Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Berlin spring/summer 2011 (7-10 July 2010) gathers top German fashion brands and designers to showcase their most recent collections.
Mongrels In Common is a young label founded in 2006 by designers Livia Ximénez-Carrillo and Christine Pluess who met at Esmod School of Design in Berlin. The brand's name is inspired by their both multicultural backgrounds. Mongrels In Common’s spring/summer 2011 collection displays a calm color palette of blue, beige, cream, yellow and pastel floral prints; soft fabrics cut into relaxed tailoring with pleat details; a focus on the waist that creates the ideal hourglass shape.
Mongrels In Common spring/summer 2011
Schumacher, a brand that “combines artisan couture with a modern lifestyle”, was founded by Dorothee Schumacher with the goal of designing favorite pieces for sophisticated wardrobes. Its spring/summer 2011 collection mixes contrasting styles and fabrics (leather, organza, silk, cashmere) into a modern and comfortable look. Notable are the graphic details, large pleats, short hems and straight square cuts. As for the colors used, pink, purple and burgundy mix with neutrals and metallic party pieces.
The Berlin based label Kaviar Gauche founded by two Esmod graduates Alexandra Fischer-Roehler and Johanna Kühl was launched in 2003. The name was inspired by the French jet-setters who liked to flirt with the revolutionary ideas of the ’68, the so-called “gauche caviar“. With the desire of creating feminine, avantgarde clothes and accessories they managed worldwide selling, red-carpet exposure, collaborations with Swarovski and signing Britain’s newest super model, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as the new ambassador for the brand.
Kaviar Gauche spring/summer 2011 collection is definitely more romantic and less avantgarde, influenced by their newest bridal couture line, launched in 2009. On display are sheer silky fabrics, draping, ruching and fabric flowers, easy, flowing cuts especially some very elegant trousers. The light color palette includes ivory white, pale grey, pastel blue, lilac, mint green and yellow.
Kaviar Gauche spring/summer 2011
The up-and-coming superstar is Dawid Tomaszewski who started his namesake label in 2009 and already won the Premium Young Designers Award in January 2010. He is inspired by art and architecture in his beautiful extravagant designs using only high-quality fabrics. With a distinctive mix of purism and glamour of the lost golden eras Dawid Tomaszewski is defining a new couture, giving the modern woman the chance to express her desire for luxury.
Dawid Tomaszewski spring/summer 2011
My top 5 Berlin Fashion Week collections includes also the label developed as an interdisciplinary project of the University of Applied Sciences HTW Berlin in 2003, 30paarhaende. Working every season are 30 students who are currently in their sixth term of the fashion design course, under the direction of Professor Uwe Janssen.
The inclination for experimental design is expected but the clear lines and functionality of traditional German aesthetic are always at the core of this sophisticated label. And looking at the spring 2011 collection I’d say the future of German fashion is in great hands. Modern looking clothes you can breathe in, with streamlined yet relaxed tailoring and fashion-forward details such as cut-outs and asymmetric lines, balanced by neutral shades: navy, brown, gray, and beige.
30 Paar Haende spring/summer 2011
images belong to official website of Berlin Fashion Week