Berlin-For The Last Decade
Vivienne Westwood Anglomania S/S 09. Image courtesy of Catwalk Queen.
Berlin is cosmopolitan and creative, allowing for every kind of chic. East meets West in this metropolis at the heart of a changing Europe, and is a place of opportunities just waiting to be seized. For the last decade, it has been a magnet for non-conformist, creative young people from around the world, drawn by the city’s ever-changing nightlife and art scene, as well as its unique feeling of freedom and tolerance. Berlin today has more flair than ever.
As I arrive and settle into the Hotel Adlon Kempinski, I feel an atmosphere inspired by an illustrious past and a dynamic modernity. All facilities, from the Restaurant Quarré, the lobby lounge (and bar) to the guest rooms and suites meet the most exacting demands for refinement and savoir-faire. Just how I like it.
Having freshened up, I step out of the hotel whilst hanging on to my Balenciaga for dear life. It’s Sunday. And it’s raining. My high-heels slip on the wet pavement. My Burberry’s trench coat, Wayfarers and red lips follow in the footsteps of Garbo or Dietrich…. no, I am not in a Hitchcock movie but at the Fashion Week in Berlin.
In retrospect, the Fashion Week was made up of a mixed bag of expectations. The never-ending wait for the invitation, delivered at the hotel by a messenger the night before the défilé. On the day itself, I am a little nervous like a debutante having a rendez-vous, with my coupe de champagne waiting for the doors that lead to the runway to be opened, waiting for the models stuck in the hallucinating traffic that reigns over the town this week. And the worst of all these expectations… waiting to indulge in wearing a floaty silk mini-dress in pale blues, bright oranges and soft cream, complete with satin fezzes decorated with feathers appeared on Vivienne Westwood’s runway, and which has, in a few seconds, become essential. In brief, never-ending expectations for an eternity of intense pleasure.
Thinking of Beaudelaire’s poem, The Passer By, I slow down trying to remember the lines of this poem: «Longue, mince…Une femme passa, d’une main fastueuse, soulevant balançant le feston et l’ourlet » and the final phrase, « O toi que j’eusse aimé, à toi qui le savais! ». It gets me everytime…like the classic Chanel dress. As long as it is Chanel, ma chérie.
Coming back to my splendid room at the Adlon, with the souvenirs of the fashion show in my head, a glass of red wine in my hand, looking out at the Brandenburg Gate and the famous Unter den Linden Boulevard, I surprise myself by leafing through an old issue of Vogue Deutsch… discovering an unveiled Claudia Schiffer, shot by Mario Testino. Even if the 37-year-old model has thrown away her well-behaved image thanks to the subtle erotic Dom Perignon campaign by Karl Lagerfeld, in front of Testino’s camera, she has been transformed into a femme fatale, dressed only in suspender belts that embody the delicate codes of sensuality.
Berlin, a living and breathing city, has demonstarted that it is an inspiring place for the fashion world and that it has definitively its place among the oh-so crème de la crème world of fashion.
Berlin, a timeless city, passing from season to season with ease, a space of dreams and full of promise.
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