration with Turkish women in Berlin to create the most beautiful accessories using traditional crochet techniques. Focusing on the idea of a cultural exchange, the label is recognized for it's fine craftsmanship, avant-garde designs, and high-quality construction.   

The latest eco-friendly fashion designer hails from Delhi, India. Ela by Joyjit is a perfect balance of eco-friendly and edgy style. Using a wide range of textures and hand woven embroidery details, Joyjit explores the multi-faceted nature of sustainable fashion in his most recent collection. Using un-dyed organic fabrics, there is a natural quality in his effortlessly chic outfits. 

YOJ's philosophy is based on the responsibility that man must have toward his fellow men and the Earth. Respecting nature and mankind, YOJ only uses biological fibers and colors extracted from nature. Each item is completely handmade, from the initial drawings to the final tailoring details. Their latest collaboration is with artist Franco Gervasio as he interprets seven dresses for S/S 2010 and A/W 2010-11. Each piece will come in a limited edition of 20 originals. Click here for more information.

Launched in 2008, Gluejeans was announced Holland's best fashion product and rewarded the Dutch Design Award. Gluejeans are not stitched, but visibly glued at the seams. They also recently introduced the revolutionary Genecor PRIMAGREEN enzyme finish, exemplifying it's innovative and sustainable tradition. Click here to find out more.

To wrap up Fashion Week, we joined Jan and his amazing group of friends to a fabulous dinner at Bar Tausend for his newest product launch. The gift polish of the night was gifted from the first appearance of Uslu Airlines. With no airport, name, price, or place to buy, other than from the PIC (Pilot in Command, among non avaiators aka 'Captain') himself, it was a real treat! Watch out for future Uslu Airline events to get yours!

All right, that's all we have for today. We hope you enjoyed this post. If you live or plan to visit Berlin in the near future, we'd love to hear from you! 

Behind the Scenes: Berlin's Premium and The Key.To

Here at MBF Trend Consulting, one of our hopes is to be more transparent about the fashion industry and let you in on all the inside scoops. So with that said, last week, Manuela Fassbender, the Creative Director and Founding Partner of MBF Trend Consulting, flew to Berlin to check out the latest fashions showcasing at Premium and The Key.To. With a film crew on board, we want to share with you what's next in the industry, particularly in the eco-fashion movement. With exclusive interviews from the show organizers and presenters, this clip is something you don't want to miss! Check it out and let us know your thoughts!

Part 1


Part 2

Berlin trade shows go green: an MBF exclusive report

Photos, from left to right: Hedda William S/S09; a bag from Royal Blush; Blue Notch S/S09.

MBF brings you an overview of the Berlin womenswear trade shows for Spring/Summer 2010, where we talked with quite a few companies about sustainability and shifts in the marketplace. We were most impressed with the two eco tradeshows: Green Showroom, featuring 16 sustainable collections from the high fashion segment, and TheKey.To, with 40 collections from the streetwear and sportswear segment, including the Green platform at the Premium Exhibition.

For Magdalena Schaffrin and Jana Keller, co-founders of Green Showroom, it was their objective to give like-minded designers and buyers a press platform for high-end collections by creating a trade show that would be both eco and luxurious. At other eco fairs, they felt, there was no fit for high-end fashion lines, because they were mixed in among yoga collections and lower-priced collections.

At the showroom’s debut event, one could see amazing collections from designers such as Julia Starp, who uses peace silk and organic cotton for her line of dresses and coats; Liv Lundelius from Blushless, an avant-garde bridal collection with eco fabrics; and Reet aus, an Estonian designer who is represented by Mica Lamb, the founder of Agent for Change, a London sustainable fashion showroom. This particular collection is very feminine with an antique feel, incorporating delicate lace, organic dyes, and re-used fabrics from a textile recycling centre in Estonia. Other standout collections were Van Markoviec, a Dutch designer working with Japanese cotton certified by JOCA, the highest standard for certified fabrics and production; Jana Keller, designing Royal Blush, a handbag and jewellery collection made of vegetable-tanned leather sourced in Italy; Magdalena Schaffrin, whose men’s and women’s wear collection has a long-lasting, understated design; and Hessnatur, which has used eco fabrics since its founding in 1970, and added fair trade in 2005, growing their own cotton in Africa. After hiring the designer Miguel Adrover, they feel they have all the elements – eco fabrics, fair trade, and design – to make it a successful company.

