This weekend -27th, 28th and 29th of August- will be a great shopping weekend. >Bread & Butter< will set up a flea market in 14 oz.‘s garden and >Summer Pop Shopping< will open its doors in the Berlin Postbanhof.  Starting on Friday at 11 am and ending at 6 pm on Saturday, the >14 oz< store in Berlin will host the exciting Bread & Butter for Charity flea market with brands such as German Garment, Costo, Armor Lux, Adidas and Closed. All the shopping is to support >Die Arche< charity. Summer Pop Shopping will run from Saturday to Sunday and 150 young artists and designers will come together to sell their newest collections and creations among DJ’s and Live- Acts. Some of the brands present will be Blutsgeschwister, Yackfou, Colorin Colorado, Pelle Mia, Musterknaben, Silberfischer and many more.

>Designer ScoutsSkyy Swap Market<. Designer Scouts is headed by Frank Schröder, also the editor in chief of the well known >I heart Berlin blog<, and Gina Dommermuth. They promote new, avant-guarde and artistic fashion designers, such as Moga E Mago, Carni, C.Neeon and Juliaandben. Swap your clothes and accessories for new designer pieces. On Friday the 27th of August music, drinks, and fashion swapping will come together for one night of excitement in the famous Stadtbad Oderberger in Berlin. Hadnet Tesfai & Uli Beck, Ali Schwarz and Dj Snax will provide the music for the soiree. Until August 26th three swap spots, >Das Neue Schwarz<, Lalip (Chausseestr. 116) and >Kauf Dich Glücklich<, will be open to take and appraise your beloved pieces. All the profits go to the >Berliner Aidshilfe<  an organization for the prevention and support for HIV-positive people.

>What’s more alive than you< is a new Italian-based manufacturer that produces high-end shoes, bags and contemporary jewelry. Twice a year people from all over the world send in their designs, regardless of age or background, for the opportunity to get their designs and ideas developed by experienced professionals. People from over 92 countries are chosen to create the items in WMATY’s collection by their ability to transcend fleeting trends and instead develop something that tells a story, full of personal meaning.  The latest creative call closed June 18th, the finalists will be revealed at the end of August.  There is no single winner as there are no pre-set limits on how many designs will be picked for production. WMATY is a unique competition in the sense that it offers the exclusive opportunity for the winners to produce and sell their product as well as promoting themselves internationally. “Fashion’s got a new perspective-you” demonstrates their distinct democratic philosophy.

On Thursday July 29th from 7 to 10 pm the inauguration of a new and eccentric exhibition will take place in >Splace< -located in the prominent Berlin Fernsehturm. A collection of works by Morgan Belenguer, Tracknfield, Luis Berrios-Negron, Miodroa Kuè, Urbikon and >Vladimir Karaleev< - is named accordingly--Have Balls. An ironic title, this exhibition tries instead to dismantle the paternalistic notions and testicles. All works were developed and produced in the studio of >Luis Berríos-Negrón<- a Puerto Rican visual artist and architect- with >Mendel Heit< - Berlin based product designer, and Sarah Witt in three weeks time. Vladimir Karaleev famous for his draping and architectural style in his fashion designs has produced an installation titled "Protect Me From What I Don’t Want To Become". By combining different spheres with fabric he aims to create a symbolic and a physical art “protector”. These unique art installations play with the concept of public space, fictional models of access to the last stronghold of publicity somewhere between the material and mental space.

Until August 29th the art project >im names des raumes< hosts numerous auditive discoveries. To mark the first >World Listening Day< in Berlin the collective of artists "Berg26" and Max Schneider have produced a sound-art exhibit consisting of twenty five works which include video installations, sounds sculptures, and performances. Many of these exhibits deal with the history and contemporary meaning of the historical Karl-Marx Allee. The project named klang im namen des raumes stretches from Strausberger Platz 19 through Karl-Marx Allee up to the Frankfurter Tor. This interdisciplinary art project brings together the concept of auditive conditions and the qualities of the urban space and provokes a different perception and discussion. The whole project is realized with a sound journey in mind, visitors start in the gallery im namen des raumes where they receive an exhibition map and information about the works and the artists, as well as headphones and radio receivers then they make their way independently around the art area.  The project raises the question of what our senses have to offer within our urban living and how the hidden can be revealed.

