UdK Berlin 2022: Concept over commerciality

Berlin is famous for the 80s, David Bowie’s residence, a burgeoning party scene and a rising fashion landscape. Located far from the typical fashion cities, Berlin is establishing a reputation to see fashion from an artistic perspective. But, what is the appeal of studying fashion there? This year, 8 students are graduating from the well-reputed Universität der Künste (UdK). Their approach is more conceptual, shown in some students' deliberate choice to skip a show and focus on individual installations instead.

Letting everyone’s light shine the brightest- eight individual works of art, inviting the spectator into several creative universes. When asked about the ethos of Berlin fashion, they describe it as more anti-fashion. The message lies in the reference, not in the outlook. Fashion in Berlin is a juxtaposition of DIY, reminiscing of the city's eclectic pasta and merged with an extensive curation of archival pieces Berling fashion focuses on style.

This year’s graduates are focussing on various themes, from the digital to the physical. Unlike other schools, what stands at the forefront is the art, rather than the commerciality. It is a refreshing taste of what fashion can be if one is away from the system.

Erika Körner

Fashion is changing. From fast to slow, from physical to digital, and from wearable to art. Erika Körner’s graduate collection “something is newly rendered” explores fashion's potential. “It’s not in the sense that it is meant to be worn- I created this installation of different objects, coming out of the study about the differences between virtual and physical creating”, they say. The German American designer felt gravitation towards Berlin and decided to study there. “I always knew I was gonna move to Berlin in a way. I always felt at home here.” Their work stems from a fashion and jewellery perspective, merging worlds into one another, without any binaries. Play is at the heart of the designer’s process: “I played with the idea of what is physically around and what is being represented. I wanted to blur the boundaries between where the body starts and ends, between objects and clothes. It’s like merging and disorienting different materials and different proportions,” they explain. Erika’s work is an installation of different techniques, juxtaposing the material and the digital. Created with 3D modelling and blender, they are proposing a new approach towards fashion. “In a 3D modelling software, it's super easy to change the physics, make something weightless, change the materials with just one click.” In these challenging times, should fashion just be our outlet, our refuge, our form of expression? Merging the digital and the physical opens new spheres, whilst leaving guilt out the door. Köner’s work is a celebration of the future whilst bringing the past in at the right stage.

Aleks Hein

A simple shirt might be the most commonly represented item in everyone’s wardrobe. It represents a variety of emotions- from a warm hug to the desire to fit in and melt in with the crowd. “I created these five shirt dresses, based on T-shirts in a neutral grey. I worked on a theory concept behind it, which is about how fashion got so democratic in the past few centuries,” says the designer Aleks Hein. “It started with the French Revolution and then, gradually it became more and more democratic. I have the feeling that the t-shirt is the final item in this process. It’s the most democratic piece of fashion that you can get.” Based on a German book of the success story of suits, the designer was inspired by the relationship between the male body and fashion. “After the French Revolution, suits explored the world for the first time. For a long time, they were seen as decorative in womenswear, due to traditional gender roles. Then it all came together and accumulated in this non-core unisex movement.” We live in a culture of individualism, where putting the best version of yourself out there has become second nature. On the other hand, we want to blend in with the crowd- being anonymous and reclaiming privacy in the day and age of social media seems like the highest good. “Everything kind of looks the same. We are individual, yet the whole look is very monotone”, he continues. Alek’s graduate collection is a manifesto of modern individualism, exploring fashion through the broader lens of contemporary culture. In a world where blending in is desired, where is the point in standing out?

Nataliya Susyak

The poet does not write poems with ready-made syllables and the knitter does not make clothing with someone else’s materials. It’s all them- from start to finish. “For this collection, I started to work with some special techniques on the Brother machine. I was re-evaluating the typical working pattern of knitted garments,” says the Ukrainian designer Nataliya Susyak. Her collection is about calmness- the state of relaxation, an escape from dreadful worries. “Knitwork is something that is associated with softness, home and female labour as a straightforward reference. I wanted to question if stillness and calm are still possible nowadays since our lives are so rushed. What can bring us comfort, what can relax us? How can I communicate this idea of softness and warmth through knitwear?” she asked herself. It’s about questioning the intention and translating that into different knitting techniques. It tackles the reference at the bottom, from scratch. Whilst her collection is about calmness, there was turmoil in her heart: “How does the war in my home country affect my work is a question I asked this myself a lot. I feel very strongly connected to it. My family, my friends, and most of the people I know are there at the moment. So I feel this collective emotion of what is happening and what people are experiencing right now. How is the world reacting to what is happening? Do they get enough help, can they express their feelings, and do they feel safe? How do you communicate such emotions when you are living abroad? It affects her work- the turmoil consumes her. You can’t push that away, she says. The meaning of her work lies in her process. Whilst living through the crisis, maybe art is the only way to keep our souls alive through the darkness.

