Brave New Fashion: This Is The Next Generation of Berlin Designers

Brave New Fashion: This Is The Next Generation of Berlin Designers

Berlin’s fashion scene and especially our local Fashion Week have gone through some fundamental changes in recent years. What we appreciate most about it is: It has shed the old veil of the past and presented itself in a new guise. What we have seen here in the past year brought together everything our fashion hearts desire: exceptional talents from Berlin, whose creations surprise us, captivate us, blow us away, and inspire us to dream. Believe us: we had more than one moment where we thought: “Wait, what’s happening right now? And is this really happening in good old Berlin?”

In our opinion, six labels in particular have the potential to be true game changers, not only shaping Berlin through their work but also re-establishing the city in the ranks of the international fashion scene. What impresses us most about them is their courage to break with conventions and rethink fashion. They say goodbye to superficialities and celebrate craftsmanship, individuality, sustainability, and diversity. And an equally new and fresh audience celebrated them during Berlin Fashion Week. We have the feeling that Berlin propelled itself into a new era and our favorite city is finally showing again why it can easily keep up with the big fashion metropolises of this world. 

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A Farewell for Angie: A Tribute Design to 16 Years of Angela Merkel

A Farewell for Angie: A Tribute Design to 16 Years of Angela Merkel

illustration: Guen Douglas. 

After 16 years in office, our chancellorette Angela Merkle has stepped down just a few days ago. Her departure from her position as head of state of Germany was preceded with several photos of her in very private settings that prompted many memes, such as the iconic one of her with some tropical birds at Vogelpark Marlow, or the recent photo spread in Bunte magazine of her in casual clothing with her husband. In all those photos she looks really happy and relieved, probably looking forward to the time where she doesn’t have to deal with the Trumps, Putins, and Erdogans of the world. For some reason, her release into the private life seems to be the vibe of our time. It doesn’t take a lot to imagine under what pressure this woman must have been.

Despite being part of a very conservative and capitalistic political party that has basically blocked any kind of progressive or social movements in the last decades she was an icon of the liberal world and respected worldwide. It’s a mystery to many, why she was even in this dreadful party and her internal quarrels with her more conservative male colleagues were no secret. But she managed through all of that and because of her more social policies in recent years she even had voters on her side that might have voted green or red this year. In a way, the fact that she didn’t run again this year, was a relief to many that might have been torn between her and more liberal/social/environmentally friendly parties.

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The Beautiful Feminist Puzzles by Wonderpieces from Berlin

The Beautiful Feminist Puzzles by Wonderpieces from Berlin

As the gift-giving season approaches, we’re all on the lookout for fun and sustainably produced presents for friends and family. Wonderpieces, the new collection of feminist and socially conscious puzzles by the publishing house Familiar Faces might be exactly what you’re looking for!

The idea for this innovative puzzle collection came from Marie and Yvonn, the founders of Familiar Faces. These two Berlin moms have been known for creating products that bring the whole family together, starting with customizable childrens’ books. Now, Familiar Faces are addressing a wider audience with puzzle designs that celebrate feminism and inclusivity.

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This Cute Puzzle Will Help You Rediscover Berlin

This Cute Puzzle Will Help You Rediscover Berlin

The declining Corona regulations and warm weather of the last few months have given us the chance to rediscover Berlin. But now that the autumn gloom is upon us, and the dreaded Berlin winter is already lurking around the corner, you might feel more inclined to rediscover the city from the comfort of your home. And why not do it with a lovely puzzle?

Many Berlin creatives managed to come up with some amazing stuff during the pandemic. Such is the case of Magda Stadnik, an illustrator and designer originally from Poland, who has come up with “we come in piece” –  a wonderful puzzle depicting Berlin

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This Cute Alternative Map of Berlin Reminds Us of the City’s Magic

This Cute Alternative Map of Berlin Reminds Us of the City’s Magic

Weird, strange, freaky, magical, playful – I think many of us living in Berlin can agree that such words perfectly describe some of the unique personalities that inhabit this city. This sentiment is also captured in 26-year-old artist Olga Ivanova’s rendition of the map of Berlin.

Ivanova’s alternative map is populated with mysterious little creatures enjoying themselves throughout the city. Looking at the map, I’m sure many of us will recognize our own Berlin adventures whether it’s queuing up for Berghain, enjoying a coffee with a friend, hanging out with some fellow weirdos you just met at Hermannplatz or skating along Tempelhofer Feld.

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A Literal English Translation of the Berlin Subway Map

A Literal English Translation of the Berlin Subway Map

Everyone loves looking at Berlin through the familiar grid of its dense subway and train system. We did it to find the way to the cheapest rents, closes lake, or best burger – there is even a map with an improved design which you guys especially loved.

Now we found something new and we think you will like this at well – especially you lovely Ausländers. It’s a Berlin Subway Map with literal English translations of all the stations which lead to such hilarious word creations such as Seinfeld Plaza (Senefelder Platz), Janno Joke Bridge (Jannowitz Brücke), Shitbus Gate (Kottbusser Tor) or Virgin Heather (Jungfernheide).

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A Berlin Utopia: An Optimistic Vision of Oberbaumbrücke

A Berlin Utopia: An Optimistic Vision of Oberbaumbrücke

Today we want to share with you a very optimistic and cheerful piece of art that we hope will brighten your day a little as it did ours.

We already shared with you the work of Portuguese artist and architect Bruno Pinto da Cruz a while ago with our feature about his ISOMATIC pieces and in our guide about Portuguese Life in Berlin. He has now followed up with a splendid new Berlin-themed piece of his vivid ISOMATIC series that you need to see.

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11 Awesome Queer Local Businesses That You Should Support

11 Awesome Queer Local Businesses That You Should Support

Supporting local businesses has always been a priority at iHeartBerlin, even more so when they are owned by queer folks. Naturally, this has become even more important in times of an ongoing global pandemic. That’s why we’re looking forward to joining the upcoming QUEER Market! There, you will be able to check out creative products from queer designers in a friendly environment implementing all the current safety and health precautions.

For this new guide, we’ve put together some of our favorite local queer businesses and labels. All of them will be part of the Queer Market on Sunday, July 26th, but there will be even more stands for you to explore on the day! iHeartBerlin will also be present with a booth and you’ll be able to get your hands on our books and other products.
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The Soothing Sound of Office Background Noise for Your Home Office

The Soothing Sound of Office Background Noise for Your Home Office

So, how do you enjoy your 4th week of home office so far? It’s awfully quiet, isn’t it? Who would have thought, that of all the things you would miss about going to work is the everyday ruffling and shuffling of your more or less annoying coworkers and the sound of your copy machine. But it’s true, at home it can be so quiet you’ll eventually hear the walls crack. What would you do to hear the totally fake laugh of Karen from accounting that she performs for you not-that-funny boss? Or the annoying passive-aggressive deep breaths by IT guy fixing someone else’s computer for the millionth time. Ah, what a joy a day in the office can be, you may think, slurping your coffee giving someone else the pleasure of typical office background noise.

But you don’t have to miss out on this any longer. Berlin creative agency The Kids came up with the perfect solution: An easy-to-use website that generates typical office background sounds on a loop. You can even specify the number of co-workers and activate certain objects such as a water dispenser and a ping-pong table. You can simply try it out yourself at imissmyoffice.eu and press the play button in the lower-left corner. You’ll never have to miss your own office ever again (at least not for lack of background noise).

How to Wrap Presents Berlin-Style

How to Wrap Presents Berlin-Style

Ok, here comes a fun one! Yasmin and I had a funny afternoon yesterday wrapping presents “Berlin-style”. We already gave you a guide of cool Berlin Christmas presents and we thought now is the time to wrap them accordingly. We picked a couple of iconic and very Berlin-specific wrapping styles that will be easy for you to recreate and it will definitely make your presents under the tree the coolest ones! So brace yourself, here comes our guide how to wrap your presents Berlin-style.

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