The Ottolinger label shows itself for the first time at Berlin Fashion Week and thus in its hometown. The collection is linked to the place from which it draws – this creates an experience that makes the attraction of the label understandable.
10:30 p.m., Messe Berlin: The debut by Ottolinger – a highlighted highlight in the calendar of the fashion week – is a long time coming on Wednesday night at the end of a day full of catwalking. Then it suddenly starts. The first model, singer Kim Petras, storms from the patio door to the trade fair room-from the scarce, skin-tight ribban combo with orange inserts dangle long black belt loops.
Within minutes, the looks of the resort collection fly in. It takes concentration to snap the precisely placed details of the clothes deconstructed with couture fingers. The label has become popular and became known for this. It was one of the first in his generation to raise this style and still mastered it masterfully today.
Then Rush through the rows, Cosima Gadient and Christa Bösch, the designers behind Ottolinger. The show is already over as quickly as it started.
But the pace of the duo does not allow backstage. After finally holding a cup of sparkling wine in her hand, Gadient explains: “The core of the collection and basically the brand is that we are like the cooler older sister you never had. We provide you with cool clothes, we will test new things, we borrow you clothes, we play with how we make ourselves chic”.
“We are always there for you,” throws her partner Christa Bösch. “Yes, we are always there for you,” says Gadient.
And that’s how it actually feels a bit. The rough and subtle fashion of the duo is also a draft for clothing as well as a lifestyle that women can slip into. It is as if Gadient and Bösch introduce the wearers of their designs into their own way – stirring like a whirlwind, rapid and free.
REWORK – but with color
The high timing of the well-rehearsed duo does not decrease while you explain your resort collection. It contains the characteristic pieces of the label, but in more varied colors. With the resort collection, Ottolinger has introduced a new re-work line that is also to be expanded for the high season.
“So it’s more about manual things that we always did,” says Gadient. “We want to bring it back so that we can become a little more three -dimensional – even four -dimensional so that it has more texture and is not so flat.” Before she finished her sentence, Bösch caught up and continues the explanations: “As always, the resort collection is a starting point for the high season.”
This is still planning to show the label during the Paris fashion week. When asked whether Ottolinger will show again in Berlin, a rapid change of words relaxes again in rhythm.
“Let’s take a look,” says Bösch. “It’s a lot of work because we have the next show in September,” added Gadient. “I think the main presentation takes place in Paris and then we see how Berlin turns out,” says Bösch.
So even for the frenzied energetic fashion duo, it can also be too many. Regardless of whether the label will show again on the Berlin catwalks in the coming seasons-the after party with the art and club collective trauma in Studio IIII leaves no doubt as to how deep Ottolinger is rooted in the (night) life of Berlin.
In the dark interior of the self-proclaimed art and social clubs, the fast, cheerful bass of DJ Rebe, projected onto the wall, boast of the designs of Ottolinger, projected onto the wall. The snakes on the door are long, the people in front of you casually and yet too well dressed.
But don’t worry – the show was just the start – the big, cool sister has an inclusive heart and takes you into the night of Berlin.
This contribution was created with the help of Ole Spötter. Fashionunited visited the Berlin Fashion Week at the invitation of the Fashion Council Germany.