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Forbes
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
David Koma's SS26 menswear show was one of the most talked about collections at Berlin Fashion Week
DAVID KOMA'S Runway Show Berlin Fashion Week SS26 by Reference Studios at Palais am FunkturmDavid Koma's Spring/Summer 2026 menswear show was never going to be quiet, but by choosing Berlin he nodded to the direction his menswear brand David Koma will take — full of verve and packed with subcultural references. At Berlin Fashion Week Koma took over Bruno Grimmek and Werner Düttmann's 1957 Palais am Funkturm for the Intervention initiative run by buzzy PR agency Reference Studios, an invite scheme for designers backed by funding from the German Fashion Council. His collection I Love David was a sharp blend of ego, irony, and iconography. England player David Beckham on his mobile phone at the launch of the Adidas 'I kiss Football' ... More campaign at adidas HQ in Stockport on March 15, 2001 . (Photo Gary M Prior/Allsport/Getty Images)For Koma, at the helm of Blumarine as creative director and known for bringing body-conscious evening wear into mid-2000s culture, his Berlin debut linked his love for Y2K that run through his throwback designs at Blumarine with a playful riff on the concept of David, from Beckham to the designer himself. The Intervention program gave Koma the opportunity to be eccentric with the concept of a muse. His collection zoned in on three Davids—David Beckham, Michelangelo's David, and David Koma. Beckham brought back classic 1990s headline moments— low-slung jeans, crystal-trimmed tanks, and a tongue-in-cheek rhinestone tee nodding to the footballer's iconic 'I Kiss Football' moment. Michelangelo's David counterbalanced this with draped marble-like tops, lace aprons rendered in crochet, and souvenir-shop camp reimagined as high fashion while Koma's own trademarks of tailoring, sculptural flourishes and sex appeal anchored the collection. Here he talks to Grace Banks about building a namesake brand that's both personal and commercial, the return of sex to the runway and maintaining a decades-long career in a rapidly evolving industry. DAVID KOMA Runway Show Berlin Fashion Week SS26 by Reference Studios at Palais am Funkturm, Berlin You're only a couple of seasons into you new menswear line, how does it feel like to show your spring 2026 collection in Berlin? You know, I consider myself both the customer and a creator of I Love David. I've never approached collections with that perspective before and it feels personal again. Showing in Berlin, a city I respect on so many levels, makes that choice even more personal. One of the most important things for me is that I would enjoy the moment, because very often things that I do, they're amazing, but I need to wait a day or two or a week just to kind of digest it all. I told myself I would enjoy the moment more this do you enjoy the moment? I've really tried to be present in every single part of the experience and not just the show, from sourcing material to the model castings. During the show, and even now talking to you, I really feel calm, happy and relaxed. So I do enjoy centered the collection on three Davids—including yourself! I'm a huge fan of David Beckham and his iconic style throughout so many decades. So I always had him on the mood board, and the more time passed it became clear how symbolic the name David is for me. My favorite sculpture is Michaelangelo's David. And then there's me, I'm in good did you work those very different David personas into a coherent collection? The draping, broaches and tailoring mixe the classical with contemporary. Then there is this whole kind of paparazzi era with the diamanté and the jeans. The models were wearing my glasses, that unified the whole look. Then there's a few signatures of this collection— the garter detail that we had over the couple of trousers. I wanted to add these spikes of sex and glamour so there are flower broaches inspired by KOMA Runway Show Berlin Fashion Week SS26 by Reference Studios at Palais am Funkturm, Berlin The lace apron is a reference to those aprons you get in Florence with Michelangelo's David on, but you wanted to elevate the materials. What was that process like? Yes it started with that, you know the lacy tourist aprons you get all over Florence. But I applied this really elevated technique, which is like a silk crochet by hand. It's very couture, but still staying true to the touristy souvenirs from Florence. So I thought, have a sense of humour—keep the basic shape but make the texture there similarities between the David Koma woman and man? The man is more edgy, like the guys in Berlin. The woman is glamourous—glamorous women love to date grungy guys so it works!You launched your namesake label in 2009 and joined Blumarine as creative director in 2024, one of the buzziest brands on the market now. How have you stayed so nimble and made sure your creative vision was in the market over the years? You need to obsessed you really do. Access and opportunity are key too. Obsession really is essential. With what, trust me, you'll be successful.
