RISING STARS From
top: Two looks from Esth r
Perbandt’s FW17 show;
digital prints and high shi
materials take a front and
centre at Johanna Perret
and Tutia Schaad’s joint
label, Perret SchaadBERLIN
Paris has style, Milan has glamour and London
has heritage. But Berlin radiates the all-
important cool factor that Kate Moss has and
Kylie Jenner wants. With an unusually high
percentage of under-35s, Berlin has the kind
of club scene where getting an early night
means coming home before dawn. Combined
with affordable studio space and a plethora
of bars, markets, festivals and galleries, Berlin
has become Europe’s capital of youth and
creativity—which is why Mercedes-Benz Fashion
Week Berlin has come under the lens of trend
forecasters in recent years.
Berlin is ideally placed to become a regional
fashion hub. Europe’s largest national economy
and its biggest consumer of high-street clothing,
Germany is the home of 10 fashion schools
and fi ve leading fashion trade fairs. And with
established brands such as Hugo Boss, Escada
and Jil Sander battling it out with hugely
creative new local designers such as Esther
Perbandt, Perret Schaad, Dorothee Schumacher,
the country of Karl Lagerfeld’s birth is fi nally
taking its rightful place on the international
fashion scene.
That particular Berlin style is on show
throughout Fashion Week. Rather than the
ultra-conspicuous outfi ts of Milan, the navy-blue
sleekness of Paris or the glossiness of New York,
Berlin’s fashion-conscious crew always keeps
things casual: a slip dress worn with trainers and
an oversized jacket, or a long skirt combined
with fl at boots and a bomber jacket.SHOP
Unsurprisingly, Berlin is an ideal place to pick up a unique piece. Voo Store in
Kreuzberg is a brand-lover’s paradise, combining international names like Carven and
Alexander Wang with German designers such as Reality Studio and Hien Le in its four
floors of mens and womenswear. vooberlin.comEAT
Don’t miss dinner at Glass, where Israeli chef Gal Ben-Moshe uses Middle-Eastern
ingredients to make experimental dishes. Another fashion week hangout is Cookies
Cream, a vegetarian spot that’s a major hit with the club crowd thanks to its
underground bar. glassberlin.de; cookiescream.comSLEEP
Hotel Zoo Berlin has sweeping views of the city and ornate bedrooms, which
is probably why it has been a firm favourite with the fashion and film crowd
since the 1960s. hotelzoo.de60 hong kong tatler fashion. september 2017