>Altaroma< has just finished, July 10th -14th at which time there were an array of special projects and exhibitions geared towards young designers and fashion newcomers.  Two that really stuck out were Limited/Unlimited and >Who’s on Next?< Limited/Unlimited, an exhibition presented in MACRO Testaccio-La Pelanda and curated by Susanna Cucco, was a collaboration of designers such as Aquilano.Rimondi, N21, Maurizion Pecoraro, Albino and Vionnet. Each designer was invited to present two to five outfits with a “Demi-Couture” inspiration.  These designers dealt with the ability to produce luxury garments that combine Italian craftsmanship and research, which gives them a unique edge. Each designer highlighted the importance of a new contemporary aesthetic revolution. Who’s on Next? An exclusive fashion scouting project for young talent in collaboration with Vogue Italia and yoox.com gives much needed exposure to the winners. On its 6th edition, it confirms itself as a platform for young designers and stylists in Italy.  The jury is made up of key fashion figures such as Franca Sozzani (Vogue Italia), Averyl Oates (Harvey Nichols), Terron Schaefer (Saks) and Anna Laub (WGSN) and chose the top 5 ready to wear designer and four accessories lines. This year the winner from over 300 candidates was >Erkan Coruh< a Turkish designer who ihas absolute faith in his collection, "Believe me and don't doubt, they were sent by God to be worn"

Amid this summer’s Berlin fashion week there has been a great assortment of trade shows. Thousands of people from all over the world flocked to the German capital to take part in these events. Shows specializing from urban street wear to the ever-growing green fashion, such as >Green Showroom<, there is something for every taste. Trade shows like >Bread & Butter< and >Bright< focus more on active and urban street wear while >Projekt GALERIE< and >Premium< are more for the latest trend products. >Collect< was a much smaller Berlin urban lifestyle tradeshow were 10 selected fashion designers, both internationally known and newcomers.  All of these were successful in creating an arena where international buyers, stylist and press can come into contact with several designers in a way otherwise impossible.  Berlin has become a new international trade platform and all these trade shows have created a new community where all designers can exhibit and sell their products freely. 

From the 7th until the 11th of July Berlin hosted spring/summer 2011 >Berlin Fashion Week<. It has become the number one platform in Germany for fashion designers to get international and national attention.  From its humble beginnings in July 2007 it has expanded considerably, with more than 100 events and over 80 fashion shows.  Around 120,000 professional visitors from across the globe viewed the week’s collections.  The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week creates an environment where both upcoming and already established designers can showcase their designs to an international public. Among the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week shows at Bebelplatz >Perret Schaad<, >Kilian Kerner<, >Patrick Mohr<, Rena Lange stood out with remarkable designs. Throughout Berlin there was a myriad of offsite shows and fairs ranging from green fashion and urban wear, niche trade shows. Internationally redound brands such as such as >Calvin Klein< presented their collections along side Berlin native designers such as >Michael Sontag< and >Vladimir Karaleev<. The variety of events and exceptional designers has made Berlin a unique fashion arena. Berlin is well on its way to becoming the next trend setting capital.
Photos perret schaad: Max Schmid-Burgk

The first fashion competition in Berlin, >Start your Fashion Business<, rewards young fashion labels for their distinguished collections and convincing business plans. The applications for the competition ranged from accessories, green fashion to avant-garde, from recent fashion graduates to well established designers.
On July 9th the TOP in the competition showed off their S/S 2011 collections. The prestigious jury made up of Christiane Arp (German VOGUE), Melissa Drier (Womenswear daily) and Diane Pernet (www.ashadedviewonfashion.com), among others, chose the winners from 100 applicants.
>Michael Sontag< won the coveted first prize. It was his strong, unified, fine tailoring and a profound understanding of colour that made the jury grant him first place. The jury stated that he “is one of the most interesting fashion newcomers in Germany”. The second prize went to >Perret Schaad<, a duo of designers. The third went to >Vladimir Karaleev< a talented pure avant-garde whose collection showcases unusual cuts and is refreshingly independent. He has been said to “ define the classic Couture neu”.

Until the 17th July 2010 the exhibition "DYSFASHIONAL" will be presented in Berlin’s >Haus der Kulturen der Welt<. After Luxembourg, Lausanne and Paris, this exhibition in the context of fashion and art now also takes place in Berlin. The curators are Luca Marchetti and Emanuele Quinz.The artists and designers do not present clothes on the catwalk; rather they experiment with the notion and materiality of fashion. They present installations which reflect their creative universe and artistic approach, while exploring the borders of fashion and art. They are artworks in the context of fashion. The exhibition is complemented with the project PARASITE, a platform for emerging designers and artists. The following international artists and designers will exhibit works in the framework of DYSFASHIONAL: Raf Simons, Antonio Marras, Maison Martin Margiela, Hussein Chalayan, Damien Blottière & Pierre Hardy, Justin Morin & Billie Mertens, Bernhard Willhelm & Christophe Hamaide-Pierson, Kostas Murkudis, Gaspard Yurkievich & Florence Doléac, Hiroaki Ohya, Jerszy Seymour, Michael Sontag, Sissel Tolaas, Bless, Item Idem and Marc Turlan.