Fashion United
10-07-2025
- Business
- Fashion United
Online marketplace Apoc Store opens first shop in London
Digital fashion and art marketplace Apoc Store is opening its first physical shop. Having hosted several pop-ups in Paris, London and Berlin in recent months, Apoc Store is now taking the next step. The company announced on Instagram this week that it is opening its first permanent shop. It is located in the coworking and studio space Regent Studios at 8 Andrews Road in London's Tower Hamlets district. Apoc works closely with emerging creatives from the fields of fashion, art and design who offer one-off pieces and on-demand products. These include works for which old materials and everyday objects have been recycled and put into a new context. Fashion designers include Welsh designer Adam Jones, who also presents his collections during London Fashion Week; Izzy Du, a graduate of Central Saint Martins in London and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp; and the labels SF1OG and Sia Arnika, which have become an integral part of Berlin Fashion Week. The store, which opens on July 18, has no regular opening hours. It is accessible by appointment only, which can be booked on the Apoc website.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
After a Year of High-stakes Financing, Saks Turns Back to High-stakes Retailing
The year since Saks and Neiman Marcus Group cut their landmark $2.7 billion deal has been dominated not by talk of a new luxury retail giant or a modern merchant force taking shape. Instead, it's been all about the rough and tumble of high-stakes corporate finance. On that score, it's been a story of quick and agile dealmaking that would be surprising or just unbelievable from almost anyone else but Richard Baker, executive chairman of what is now Saks Global. More from WWD From Sex Clubs to Castles, Latex to Upcycling, Berlin Fashion Week Had Something for Everyone Saks Global Bolsters Its Finances, Secures $600 Million in Commitments Saks Global Extends Partnership With NuOrder to Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman Consider this: There was the decade-long pursuit of Neiman Marcus. The unlikely deal, with the behind-on-its bills Saks parent Hudson's Bay Co. lining up Amazon, Salesforce and Apollo to buy the somewhat stronger Neiman Marcus. The surprisingly fast approval by antitrust regulators, the deterioration of the low-on-inventory Saks business and a pivot to a $2.2 billion bond sale that replaced Apollo, clearing the way to the close of the transaction two days before Christmas. And then things really got started. Hudson's Bay was spun off and went bankrupt, Saks and Neiman's vendors were thrown into a tailspin by a yearlong schedule to repay past due bills and 90-day payment terms on all shipments going forward. And bondholders — some of whom seem to haven't bothered to read some very important fine print — revolted when they learned their debt wasn't directly secured by the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship. Saks then lined up $350 million in new financing in May only to ditch that in favor of $600 million in financing last month from a group of bondholders jockeying for a better position in the capital structure. From the outside, the company has appeared to be lurching from one crisis to the next. And from the inside, it's seemingly been a nightmare. But last week, new money in hand, Saks made a crucial $120 million interest payment on the bonds. It's said to be paying vendors on time under the new terms and Marc Metrick, chief executive officer, has even floated the possibility of making back payments earlier than planned. 'As we progress over the next few months, if we see a return to what we believe to be normalized receipt flow, we plan to evaluate the possibility of accelerating the timeline to pay back past due balances to our brand partners,' Metrick told vendors in a memo last month that was obtained by WWD. At least for now, the Saks story is no longer a tale about financing. Everyone inside and out agrees that Saks has the money to get through this year and sources close to the company maintain that it has the financial wherewithal to last much longer even if Christmas doesn't turn out to be a blockbuster season. One source said Saks' outside auditors gave the company a clean bill of health — good for at least a year — after the $350 million in financing was lined up and now that's been upsized to a potential total of $600 million, giving it even more cushion. Right now, the future of Saks is not about its ability to wrangle investors or lenders, but the company's retail savvy and its ability to push what Metrick has called a 'reset' of luxury retail through an increasingly complicated retail market. 