Berlin’s Brave New Designers
Could Berlin replace Antwerp as the new capital of avant-garde fashion? Twelve young German designers who showed their work here hope so. The graduates of Berlin’s Institute of Experimental Fashion Design, who were taught by legendary designer Vivienne Westwood, presented an eclectic mix of looks at a runway show last week sponsored by the L.A. branch of Goethe-Institut.
Westwood could not make it to the show at UCLA’s Freud Playhouse, but her passion for historical costume no doubt inspired the 18th century ball gowns with corseted waists and bustled backsides, as well as the pinstriped dandy suits presented to an audience of about 200 during the fund-raiser for the Actors Fund.
The looks ranged from the demure (Miriam Sommer’s preppy red sweater with two extra sleeves knotted across a scoop neckline) to the outrageous (Friederike von Wedel-Parlow’s long blond hair cape, made from real human hair).
Despite her reputation as a subversive, Westwood is a stickler for the design basics, according to student Frank Schelhase, who brought the house down with his corseted, codpiece-covered male models. “We had to study the old masters and learn the details. Then, if we could do that, we could get more creative.”
Studying with the queen of punk was quite an experience. “She’s tough,” said Wedel Parlow, who is now working as an assistant to the designer in Berlin. “But I love her.”
As for the new Antwerp, the students admitted it would take years for their hometown to become a world-class fashion center. (There’s no organized fashion week, for example). But if their work is any indication, Berlin looks promising. U.S. Customs officials certainly had never seen anything like the hair cape and codpiece get-ups that came through a couple weeks before the show. They held 120 of the students’ designs at Los Angeles International Airport for four days.
In the News
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