Book Review: City Fashion Berlin

By Sandy Amazeen Dec 7, 2011, 3:16 GMT

The City Fashion series focuses their attention on the newly emerged sense of high style that has replaced the ubiquitous T-shirts with an edgy, trendy look that frequently challenges preconceived notions of garment design. The first chapter “Amazing Fashion” clearly captures that feel as the designs feature oodles of folds, cut-a-ways and drape, often in dramatic combinations as shown by the work of Clarissa Labin or the C.Neeon label.

French influence is clearly seen in “Luxury Fashion” as well as completely over the top ruffles and arty gathers typical of Dawid Tomaszewski or Frida Weyer. Designer Sascha Gaugel favors oversized outlines that simply wouldn’t have a place in most women’s wardrobes though they are interesting to look at. Bernadett Penkov’s line includes several elegant pieces with graceful, flowing lines that accentuate the female form although some are too revealing for anyone but a supermodel to successfully pull off.

“Accessories” begins with the appropriately named Trippen Shoe line that leans heavily toward impractical, trip inducing elevated footwear. While some of Feurstein's hat designs are quite nice, several are just too far out there to be worn anywhere but on the fashion show runway. The latest hot spots, galleries, trendy shops, bars, bookstores, restaurants and museums are interspersed with the latest fashion designers broadening the scope of this book to more then just clothing. Instead, all the locations add to the sense of Berlin fashion making this a far more interesting book. The full color photography is top notch, the dialog short and crisp and with the map of all the designer’s shops and locations provided on the overleaf, this is a delightful armchair tour of Berlin’s fashion scene.