q.e.d – When Looking Black is a Good Thing
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Three young women designing men's fashion - that in itself is unusual. The fact that their collections are also intelligent, creative and wearable has raised a lot of interest in their label, q.e.d., in a short space of time.
Those who think black is just black should talk to the designers of q.e.d. They will quickly put you right. "There are so many shades and materials", Julia Böge explains, "black is totally fascinating, elegant and powerful. It always has an incredible effect when someone is dressed all in black." Jasmin Moallim raves about the "mysticism of this wonderful colour", and Simona Gabrieli says, "We started talking a lot about black tones back at fashion school." With the fashion designers expressing their devotion to the colour black with so much passion, and even managing to convince many design experts of their philosophy, who could resist such enthusiasm? The expert designs that they have managed to win over include no less than the prestigious jury of the Karstadt New Generation Award at the Berlin Fashion Week in January 2008. At 24, 25 and 31, they were the youngest of all the designers from the four labels that reached the final but their collection brought the most casual look to the cat-walk. The three designers felt they were the outsiders so they were overjoyed at their success: the three q.e.d. women had won the prize for the best in young Berlin design talent and walked down the cat-walk positively glowing. |
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Flip books to wear
In their light-flooded studio in an old building in Berlin's Wedding district, black men's hats hang from a white ceiling. This is where the pieces they showcased at the Karstadt New Generation Award were created. Waistcoats with multilayered button panels that fan out. Coats with a second detachable layer over the shoulder like a small tippet. Shirts with round contours on the back. A wool jacket with the hood and the shoulder made from a shiny water-repellent material. Black is the dominant colour, although white and grey are used too. The materials are mostly made of high-quality natural fabrics. This Winter 08/09 collection is called "Cinesthetic", the name is made up of the words kinesis, movement and aesthetics. "We wanted to pay homage to the flip book", Jasmin Moallim explains. They brought movement to the garments using layers of materials that can be removed or that fan out when the wearer walks. They have incorporated optical illusions using prints, for example, a knitting pattern printed on a pair of trousers, and copied the bent shape of a much-used flip book in round back contours. It is easy to see the q.e.d. philosophy in the "Cinesthetic" collection. The young fashion designers perambulate a theme, research, reflect, try out, discuss, abandon and try again. That's what makes their fashion creative and intelligent. And each individual piece contains the mark of all three designers. "None of us wants to go it alone", Moallim says. It could be the fact that they work together that stops any egomaniacal solo attempts and that makes their designs so wearable. Testing the boundaries of men's fashion
Julia, Jasmin and Simona like boundaries. They make them productive. Where there are no boundaries, they create them themselves. That doesn't just apply to the colour black, it also applies to the decision to design men's fashion. Men have been wearing suits for over 100 years now. You cannot do as much with men's clothing as you can with women's - neither in terms of cut, nor colours and materials - yet that is exactly what appeals to them. "Within these boundaries we want to try everything", Jasmin Moallim explains. She doesn't find it limiting at all that men see clothing differently to women. "The needs of the people who wear our clothes are important to us." For men, clothes have to be practical, and the most important criterion is that they have big pockets. If the trousers or jackets don't have anywhere for the men to put their
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wallets and mobile phones, you can be pretty sure they won't buy them.
q.e.d. doesn't produce a free-time look; instead it works with the canon of traditional men's garments like suits, shirts, jackets and tails. The designers aren't aiming at any one particular target group, although one can hardly imagine that q.e.d's casual look goes down well with bankers and auditors. Having said that, even Julia Böge's Dad, professional suit-wearer, dons some items from his daughter's collection. After all, with q.e.d. you don't have to buy the complete look, you can combine the pieces with other garments as you please. "That which was to be proved"
Moreover, some of the items are so androgenous that the three designers wear them themselves. That's just one of the reasons why they don't regret designing fashion for a target group to which they don't belong. Sometimes they tailor garments for themselves too, although less and less often. There's no time for that. The "fashion kindergarten", as Julia says, is coming of age. "Sometimes we still feel as if we are just playing. Yet at the same time we are gradually noticing that we have a company that is growing all the time." They moved from Hamburg, Karlsruhe and Switzerland to Berlin to study at the Esmod fashion school. That's where they got to know each other. They got on so well they decided to set up their own fashion label after graduating in August 2006. q.e.d. is Latin and stands for "quod erat demonstrandum" - that which was to be proved. "The name is old-hat but the substance is provocative: we incorporate "that which was to be proved" into each garment we make", Julia Böge explains. "We wanted a name that was elementary and enduring." And as if they had to prove their total dedication to their work, they have had their logo tattooed in large black letters onto their left wrists. It may be on the inside, but one thing is clear: q.e.d. is here to stay. |
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Stefanie Dörre
is an editor with the Berlin city magazine "tip".
Copyright: Goethe-Institut e. V., Online-Redaktion
Any questions about this article? Please write to us!
online-redaktion@goethe.de
April 2008
is an editor with the Berlin city magazine "tip".
Copyright: Goethe-Institut e. V., Online-Redaktion
Any questions about this article? Please write to us!
online-redaktion@goethe.de
April 2008
