German fashion

Germany is one of the leading countries in the fashion industry, along with France, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan. German fashion is known for its elegant lines, unconventional young designs, and manufacturers of sports clothing.

Berlin is the center of young and creative fashion in Germany, prominently displayed at Berlin Fashion Week.[1] Düsseldorf is an important fashion trade center with Igedo. Other important centers of the scene are Munich,[2] Hamburg and Cologne.[3] Smaller places are also important design and production hubs of the German fashion industry, such as Herford, Metzingen, Herzogenaurach, Schorndorf, Chemnitz, Albstadt and Detmold.[4]

German fashion is popular as ready-to-wear and custom-made creations.[5]

Economic background

In around 1,300 companies with more than 130,000 employees, a revenue of 28 billion Euro is generated by the German textile industry. Almost 44 percent of the products are exported. The textile branch thus is the second largest producer of consumer goods in Germany, after food production.[6][7]

Fairs

The Bread & Butter in Berlin[8] is a leading trade fair for street fashion and ready-to-wear trends, twice annually during Berlin Fashion Week.[1][9][10] The Igedo fair Collection Premiére Düsseldorf in Düsseldorf (CPD) was the world's dominating fashion fair for years.[11]

Brands

An Adidas "Stan Smith" style shoe

Famous fashion brands include BOSS, adidas, PUMA, Escada, JOOP!, MCM, Marc Cain, Bruno Banani, Jil Sander, Strenesse, Triumph, Talbot Runhof, Kaviar Gauche, Rena Lange, Schiesser, Closed, Reusch, Valisere, Jack Wolfskin, Ulla Popken, Buffalo, Rohde, Marc O'Polo, Tom Tailor, s.Oliver, Gerry Weber, Drykorn, Esprit and Wunderkind.

There are also various agencies hosting multiple German brands and designers at once, such as zLabels Berlin.[12] Also the big department stores like Kaufhof and Karstadt, retail chains like Peek & Cloppenburg, Ulla Popken and NewYorker or mail order and online shops like Otto and Zalando have various in-house fashion brands.

Designers

A Berlin Fashion Week catwalk for Michalsky's

Globally renowned fashion designers from Germany are e.g. Karl Lagerfeld, Hugo Boss, Wolfgang Joop, Jette Joop, Jil Sander, Michael Michalsky, Etienne Aigner, Tomas Maier, Robert Geller, Philipp Plein, Rudolph Moshammer, Torsten Amft, Sibilla Pavenstedt, Uli Herzner, Dorothee Schumacher, Gabriele Strehle, Anja Gockel, Willy Bogner, Rudolf and Adi Dassler.[13]

See also: List of fashion designers § Germany and Category:German fashion designers

Media

Important fashion media of Germany include the German Vogue, Elle, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, Jolie, Glamour, Grazia, Life&Style and Sleek magazines. The German fashion magazine with the longest continued tradition is Burda Style, that was first published by Aenne Burda in 1950, who also established the major Bauer Media Group. Also various general women magazines and tabloids like Joy, Brigitte, Petra, Gala and Bunte are influential in regards to fashion perception.

As for television, FashionTV can be received via cable or satellite. Various casting shows reach a large audience in Germany, including Germany's Next Topmodel by Heidi Klum. Also on ProSieben, the series Fashion Hero starring Claudia Schiffer was looking for fashion design talents. The Shopping Queen format at VOX stars designer Guido Maria Kretschmer, it provides five contestants with 500 EUR to buy them a fashion outfit and styling in four hours, to compete with each other.

Models

Claudia Schiffer, German supermodel and designer (2009)

There is a range of fashion models from Germany that made it to international fame, such as Claudia Schiffer, Heidi Klum, Diane Kruger, Eva Padberg, Toni Garrn, Julia Stegner, Kirsten Dunst, Tatjana Patitz, Manon von Gerkan, Birte Glang, Nico, Uschi Obermaier, Carola Remer, Franziska Knuppe, Vanessa Hegelmaier, Lena Gercke, Sara Nuru, Barbara Meier, Hana Nitsche, Luisa Hartema, Rebecca Mir, Nadja Auermann, Claudia Ciesla, Aslı Bayram, Shermine Shahrivar, Evelyn Sharma, Brenda Kranz, Ivana Teklic, Marten Laciny, Nico Schwanz and Lars Burmeister.[14]

Agencies

Important modeling agency locations in Germany are Berlin (izaio, Seeds Models, Viva Models, OneEins), Munich (Louisa Models, Most Wanted Models, Munich Models, Nova Models, Talents München, Vivienne Models) and Hamburg (iconic management, m 4 models, Mega Models, Model Management, Modelwerk, Most Wanted Models, Place Models, PMA Models). Also agencies in Vienna and Zurich host models based in Germany, as well as major global agencies like IMG Models, DNA, Elite, Models 1 and NEXT.[15]

Education

A Hugo Boss suit.

Fashion education in Germany is centered around art schools, universities and the major fashion manufacturers.[16] In addition, private colleges like the renowned ESMOD school with branches in Berlin and Munich play an important role for the development of young talents.

Academic institutions that offer courses in fashion design include:

Multiple locations
Berlin
Others

External links

Media related to Fashion of Germany at Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Berlin as a fashion capital: the improbable rise". Fashion United UK. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
  2. ↑ Munich - The stuff dreams are made of (German), Welt
  3. ↑ Men’s Fashions in Cologne, Cologne developed into the capital of men’s fashion in the Federal Republic; twice a year, it was the site of International Men’s Fashion Week [Internationale Herrenmodewoche]., GHDI
  4. ↑ Die deutsche Mode kommt aus der Provinz (The German fashion also comes from the province), Brigitte, Issue 15/2012, retrieved January 18 2014 (German)
  5. ↑ Stars tragen deutsche Mode (Stars wear German fashion), Vogue, August 12 2013, retrieved January 18 2014 (German)
  6. ↑ "BMWI Branchenfokus Textil und Bekleidung". Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "2014 Annual Economic Report". Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy BMWi. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  8. ↑ Bread & Butter website
  9. ↑ "Bread & Butter Berlin". 10times. Retrieved 31 October 2014. Bread & Butter Berlin(BBB) confirms its position as the leading international trade fair and trademark.
  10. ↑ "Bread & Butter Berlin". TheGild. Retrieved 31 October 2014. (BBB), the leading international trade event for progressive, contemporary clothing brands
  11. ↑ AUMA fair database
  12. ↑ zLabels fashion brand management
  13. ↑ German Fashion Designers (de), Vogue magazine, retrieved 30 October 2014
  14. ↑ German Fashion Models (de), Vogue magazine, retrieved 30 October 2014
  15. ↑ Fashion agencies in Germany, Vogue magazine
  16. ↑ Studying fashion in Germany (de)
  17. ↑ AMD fashion study programs
  18. ↑ About AMD Academy, notjustalabel.com
  19. ↑ Design Academy Schwerin & Leipzig
  20. ↑ Design Branch of Berlin University of the Arts
  21. ↑ Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee