Berlin is slowly but surely establishing itself as one of the top global catwalks for the bold and the beautiful of the world of high fashion – and the global financial crisis seems to be doing nothing to slow it down.
For the fifth time, up-and-coming fashion designers are meeting in the German capital to present selections from their latest collections at the Berlin Fashion Week, which is attracting increasing interest from the international fashion scene.
Maia Guarnaccia, vice president at IMG Fashion Europe, which organises the fashion week in Berlin as well as similar events in New York, Miami and Amsterdam, said last year marked a turning point for Berlin.
“Since July (last year) people are now calling us to be here,” he said, adding that it used to be the other way around.
“Berlin still is an oasis,” Guarnaccia said. “Because it is more accessible” than other fashion capitals like Paris, London or Milan, where the cost of living as well as production and rents are a lot higher, he said. This, he said, attracts young designers especially in a time of global economic recession.
