Here are the best pieces from Berlin Fashion Week 2023.

The forward march of diversity and representation in Berlin continues in unwavering harmony under the overarching umbrella of rising designers, leading the visibility of marginalized subjects even more seriously in this difficult time.

Despite the setbacks, they managed to muster the strength for the runways, creating theatrical sensations of unearthly artistry using minimal equipment. To put it simply, this season’s mix included an abundance of exquisite flesh-colored dresses dotted with vibrant embroideries, versatile ensembles with an oddly understated feel, lacy sheer dresses and plenty of garments that alluded to old-school, retro-inspired glamour. And amid the frenzy of neon pops, ribbed stitching and wearable technology, the excitement unfolding at Berlin Fashion Week added emphasis on light, airy products that contoured the human body, allowing function to prevail.

Last fall, 202030 – The Berlin Fashion Summit “Active Alliances for Positive Fashion”, the central structure of the sustainable event strategy, addressed ethical fashion through the themes of cooperation and regeneration with regard to economic, cultural and environmental action within the industry. “It is a hub where changemakers share solutions and signals for fashion’s necessary transformation at the corporate and cultural levels,” the notes report. But back to that statement of intent: the crossover between “ready-to-wear” and “practical clothing” is nothing new, of course.

However, the designers brought the range to the fore, in keeping with a free but structured approach to fashion that added a sense of functionality that looked appealingly unusual and precise all at once. So perhaps it’s not particularly surprising that the brand’s precision is a nice antidote to the slashed and destroyed counterpoints that defined Berlin’s Gothic style.

More than anything else, what a company needs to succeed in today’s crowded fashion market is a signature—a set of defining attributes that allows a multitude of devotees to recognize the brand’s clothing among many others. One of the strengths of Berlin Fashion Week has always been that, despite fashion’s cerebral, socially-minded branding, the clothes don’t read as stale or clichéd. On the contrary, they embody the progressive spirit, raising a glass in the name of innovation. Cheers to that.

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You can tell that SF1OG designer Rosa Marga Dahl has spent most of her career working behind the scenes. She doesn’t talk about clothes in a broad way. There is no grand or dramatic story or inspiration behind her work. It’s more about individual stories and using them to give context to the SF10G brand. Against a renaissance set and a soundtrack borrowed from the depths of soul-tinged memories, the show unfolded in accordance with decent fashion rules that have been all but forgotten in the last two years. Admit photos and postcards from vintage vintage shops. In them, she explained, memories flow and are translated into monochromatic looks. The fact that the looks were mostly monochromatic made Marge Dahl’s fabrics stand out – her leather and linen fabric, for example, with its crumbling, wrinkled appeal, or the surreal shape of the hat atop the models’ heads. The same goes for the decidedly neutral-toned pieces, like long, almost sheer cotton tops that cinched in at the waist or structured, patterned outerwear that was so light it looked winter-appropriate. Marge Dahl’s new definition of SF1OG is about further structuring the men’s silhouette: sporty, airy, fuzzy and blocked with texture, creating a significant weightless line that scores high for both function and experimentation. But the collection overall had an unusually restrained feel, especially for a designer who last season espoused the utilitarian eclecticism that a new, fresher clientele seems to crave. It was nice to see Marga Dahl pushing a dreamy tone this time, instead of adding a layer of varnish to a functional nightmare. In fact, the expansion of her range gave a better charge to the dystopian atmosphere of SF1OG.

Designer Sia Arnika has an unwavering preference for the familiar. Her art unites the past and the future, while allowing opposites to collide, thus developing her distinctive design. In the fall of 2023, she debuted a fashion show at the Ember Archive, framed by train tracks and a gas station. Fascinated by unusual textiles and silhouettes, the designer has always found beauty in the wacky and strange. This season, she found inspiration in Nordic myths and old folk tales, where the menswear offer met hardcore futurism through the exploration of opposing forces, combined with the dynamics of minimalism and maximalism. The designer allows deconstructed elements to meet bold, unique forms, harmonizing opposites.

You don’t have to suffer for Fassbender’s fashion. Shirts, suits and a minimalist hem bring wholesome chic to the label, devising the kind of gear you need on a regular basis. So how did the brand respond to the pressure on the catwalk? Quite graceful. Menswear releases set simple silhouettes, ones that stretch to full tailoring. The volumes of the jacket were slightly gathered at the back, layered with dropped trousers and of a nonchalant quality. This is a wardrobe with a real emphasis on wearability and accessibility, bringing airiness and structure in equal measure while highlighting a kind of fluidity that was equal parts mildly utilitarian and simple. Particularly eye-catching were the softly structured jackets in the texture of wool fabric, which added a nice sense of tailoring balance to the garments.

The sacred, moving balance conceived by LML’s Lucas Meyer-Leclère confirmed the framework in this season’s soulful show. For fall, the designer looked at the dialogue between fashion and God, analyzing this connection through a social lens. Presented in the church of St. Marienkirche on Alexanderplatz, Meyer-Leclère’s pragmatic state of mind is offset by the monochromatic uniform of the top menswear offering. From a distance, the garments look stuffy, but their material is fluffy and just as breathable; because he produces that kind of easy-to-wear offering, with a tailor’s edge. Minimalist design with complex details. The overall atmosphere was lighter than usual, perhaps due to the ancient Latin polyphony which, fortunately, enlivened the entire ambience.

For Otto Drögsler and Jörg Ehrlich, the designers of ODEEH, autumn 2023 meant going on a journey. The duo were inspired by 1930s winter sports ads and the jet-set culture of the 1960s and 1970s, adding a touch of nostalgia to garments that both playfully interpret a time before active wear. Maximalist wallpaper prints meet minimalist computer graphics, creating motifs that are mixed with ethnically inspired shapes. Designers turn a large number of blankets into sumptuous coats and thus create a skilful contrast to the underwear: straight-cut trousers and knitted patterns represent an abundance.

Paying homage to marginalized communities seems to be something young designers have found solace in. A trend that speaks to both young and adult generations, enabling them to renounce stereotypes and advocate for a free, subversive world. This place of queer joy, sensuality, and belonging makes up Acceptance Letter Studio’s Fall 2023 collection. Here, garments strive and give freedom to the wearer, encouraging them to celebrate their uniqueness. Games with concealment and reveal allow the sensual details of the menswear offering to meet athletic elements, mixing casual sportswear with sharper cuts: deconstructed tracksuit silhouettes become triangular tops. Entitled “The Universal Baths,” the collection takes its key inspiration from the infamous Continental Baths of the 1970s in New York City, which quickly became an integral part of not only queer history, but club history as well. The designer gives the running pants a different character with detachable parts.