A spring 2011 design by Dawid Tomaszewski, a Berlin designer.
By CATHRIN SCHAER
Published: September 24, 2010
BERLIN — The designer Dawid Tomaszewski stood in his small atelier one recent sunny af
ternoon, proudly holding up a strapless, silver-grey sheath.
“Thirty hours to make this,” he said, gently stroking the tight silk organza ruffles that swept down the bodice and changed color from dove grey to smoke and lightning as he moved the frock. “I did this myself. And this took 30 pieces of fabric,” he added, pulling out another dress in the same silvery silk organza. But this time the sleeveless, circular smock was embroidered with gemstones and featured layers of almost opaque fabric falling heavily from the neck line.
Mr. Tomaszewski, a Pole who came to Berlin via a design apprenticeship with Commes des Garçons in Paris, has been in business for slightly less than a year. His clothes are unique — he and his team do almost everything themselves — but their attitude is not.
One of the most striking things about Berlin’s fashion scene is the sheer number of independent labels and boutiques, all making, or stocking, labels unknown to most shoppers.
And many of those indie designers, including Mr. Tomaszewski, are part of a growing group of fashion entrepreneurs who take pride in their do-it-yourself philosophy, viewing it as something akin to “couture lite.”
“I love to work with my hands, to stitch things together. Every piece of clothing I make is part of me,” Mr. Tomaszewski enthused.
Like the fashion capitals of Paris and Milan, Berlin has had its fair share of resident artisans. In the 1920s and ’30s it was a cultural center populated by the bright, beautiful and interestingly dressed. To cater for those sartorial needs, there was a garment industry that employed thousands.
“It’s hard to believe but I have heard that around Hausvogteiplatz, there were about 800 furriers working then. We also had hundreds of very good hat makers,” marveled Ettina Berrios Negron, owner of Konk boutique in the trendy Mitte district, which has been stocking a carefully selected range of mainly local labels for the past seven years. “But it all just died out” during World War II.
Today, “I don’t think you find artisans here the way you might find them in Paris. But,” she noted, “people are definitely thinking about it, and there is a growing niche.”
For example, she said, she recently met with some young women who are collaborating with older Turkish immigrants who crochet lace to develop a jewelry range.
Ms. Berrios Negron also noted that, unlike in other cities with a more established fashion industry, there is no division of labor among the designer, the pattern cutter and the machinist or tailor. Berlin designers “do everything themselves. I do it that way too,” she said.
That attitude might be a hangover from the communist era, when Berliners, short on equipment and fabric and unable to buy the latest thing, made their own versions of high fashion by hand.
Or it might have more to do with the fact that, as Ms. Berrios Negron pointed out, there are no easily accessible fashion industry services in Berlin. Residents are prepared to make their own clothes “because we don’t know any better. Our infrastructure is very young. We are learning by doing. Sometimes,” she laughed, “I think the whole city is learning by doing.”
That certainly has been the case for Anntian, one of the labels stocked at Konk. The designers Christian Kurt and Anne Hilken, who started the business in 2006, combine a variety of handmade techniques with more standard methods of manufacture. Most notable are their self-designed knit fabrics and silk-screened fabrics, all of which Ms. Hilken still makes by hand, even though the label, now in its 10th collection, is stocked in more than 50 boutiques in eight countries.
“It has been something of an organic process, an evolution,” Mr. Kurt explained. He admitted that, as the business has grown, staying true to the handmade model has been difficult. “There are good conditions here compared to other cities,” he noted. “But then it is also hard to find the small or medium-sized companies you need to help your business. The professional side is kind of missing. It’s a city of artists and very inspiring, but it has its weak points.”
The comparatively low cost of living and working in Berlin also is credited with nurturing independent design. Anyone who wants to start a clothing label can easily rent studio space for around €100, or about $135, or so a month, depending on the location and size of the space.
“Time is money and in Berlin, you don’t need a lot of money. But handmade things take time,” said Nikolas Gleber, founder of the Friendly Fur label, which turns the pelts of local red foxes shot in ecologically mandated population culls into accessories with the help of some regional companies.
Mr. Gleber, who is self-employed and also works in marketing, thinks this growing pride in local, handmade items is not just about the affordable Berlin lifestyle but a new movement in conscientious consumption.
In fact, he refers to his fur iPod and laptop covers, detachable collars, hoods and furry eye masks as “objects” or “projects” mainly because he feels those terms sidestep the temporary nature of fashion trends.
And, he says, products like his constitute the new wave in luxury: the fact that you know who made your dress, where it came from and how, and that you are respecting all of that by paying a little extra, equals a sort of karmic added value. “The message of Friendly Fur, as a brand, makes working by hand necessary. The new luxury is about how you can afford to be a good person — because it costs more money to get things done properly,” he said.
“In Berlin there is a tension between the brokenness of the city and the luxury of being able to be creative,” Mr. Tomaszewski said. “The handmade has always been a luxury. It is an art — I know this from Poland where a lot of things are made by hand.
“But we must also be realistic about pricing. People must be able to make a living. And being creative is at the heart of Berlin. I hope to be able to bring all those sides together.”