Clara Bageac

“My collection is about a combination of objects around me," says the designer Clara Bagaec about her graduate collection. She worked a long time with those things, accumulated over the years. Like a curator, she looks at them and discovers their potential, the magic in them. The materiality inspires her- she questions their function and their purpose. “Most of these objects are clothing pieces, but also some small objects. My aim is to see a new purpose in the things around me. To see their beauty.” Her collection distorts the thread from the fabric and sews it back together. Working with a variety of yarn, materials, fabrics and textures, the designer is repurposing what fashion can mean these days. Her creations are drawn by strings that hold them all together. Gleaming in bright colours and contrasted with jet-black leather, the designer expresses variety within a connection. For the exhibition in June, she decided to let her inspirations speak and exhibited a room full of objects. “I collected some small objects and combined them with something else. It was all part of the exhibition- how I arranged the objects”, she says. On the left, there was a dress of ribbons- it’s all in the details when you look at her final outcome. Clara embodies the modern spirit of weaving meaning into clothing. With her references, she spins relationships between objects and clothes. Because all so often, it’s not about the material piece itself, but the connection that stands behind it.

Joy Braun

Before Joy Braun studied fashion, she was working as a costume designer. This is the blueprint for her craft, she says. “My collection is about the people. The people I have been inspired by are the people I created the clothes for,” she says. “I design clothes for a certain group of people. They are my biggest inspiration. I have been heavily inspired by this photographic work called People of the 21st century.” It is a collection of images by Hans Eijkelboom showing people in the streets who are wearing the same garments. Inspired by the stereotypes that draw costume design, the designer felt gravitated towards her roots. “In the movie business, you come across stereotypes a lot. You question yourself a lot about why people look a certain way. For example, why does a businesswoman look like this? She has to look a certain way so people in the audience understand who she is,” Joy says. “There are also negative attributes with this, because people are getting marginalised, and they have a negative influence on subcultures or people from different countries. It’s all this discrimination we have in our culture.” She was inspired by the way we see. Not just the way we see others, but ourselves. The codex of stereotypes we live by. “I wanted to make something out of stereotypes. How do we see people and their clothing?" It is a case study of characters, executed in different looks, each of them inviting us into their own world. From Juicy couture to the band t-shirt wearer, they tell deeper stories than any words ever could.

Frederik Britzlmair

Telling his story through clothing, Frederik’s graduate collection is about connections and references to his bachelor’s collection. “My previous work was all about parasites and the organism that infiltrates a birth system. I understand my collection not just as a total fashion collection since it contains a lot of videos and other types of art. The parasite itself is someone who crosses borders between all these different systems in order to create one organism”, he says. The video of his collection was made in collaboration with his friend and filmed in the hallways of the university. Frederik’s work is conceptual, referencing possibilities within its seams. He involved many of his friends in the production of his collection and his videos, highlighting that it takes more than one person to make this conceptual piece of art. Using contrasting colours like green and purple, the collection stands out not only in meaning but in its visual outlook.

Camilla Volbert

“My collection is about thinking outside fashion- fashion’s binaries especially,” says designer Camilla Volbert. Even though fashion sometimes seems like a place where everything is possible, it is still full of unwritten rules and binaries. “I wanted to step outside those- old and new, good and bad, talented and untalented. I wanted to see how those kinds of binaries impact the design process and have more openness within themselves. My aim was to let go of the process and see what worlds it could lead to”, she continues. To liberate herself from any influences, she worked without a visual reference in the classic sense. “I was trying to work without any visual input because I wanted to surprise myself with where it could take me and what could come out of it. I did not want to follow a specific image.” Camilla’s collection is a disruption of unwritten rules executed in her own way. Tearing down rules and binaries, she shows a new world of possibilities instead of manifesting old structures.

Words: Nina Maria
Images courtesy of the students