'All we heard about is 'We're running out of money,'' said Tim Hynes, global head of credit research at Debtwire, summing up the bondholder take on the company. ''We need money for inventory, we need money to make interest payments.' Money, money, money. So OK, we got you set up, you told us you needed this much money, now you show us that you know what to buy and you bought the right inventory and you know how to sell it to make a reasonable profit.' That's the trick in retail anyway — and one that requires finesse in good times and real skill in tough ones, like now when consumers are skittish and President Donald Trump's trade war is still disrupting supply. Big retail mergers are dicey to start with. 'Now, they have control of the best high-end retailers,' Hynes said. 'In theory it should work out. Nobody's going to open a new high-end retailer tomorrow. It's just not going to happen. So they got the market cornered. In theory, if anything's going to work, this should work. Everybody says, 'Rich people always have money, this should work out.' However, if you look at history, combining retailers has never worked out.' That point could be argued, kind of — the Federated-May mega merger worked for a time and changed the retail landscape, but that company, now Macy's Inc., is now morphing again for a new age. But nobody argues that Saks is working in a tough space. 'Department stores are not the best neighborhood to be operating in,' said Mickey Chadha, the Moody's Investors Service debt analyst who follows Saks. 'They're relying on cost cuts, layoffs, efficiencies between the two companies,' Chadha said. 'And that's all great. If you can accomplish that, you're definitely better for your bottom line. However, you have to grow, you have to grow. And their sales have been declining quite dramatically in the last couple of years. So if you don't grow, there's only so much you can do in synergies and cost cuts. 'This $600 million of new monies that we're talking about is great,' he said. 'It gives them more runway to get the ship back on course. But it's not going to be the end all. If they continue to burn cash, that $600 million will then disappear again in the next 12 months, and then they'll need more capital. The holiday is going to be key for them.' Holiday, next year and beyond relies not on raising more money or courting investors, but on making the big Saks reset work. It's a complicated bit of work for Metrick. Saks Global is combining operations for the two nameplates, reestablishing trust with vendors, cementing the new payment terms, expanding through a luxury shop on Amazon and looking at brands in new ways with its Authentic Luxury Group joint venture. Somewhere in there could be a bright future for the idea of the luxury department store, which has suffered blow after blow since the bankruptcy of Barneys New York in 2019. There is no shortage of brands with real gripes against Saks as it just now starts paying bills due years ago. But some luxury labels are also sensing new potential ahead — and brands both large and small say Saks Global is vital to their businesses and its survival is key. One adviser to independent designer brands said they are getting more excited about Saks' shop on Amazon, which launched with 50 brands and is said to be bringing new shoppers into the business. 'Are we going to actually see more sales through e-commerce than we're seeing in the physical stores?' the adviser wondered. 'How does the retail footprint shrink or change?' That refocuses the narrative around Saks back to where it really should be — its retail fortunes. The Bottom Line is a business analysis column written by Evan Clark, deputy managing editor, who has covered the fashion industry since 2000. It appears periodically. Best of WWD Harvey Nichols Sees Sales Dip, Losses Widen in Year Marred by Closures Nike Logs $1.3 Billion Profit, But Supply Chain Issues Persist Zegna Shares Start Trading on New York Stock Exchange Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fashion United
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion United
Berlin Fashion Week: Collections rooted in the zeitgeist
