The Berlin Fashion Week usually brings a lot of beautiful pictures – this time the thoughts are also with the people of Ukraine. In order to help a designer from Kyiv, one spontaneously sits down at the sewing machine.
Berlin – Before the guests pull out their cell phones, the evening begins with a minute’s silence for Ukraine. At the Berlin Fashion Week, the big catwalk shows started on Monday evening.
At the start, the Finnish designer Sofia Ilmonen showed her designs in the “Kraftwerk” – a former combined heat and power plant. The evening was also influenced by the Russian war of aggression in the Ukraine.
“Right now”
“We all had discussions about it: How do you deal with it?” Berlin’s governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) said. Can fashion week go ahead even if everyone is shocked and appalled, if everyone is there to help where they can? “And I tell you: Yes, you can. And you can really do it now.”
With the fashion week, they also set an example for art, culture, creativity and freedom, said Giffey. You could all together also send a sign of solidarity and compassion, cooperation, help and freedom to Ukraine. For example, a silent auction is now planned to collect donations for Caritas.
A show by the Ukrainian designer Jean Gritsfeldt had been planned for a long time. Because he can’t come to Berlin and the collection can’t be delivered either, a number of helpers in Berlin have started to tailor his designs. A representative of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week announced that Gritsfeldt would also address the guests in a video message on Wednesday evening.
“Fashion is always political”
About 30 volunteers helped to tailor his collection spontaneously, said the managing director of the Fashion Revolution Germany association, Carina Bischof. “Somehow it felt pointless to prepare a fashion week in these times.” But the project for Gritsfeldt makes sense, so she said “yes” relatively quickly. He briefed the team by phone from Kyiv. “And if you sometimes don’t hear anything for a few hours, you start worrying right away.” She thinks it’s important to do something about the fainting with the project.
The Berlin Fashion Week takes place twice a year and combines several events under one roof. This also includes conference formats. Giffey said: “Fashion is always political.” Fashion used to be political too. “Think of the Jacobean hat that represented liberty and independence. Think of the purple colors of the women’s movement.” She also recalled the peace sign. “And that’s why this fashion week is also political. It is a sign of solidarity.” dpa
