These Cool Young German Designers Will Help You Get into Berghain

Fusc is a Berlin-based fashion and jewellery label working with upcycled materials. Started by long-time university friends Damaris Moos and Rosa Hirn, the duo decided to pair up and create the label after admiring each other’s work while studying at the Pforzheim University for Design. Though Damaris was studying fashion design and Rosa was studying jewellery design, the pair bonded over their affinity for unusual materials. They upcycle second-hand clothing, textiles and materials to create edgy, unique designs that will make you feel at home within the industrial techno haven of Berghain—a place where body harnesses and leather are worn as clothing.

Tanja Christiani is a Berlin-based womenswear label founded in 2015. Having studied fashion design at the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin and at Central Saint Martins London, Tanja Christiani is inspired by architecture and urban cities around the world; her designs deconstruct and distort, letting her fashion emerge as something new. Tanja Christiani designs accentuate the female form using high-quality fabrics and make anyone who wears her clothes feel sexy, fabulous and ready for a night of wild fun.

Nari Haase is a Berlin-based fashion designer inspired by the abstract who incorporates her passion for textile design into her fashion. Her collections begin with a simple idea—words or a construction of thoughts—which Nari translates into a visual form as the graphic language depicted in her textiles. Materials are an important part of her process and make for her bold, clean designs. With a touch of urban cool, Nari Haase’s fashion is movable, fun and fresh, giving anyone who wears it a unique signature style that will appeal to the Berghain crowd.

Lift Off is a Düsseldorf label that has seen a lot of success in 2017. Creations from Leyla Yalcin and Sena Isikal’s debut collection drew attention at the Paris Fashion Week 2017, and from Vogue American, Vogue Brazil and Harper’s Bazaar. The team focuses on multifaceted designs and clothing that pushes boundaries. With a sleek, post-apocalyptic, edgy and entirely new vibe, Lift Off combines couture with technical materials to create über cool, hard-to-match fashion.

IAMKILOGRAM is an independent, Berlin-based fashion label founded in 2017 by Margot B, the label’s artistic director. Creativity, colour and uniqueness are at the core of IAMKILOGRAM’s ethos, who launched its first avant-garde streetwear collection in October 2017 via the label’s webshop iamkilogram.com. Designing outfits from vintage sports jerseys, scarves and other second-hand upcycled materials, the label produces outfits that can’t be replicated and is run entirely out of Berlin with its concept, creation and production processes all taking place at a studio in the city (the raw materials used are also locally sourced). Drawing inspiration from Berlin and its nightlife, IAMKILOGRAM’s designs veer away from the traditional Berlin black to let you stand out and look the part for Berghain.

As the daughter of a New York Broadway actress and a German stage manager, Layla De Mue’s childhood took place behind the scenes of a thriving artistic industry. This is where her passion for costumes and fashion began, urging her to study a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design and now a Master of Arts for Fashion Design which she is currently completing at the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. Her ethereal, otherworldly designs include a fashion tech collection that visualises sound with a range of innovative techniques. Her Syma Line aims to create harmony between music, fashion and science by demonstrating how sound frequencies interact with and affect the physical world. These music-conscious unique designs create the perfect outfit for Berlin’s techno haven.

Buki Akomolafe is a Berlin-based clothing label founded by German and Nigerian designer Buki Akomolafe in 2015. Buki’s heritage provided her with a diverse background in handcraft techniques for designs that shape her aesthetic vision. The label stands for contemporary high-end women’s clothing but moves away from obvious femininity with a hint of androgyny, precise tailoring and high-quality eco materials. All of the label’s materials are eco-organic and use certified cotton, organic hemp silk and individual African wax prints to create a refined balance between classic European craftsmanship and West African techniques, resulting in pieces that tell a story.

Mongata is a minimalist European clothing label based in Berlin whose designs are tailored for people who love quality and dark colours (the label’s name means the glimmering reflection of moonlight on water). The brand embraces this by portraying the duality of light and dark in perfect harmony through comfort and versatility, which are core elements of Berlin’s techno aesthetic. Embodying freedom, self-confidence and ambition, Mongata’s breathable, dark designs offer everything a raver needs to feel comfortable yet chic.

Therapy Recycle + Exorcise is an Argentinian and Berlin-based fashion label that reworks and recycles vintage pieces into new, kinky and daring fashion. Sustainable and alternative, the brand’s gender-free designs were started in 2012 by two sisters, Paula and Mariángeles Aguirre, while they were living in Argentina and Germany. Though the two are separated by the Atlantic Ocean, their brand is united by their passion for reworked, eco-friendly fashion. Describing their fashion as empowering subcouture, the duo aims to enhance people’s uniqueness and authenticity with inclusive, sexually expressive designs. Their edgy, gender-fluid fashion is indicative of Berghain’s free, open and kinky energy, which lets people explore themselves in liberal self-expression.

Jay Stephan is a German-born brand with fabrics sourced from Italy. The brand’s creations are highly influenced by music and street style, offering luxury menswear that encompasses streetwear, activewear and swimwear. The 2018 collection is inspired by the culture and history of Berlin, which has developed beyond a militant pass and now embraces all walks of life. The pieces reflect the city’s evolution by incorporating clean, structured lines with contrasting fabrics. The accessible, luxurious fashion transforms men into sleek Berlin fashion gods.

Nicole Scheller is a fashion designer based in Dresden, Germany, striving to question political and social structures with her conceptual designs. Her latest collection, IP/privacy, challenges the idea of everyday surveillance through facial recognition and the gathering of data and is characterised by distorted shapes and exaggerated proportions. By directing her audience’s attention to the background of her work, Nicole embodies the counterculture of Berghain and makes her fans scrutinize their own impact on today’s society.