Brands like Ottolinger and David Koma injected new momentum into Berlin Fashion Week for the spring/summer 2026 season. With 36 shows, the programme may be shorter than that of other fashion capitals, yet it offers something unique. Here, designers work closely with the spirit of the times (the famous German Zeitgeist), often addressing important and current themes in their collections. While some designers made clear, literal statements on the catwalk, introspection, the questioning of gender roles and inspirations from the past dominated the spring/summer 2026 collections. Here's a report. Introverted romanticism In previous seasons, Berlin-based brand Richert Beil often radically addressed unsettling current affairs. For spring/summer 2026, the collection and theme are softer. The founders took advantage of their move to a new studio to focus on their immediate environment, under the title "Milieuschutz" (environmental protection). They approached the term as a metaphor to reflect on the protection of 'values, methods and ideas'. These are lost in the speed and superficiality of today's fashion system. Richert Beil spring/summer 2026 Credits: Tomm Funk Richert Beil's collection attempts to preserve poetry by remaining both romantic and precise. Tailoring returns as a central element with traditional cuts, uniforms and classic suiting elements. These are often accompanied by floral patterns. Silk trousers and handmade lace blouses create a sense of intimacy. Faced with the fragility of our times, it seems important to refocus on one's personal values. The final look perfectly illustrates the concept. The sound of rain that accompanied the show faded. An older model entered the humid room wearing a long black latex coat-dress. Its heaviness was mitigated by dark flowers on the sleeve and side. In these uncertain times, protection is necessary, but so is poetry to maintain hope. From left to right: Milk of Lime, Marke Credits: Andreas-Hofrichter The quest for romanticism is also introspective in other brands. A chorus of bells on a black lace-up top opened the Milk of Lime show. This was followed by other detail-rich looks with poetic nuances. Finally, a T-shirt with the phrase: 'I demand Poetry' appeared. In troubled times, the desire for poetry can be a statement. Romanticism is also an important theme in Marke's spring/summer 2026 collection. It explores the forbidden love stories of queer teenagers. Marke took a lighter and brighter note with designer Mario. The silhouettes soften, and flowers migrate to the sleeves of jackets. They are no longer hidden in secret sweet nothings – small rolls of paper that completed the styling of the first looks. Role play The play with menswear codes did not stop at Marke. David Koma presented his brand's menswear collection in Berlin for the first time. He also played with the identities and images of modern masculinity. The collection's title, 'I love David', refers not only to himself, but also to cultural icon and footballer David Beckham. It also refers to the classical sculpture of David by Italian artist Michelangelo – and their styles. Slightly faded low-rise jeans from the 2000s, David souvenir aprons and a pinstripe suit covered in sequins invite a conversation about the image of man between idol and individual. Berlin-based brand GmbH also explored menswear codes in a subtle way – from cape shirts to cropped T-shirts and delicate pink cotton shorts. Designer Marie Lüder played with roles in her collection. She revisited classic fairytale and legend characters in the context of a modern metropolis. The heroine may be the single mother, and the princess is a satire of masculinity, explained Lueder's collection notes. From left to right: GmbH, Marke, Lueder spring/summer 2026 Credits: Finnegan Koichi Godenschweger for Berlin Fashion Week, Andreas Hofrichter, Finnegan Koichi Godenschweger for Berlin Fashion Week Female identities were also questioned. Clara Miramon dedicated her collection to often invisible caregivers. She combined 1960s nurses' uniforms and orthopaedic design with gathered fabrics and laced corsets. Laura Gerte delved into the complexity of feminine experiences with tight-fitting fishnet, torn jersey and draped T-shirts. From left to right: Lueder, Laura Gerte, Clara Miramon spring/summer 2026 Credits: Finnegan Koichi Godenschweger & James Cochrane for Berlin Fashion Week Back to childhood After a minute's silence in memory of the victims of Gaza and in the face of genocide, GmbH presented a deeply personal collection. Designers Benjamin Huseby and Serhat Isik drew on their childhood memories for it. 