TheKey.To, another first-time eco-trade show, co-founder Gereon Pilz van der Grinten explained that the show was created because eco collection exhibitors were asking more and more for their own independent platform. Down the line, he sees TheKey.To becoming the eco-Bread and Butter. Highlights from their first show included Redesign, which uses only recycled materials; 1000-2000 tonnes of textile waste per day comes back to the recycling compound where they are buying materials to design new garments. At Slowmo, we talked to founding partner Melchior Moss about his nearly 4-year-old label, which uses eco-fabrics and produces in Berlin with a fair price strategy and high quality. Their biggest challenge these days is how to become even more sustainable regarding packaging, transportation, and energy usage. For them, it is very important that everything they do is coming from their heart; Slowmo's version of sustainability must include great design.

At the Premium Exhibition’s Green Forum, two collections in particular stood out. Odd, an organic design house based in New York, fuses everyday objects and innovative Japanese textile engineering for their soy cashmere and milk fibre-wool blend fabrics. This collection will soon be sold in a major department store in New York, Paris and Tokyo; 1% of their revenues go to charity via 1% For The Planet. Raffauf, a rainwear collection, uses organic cotton and banana fibre fabrics that are treated with beeswax or natural rubber coating to make the coats and jackets water-resistant.

Surprisingly, Bread and Butter did not have a green platform; still, we did see some labels moving towards sustainability in their own ways. Just to mention a few, Braez, from Holland, sells a collection of tops and tunics that changes only in colours and fabrics from one season to the next. Sack’s, from Israel, also makes very plain, almost seasonless clothes; Skunkfunk, a Basque-based company, is introducing 50% of their collection with sustainable fabrics such as organic cotton. Mikel Elozo, the general director, tells us that a lot of their clients ask for organic pieces. Although they use eco fabrics, they are not marketing the eco aspect of their collection, as they fear being accused of greenwashing since they have not yet achieved complete transparency in their production process. Meanwhile, cosmetics line Uslu Airlines presented a charitable initiative: a collection of 11 up-to-the-minute colors of nail polish, from which 90 cents of each bottle’s sale would go to help underprivileged children in Berlin.

The Premium Exhibition had a very nice, relaxing atmosphere, with a more upscale overall feeling to the participating brands. Again, we saw a shift happening in the different ways to apply sustainability: Philo-Sofie, a cashmere collection of 50 sweaters, hats, scarves, and capes, is produced sustainably in close partnership with their Chinese factories. Blue Notch Jeans, a South Korean label that launched in the US two years ago, is making skinny jeans out of organic cotton denim from Japan. Hedda William from Hamburg designs simple styles meant to last: 20 tops and blouses each season, each offered in 12 colours. Instead of using a factory, her knit pieces are made by a family in Thailand.

The managing director for Germany at Filippa K, Norbert Reipert, proclaimed that they incorporate their values into the product, making it true, sustainable and reliable. They are using eco fabrics for some garments, and fair trade is a must, but their low-impact strategy still wasn’t comprehensive enough to qualify them for the green platform. Nonetheless, Reipert had strong feelings on the subject:

“We know there is a consumer out there called the LOHAS in Germany, who are really knowledgeable. But the masses just know enough to make a choice, and these masses will count in the end. [People will question,] why would you eat something based on chemicals? Why would you wear something that harms you?”

On the whole, we could see a definite shift in consciousness taking place, with many young and not-so-young labels expanding the boundaries of ethical production methods and sustainable materials, both traditional and high-tech. Needless to say, a lot of work is still to be done: What will it take to move sustainability from a trend to a lifestyle?

Want to read more? Click below to purchase the full PDF version of THE ECO TRADE SHOW REPORT JULY 2009, complete with lots of photos and in-depth designer interviews:

For a breakdown of the trends we observed at the trade shows, click below to purchase the full PDF version of THE BREAD AND BUTTER/PREMIUM REPORT SS 2010:

Bo van Melskens (Berlin/Copenhagen)

Storytelling designer Sarah Elbo has left behind her first womenswear line, Sarah Heartbo, to start a new label named for her imaginary best friend: the elegant, adventurous Bo van Melskens. Now based out of Berlin, the Denmark native has created a whole back story for the character that includes an online diary, video, and lush photo backdrops -- not to mention the clothes themselves, a collection of very grown-up cocktail dresses in silver and black.

