Global Trend Report '08 - Berlin

Berliners are keeping things plain and scruffy, which isn’t that surprising after an oppressive summer of new-rave neon and glitter. Boys especially are doing their best to make sure their clothes are dirty and torn. It’s not enough to be vintage. Your shit has to have been in circulation and not washed for at least two decades. There’s excessive gold and silver jewelry going on too, which makes people look even more like sneaky gypsies. Thankfully, some guys stick with a classic, tailored look, with a fitted jacket and pants that are a little less tailored, which gives it a bit of a 1920s vibe.

Boys as well as girls are wearing the ubiquitous checked flannel shirt. These are worn big and baggy and often tucked into trousers. Red is the color of choice. A weird rule of thumb is: the wider the shirt, the tighter the trousers (or even leggings). Girls have also been creating dresses from oversize shirts with the addition of snazzy belts. The most common shoes with this look are Chelsea boots for boys and gold or leopard-print heels for girls.

Berliners like to cram as many decades as they can into one look. Combine an old Diesel Denim jacket from your school days, casual tapered trousers with cuffs from Henrik Vibskov, and the weirdest high heels you can find, and you’re good to go. Red lipstick is not only impractical but also very hot these days. Hairstyling is mostly very fluffy and a bit unorganized.

It’s a miracle that even the fashion-fickle Germans aren’t tired of the skinny-jeans fad yet, but lately more and more people seem to be wearing these fuckers even shorter and tighter than before. A few fashion renegades are trying to forcefully swing the pendulum to the other side by wearing high-waisted, extra-wide-legged bellbottoms with cute little ruffled blouses. Good luck to them.

Of course, Berlin will always have the gay nightclubbers, who are clinging desperately to their acid-washed 80s style like it’s going out of fashion (har har har). The jackets are mostly vintage with puffy sleeves. The shirts have to be printed all over or with big letters. The sneakers have to be high-tops, by Reebok or Nike, with a retro look. Much like cockroaches, this style would survive in Berlin even if a nuclear bomb were dropped on the city.

Photos: Christoph Voy; stylist: Sarah Carsten