'We tried to embody play and joy while facing despair,' the duo wrote in their show booklet for 'Imitation of Life'. GmbH goes back to childhood for spring/summer 2026. Credits: Finnegan Koichi Godenschweger The show's title is explained by Huseby and Isik's feeling of being like sleepwalkers or ghosts in the face of the world's cruelty. In these times of 'moral collapse', they no longer feel connected to reality. The designs are intended for all aspects of life, real or not. They drew elements of costumes for the circumcision feast from their childhood – such as scarves or the Turkish expression 'Mashallah'. This term is used to express gratitude for something beautiful or a positive event. It is also used to ward off evil. GmbH inscribed the formula on the hem of cropped T-shirts. Some adults cling to their childhood memories as a form of escape. This observation was part of the inspiration for Sia Arnika's spring/summer 2026 collection. The result is clothes that are too tight and too suggestive in places where they shouldn't be. It is as if they were made from memories and not logic. For spring/summer 2026, SFO1G also looks inwards, seeking to capture the collective nostalgia of the teenage years. Digital knights Lueder presented their collection in a digital medieval legend universe. Knights battle a metallic dragon-monster. A bard's song opened the show. Pixie bonnets and streetwear armour are an integral part of this twist-filled world. So are protective hoods and talismanic belt buckles. The catwalk thus interweaves history, imagination and performance. Lueder spring/summer 2026 Credits: Finnegan Koichi Godenschweger for Berlin Fashion Week Medieval chivalry and the digital world are also the inspiration for Iden. The brand presented its designs as an installation during Berlin Fashion Week. Iden's installation merges the figure of the knight with digitally inspired prints. Credits: Celine Witon for the Fashion Council Germany FashionUnited attended Berlin Fashion Week at the invitation of the Fashion Council Germany. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
Hypebeast
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
The Best Runways at Berlin Fashion Week SS26
The design talent in Berlin is rich, and the crowd the German capital draws for its bi-annual fashion week is particularly impassioned. Each February and June, international editors, journalists, stylists, buyers, influencers, and celebrities flock to the city to witness the sprawling manifestos of Berlin's top designers — and the results continue to outdo their predecessors. Everyone fromGmbHandDavid KomatoOttolingerandHADERLUMPput their best needle forward at the latest iteration ofBerlin Fashion Week, which wrapped up at the end of last week. Their ideas of style could not be more distinct from one another, but one thing they all share is a strong perspective. Below, see the best shows from the affair. Sun's out, toes out—or so that seems to be the new rule across the men's Spring 2026 runways. During Berlin Fashion Week, David Koma became the latest designer to free the toe on his first-ever menswear catwalk. Across all 33 looks, the dogs roamed free in thong sandals under contrastingly formal ensembles inspired by a triad of Davids: David Beckham, Michelangelo's sculptural David, and Koma himself. Titled 'I LOVE DAVID,' the collection drew from Beckham's turn-of-the-millennium style (with a specific nod to his famous 'I KISS FOOTBALL' jersey) just as much as it did from Michelangelo's masterful artistry (see the formalwear's drapery) and Koma's own signature (crystal garters, classic tailoring). With cultural and historical icons saturating the mood board, the line still appeared very wearable, in part thanks to the flip-flop's attainability. Perhaps that was because Koma saw himself as the person buying and wearing these clothes. 'It was my most personal collection to date, partly because I took on several roles: muse, designer, and customer,' Koma said backstage. On the third night of Berlin Fashion Week, GmbH's Spring 2026 show was a poetic, emotional, and raw 'Imitation of Life.' Designers Benjamin Huseby and Serhat Işik's latest manifesto was a commentary on the current state of the globe. 'The cruelty of this world has severed our connection to it,' they wrote in their show notes. 