Via GenArt

Von Wedel & Tiedeken (Berlin)

This young Berlin designer duo takes their collection themes very seriously, as with their "Aerial Views" collection for SS07, which featured takes on a flight suit and bomber jacket, as well as tops screenprinted with airplanes. But their costume-y bent is no real surprise, given that designers Friederike von Weidel-Parlow and Regina Tiedeken have been creating costumes for TV and film since long before their 2004 debut collection. For F/W 08-09, the designers have stepped away from their usual borderline kitsch with a futuristic, monochrome collection featuring ultra-simple cuts and an emphasis on construction.

C.Neeon (Berlin)

When they started their line in 2004, fabric designer Clara Leskovar and fashion designer Doreen Schulz were told they needed to make their designs more conventional, more feminine and sporty, if they were going to succeed. Luckily, they ignored that advice completely, creating a daring line of garishly colored, geometric-printed hoodies and loose, mostly knit separates that shows at London Fashion Week and is now selling in cities around the world, including New York, London, Copenhagen, and all across Japan. C.neeon's avalanche of honors includes the Hyères Grand Prix, participation in a slew of museum exhibitions, and collaborations with Topshop, Lumas Gallery, and a project with Nylon Japan. When they said the future would be bright, this must have been what they meant.

Bless (Berlin)

Approaching fashion as conceptual product design, German/Austrian design duo Bless create thrice-yearly collections of limited edition objects, many of them wearable, and many not -- such as a wooden sculpture of a sweater. In 1996, their debut "furwigs" were snapped up by Martin Margiela, and designers Desiree Heiss and Ines Skaag were suddenly thrown into the hot-young-designer spotlight. Through the years, they've designed sock boots, disposable T-shirts, coats for tables, and fabric-covered shoes for Adidas... and the surprises just keep on coming.

Majaco (Berlin)

Friends Meike Demski, Anna Franke and Janine Weber met as fashion design students at FHTW in Berlin, and after a year learning their trade in the fashion capitals of the world, they returned to Berlin to start their own line, Majaco, in 2004. The young, fashion-forward collections mix pieces that are knit and woven, tailored and draped, experimental and vintage-inspired, to create urban-chic looks that can adapt to the office, the gallery, or a night out on the town. Their Berlin flagship store opened in 2005.

Franzius (Berlin)

Stephanie Franzius apprenticed at Anne Klein and Viktor & Rolf before returning to her native Berlin to start her men's and women's line, Franzius. Modern yet traditional, loud and soft, classic with surprising tweaks, each collection is inspired by a strong female muse, from Françoise Hardy to Juliette Lewis and Tilda Swinton. Having caught fire in Berlin, the line is now sold as far afield as Tokyo and Moscow. 

Read more at Goethe-Institut and JC Report.

Photos via Franzius

Mongrels in Common (Berlin)

Designers Livia Ximénez-Carrillo and Christine Pluess met at Berlin's Esmod School of Design and never looked back. Their shared multicultural backgrounds inspired the name for their line Mongrels in Common, which won the Premium Young Designers Award for its very first menswear collection, for Fall 2006. True to its name, the line combines disparate elements such as masculine and feminine, classical and avant-garde, and bright and neutral colors, creating a fresh, sophisticated chic that encompasses draped and tailored pieces, day and eveningwear, all sewn from high-end European wools and silks.

Boessert/Schorn (Berlin)

Drapey and deconstructed in a style reminiscent of New York's Three As Four, this women's line from designers Sonia Boessert and Brigitte Schorn plays with volume, drape, and fabric to create a look that is modern without being severe, experimental yet perfectly wearable. Loose tops and dresses are adorned with fringe, cutouts, and twine. Launched in 2003, Boessert/Schorn has already found its main audience in Japan, with a brand-new US foray at Creatures of Comfort in L.A.