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Berlin

Winter Fashion Week 2014

With Fashion Week approaching, along with the unpredictable weather, trade moon boots for stilettos and prepare for a schedule of tradeshows, exhibitions and (after-)parties to blag your way into. The glamour is on (Jan 14-19)!

Image for Winter Fashion Week 2014
Kaviar Gouche

This year’s Berlin Fashion Week  expanded exponentially  will be on from January 14-19.

Berlin drew the short straw in the Autumn/Winter fashion week schedule and has to valiantly pitch its show tent every year in the middle of January snowstorms. The city’s fashion crowd has thus adapted to become more resilient than most: swift changes from moon boots into stilettos in the back of a taxi, thermal Spanx and acres of vintage fur are essential for survival, especially as this season there are more events to go to than ever before.

Berlin Fashion Week has expanded exponentially and the Mercedes-Benz-sponsored show schedule is now accompanied by a diverse mix of tradeshows, exhibitions, showrooms, parties and after-parties.

Our top tips for runway shows to blag tickets to this season (or stream for free online) include rockabilly-inspired Lena Hoschek, the cool duo of Berlin women’s wear Kaviar Gauche (photo) and of course Berlin’s young minimalists Hien Le, Perret Schaad and Michael Sontag. Alongside our favourite tradeshows, Premium and its hipster younger sister Sleek, we are delighted to see the return of the Curvy is Sexy exhibition, which is a welcome change to the size zero models stalking the runways.

The ethical Fashion Show, Green Showroom and Upcyling Fashion Store host events that are open to the public and that consistently prove that style and sustainability don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Other open off-site runway shows we have earmarked include elegant homegrown womenswear label Ille von Rott and the store opening of one of our favourite local designers, Thone Negrón, on January 14.

Another highlight in this January’s fashion diary is Vitrine by Fier Management, which is a showcase for promising young designers who can’t fork out the thousands needed for a runway show. Check out the exhibition at their Skalitzer Straße showroom to see the latest collections by seven designers including Pecora Nera, Eosberlin and Julia Theobalt.

If you are considering fashion design as a career, or are just interested in perusing the work of Berlin’s promising fashion students, visit the BEST-Sabel Academy’s open day on January 14, where you can also meet the course teachers and directors.

Berlin Fashion Week, Jan 14-19 | check www.fashion-week-berlin.com for dates and venues

Originally published in issue #123, January 2014.