'We no longer know how to act or feel.' This collection, however, was not inspired by said cruelty or destruction. This was a line that reflected the 'process of working and living through a time defined by the most abject forms of horror and moral collapse, and trying to come out on the other side still human.' In that attempt, the designers looked to their own childhoods, rewatched family tapes, and examined old rites of passage to dream up a line that felt hopeful for the future. Still, they toiled with a sobering question: 'How can you revisit your childhood without feeling devastated?' Richert Beil's Spring 2026 show marked a return to intention. Titled 'Milieuschutz,' the collection was built while founders Jale Richert and Michele Beil were leaving behind their old office and moving into a new studio, a 135-year-old pharmacy situated in the center of Kreuzberg, an area now known for its vibrant art scene. This season, then, Richert Beil looked to reflect on 'beginnings and endings, on transformation, and on the responsibility of creating something with meaning,' per the designers. The results were both intimate and orderly, freaky and kinky. Floral motifs appeared across the range—like tapestry on oversized blazers and centerpieces on knit turtlenecks—as a metaphor for the cycle of growth and decay. Elsewhere, many traditional shapes received contemporary renovations, like lederhosen made with latex and suspenders knotted with cheeky bowties. On an active construction site just outside Berlin's Kurfürstendamm, SF1OG's Spring 2026 show walked the dangerous tightrope between obsessive desire and emotional decay. Portraying two intensely opposing feelings, creative director Rosa Dahl effectively stylized the consequences of all-consuming love, but through the lens of a teenage dream. The label's muses crept through a suspended forest made from printed fabric pillars, which felt all the more claustrophobic against composer Gavriel August's thrilling soundscape and the room's in-progress sensibilities. Their fashions longed for youthful freedom, awkwardness, and chaos: flared sequin capes paired with low-rise trousers, while sheer long-sleeve tops complemented baggy skirt pants and tights alike. Across the line, SF1OG's affinity for old-time craftsmanship — lacework, corsetry, and distressing included — looked especially impressive on antique textiles, like vintage wools, leathers, and silks. Here, Dahl's goal was to show the audience a mirror to 'our own volatile, uncertain eras' — all of the conflicting phases throughout adolescence and beyond that, together, make us who we are. And if the number of illusory arrows targeting models' heads wasn't proof enough, SF1OG hit the bullseye. Ottolinger designers Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient presented their first-ever show in their home city of Berlin this season to celebrate their label's 10th anniversary. At the Palais am Funktrum, the imprint's runway, titled 'Heidi,' was filled with powerful, feminine-powered 'fits — all part of a stylistic story about being an older sister. 'Being the cooler older sister isn't about being perfect,' the brand wrote in its show notes. 'It's about having lived-loved too hard, fallen harder, found her way back, and doing it all in a way that makes you believe you can too. She's the one who broke the rules first — so you wouldn't have to be afraid of breaking them.' As you can imagine, the result looked fearless. Haderlump Atelier's Spring 2026 collection was all about authorship and ownership—hence, the massive piles of printed and signed words that provided the set for Johann Ehrhardt's latest manifesto. The line's title, 'Exlibro,' Latin for 'from the books,' references the miniature nameplates that were once kept inside books as a means of identification. Those tiny artworks, per the label, were mottos, coats of arms, and mythological figures, 'each one a quiet yet deliberate declaration: This is mine. This is who I am.' HADERLUMP's fashion line championed that concept, dressing its scholarly muses in sculptural and expressive silhouettes inspired by those historical bookplates. Thus, strong-shouldered coats and clean bombers asserted dominance, while layered skirts flowed from their wearers' waists like pages from a book. The intention was for each design to look like a personal artifact, and it's safe to say we could see many of these pieces in a far-off retrospective. PALMWINE IceCREAM's Spring 2026 collection, 'MUSE,' was a masterful presentation of bursting color. Bridging his two hometowns of London and Accra, founder and designer Kusi Kubi was inspired by all of the empowered women in his life and their contributions to his creativity and community. In a kaleidoscopic celebration of femininity, the line's naturally dyed leathers, organza, mesh, and deadstock textiles turned up the genderless line's exposure to the max. Northern Ghanaian leather, specifically, claimed the leading role with coloring done by generational tree bark and sun-dying methods. Elsewhere, giraffe-printed boots were hand-painted, and striking bags were constructed with embellished calabash shells.
