Okay, I won’t lie that by this point I’m a bit exhausted. So this may account for some of my disappointment at my first show, Kaviar Gauche. The designers chose to do a bridal couture show aka theme and variation on a white dress. While the construction of the garments was good it felt too much like a Project Runway challenge: you wouldn’t know that these were all from the same label if you weren’t told. It seemed an odd choice for a label not known for bridal wear and somehow safe: instead of working on one or two real ideas throw everything into the mix and there will be something for everyone…or for no one.

The next show was Deanoor, the label of Malaysian designer Datin Noor Fatimah. Perhaps because she’s not German I wasn’t hearing a lot of buzz about her collection. So I was pleasantly surprised to see her beautiful flowing dresses. Whether they were short with drop-waists, flowing caftans or slightly more fitted there was a movement in the fabric created by their relaxed structures and also the fabric itself. Fatimah began her career as a fabric designer and her designs, which she originally hand paints, are delicately rendered artworks of their own. Seeing her collection reminded me that clothes can be created so that most women who wear them will look beautiful in them –not just the models.

The final show at the tents was by designer Kai Kuhne, formerly of As Four. Because of this association I was interested in seeing his work and he definitely has his fans in Berlin where he has returned after a decade in New York. When the lights dimmed on the crowd and his first model strutted down the runway there was clapping before she even got to the end. Wearing pale contact lenses and walking stiffly to electronic music the models seemed more mechanical than human. But creating theatricality in a production doesn’t necessarily translate into the clothes. Frankly, I found his black and white collection boring despite all the hype about the geometric patterns and “edginess”. If you remove the production value what is left are simple pieces that could easily be sold to the ladies who lunch and shop at Neiman’s and Nordstroms. Quality work but not necessarily worthy of a runway show.

Afterwards Karen and I decided to wander our way from the Bebelplatz back towards our apartment and strategize what we would do the next day with no shows at the tent. There was the Kadre fashion show/exhibition at the nightclub Weekend (amazing views of the city from the terrace), The Taschles art house to still check out, the Bread & Butter streetwear tradeshow, several temporary showrooms around the city –including one simply writ large Temporary Showroom across the window in black tape across from where we were staying- and more things we wanted to do. We ended the evening at Pappa e Ciccia – a small but brilliant Italian restaurant on par with Al Di La in Brooklyn.
In the end we did about 30% of what we would have liked on our last day. But Fashion Week was a great way to get a taste of the creativity of Berlin. While the shows in the tent were not on par with New York the energy of the city is amazing. Relatively inexpensive with a sense of freedom that can only come from having repeatedly overcome oppression it’s a city that attracts artists worldwide. It will be interesting to watch and see how it –and its fashion- develops over time.