Alicia approached me last year at the Berlin Festival and asked me if I would be willing to model for a photo series about bearded guys she was working on. I was quite curious about the project so we exchanged contacts and she sent me some of the photos that she had already done. I really enjoyed them and was happy to be her next special beard portrait. As if she would have guessed that I had a sweet tooth I became her first edible beard. While the other guys before me got decorated with flowers or confetti or minituare figures, my beard was frosted with cream and sprinkles. As fun as it looked, it was a sweet mess and a nightmare to clean. But I think it was worth the trouble as the photos came out quite fun. Enjoy more creamed beard shots of me along with my beard monologue after the jump.
The Beard Monologues: Steffen
I immediately noticed Steffen in the subway with his perfect beard, dark hair and blue eyes. When he got out at the same station as I did, I knew I just had to ask him about taking his picture.
We had to take a romantic portrait for my photography class at university. Instead of capturing the gesture of giving someone flowers, I wanted to photograph a beard decorated with flowers. Since beards are kind of en vogue right now I decided to turn the idea into a series afterwards. That’s how Steffen’s portrait became the first in a row and still remains of one of my favorites. Some more photos from this shooting along with Steffen’s beard monologue after the jump.
The Beard Monologues: Sascha
photos: Alicia Kassebohm
“I’ve been wearing my beard for about seven years now nonstop. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Actually, the effect it has is completely secondary to me – overall my beard gives me safety and protection. In fact it feels like a pair of fluffy socks or a cuddly pullover: though it is not essential, I feel more at ease and peaceful with it.”
Photographer and visual designer Alicia Kassebohm has been working on her ongoing photo series Beardicted now for over a year making very special beard portraits of interesting men. Every beard is unique, that’s why all of the portraits have an individual styling. For iHeartBerlin she let’s the men behind the beards speak about the fetishized extra hair in their faces. Enjoy the first part of our new series The Beard Monologues with Sascha from FluxFM and more photos after the jump.
The Aurora of Blame
As the best things come in threes I have one more Berlin Fashion Week for you. While the presentations of Franziska Michael and Barre Noire were quite outgoing the collection of Berlin-based label Blame was a little bit more classic and monochrome in black, coal and shades of rose. As this color palette suggests the collection was inspired by Winter’s Aurora which is also its title. They had modern combinations of knitwear and leather, clean shapes with rich details. Overall the garments had darker tones and some playful crochet applications. The focus was on the modern designs and materials. The designers Sarah Büren and Sonja Hodzode are returning to the roots of their design work with their new looks. Get your own impression after the jump.
Disco with Barre Noire
Another highlight of my Berlin Fashion Week tour was the presentation of young label Barre Noire, which created a proper disco mood inspired by legendary Studio 54. There were mirror balls on the ceiling, colorful outfits with rhinestones, shimmering patterns and glittering shoes on tattoed models that rocked the show. The accessories were an excellent continuation of the urban disco theme: headphones, caps with wings or big tridimensional Barre Noire initials and sporty watches from the collaboration with Baby-G. The vibrant and sporty looks were completed with silver fingertips. The impressions after the jump.
Franziska Michael’s Fairy Tale
Being part of Berlin Fashion Week is by far more than just drinking champagne and watching fashion shows. I became especially aware of the required strength and discipline when I tried to attend a whole string of events in only two days, including a look behind the scenes. However, young designer Franziska Michael succeeded in creating a great kind of retreat that every other journalist and photographer around me was happy to cherrish.
The guests of her presentation entered the studio and where surprised by an eloborate set-up centering around a gate covered in roses. Between fog and hay stacks the models were positioned in a gloomy, yet romantic scenery. The designer obviously drew her inspiration from nature, which also reflects in her choice of colors: apricot, light yellow, khaki, rose and black. The cuts are clear and lineal, perfected with different materials and psychedelic patterns, that have also been prominent in her previous collections. The contrasts she created are greatly unexpected. The gelled hair parted in the middle paired with modern patterns, the quilted cycling shorts combined with black socks – she definately knows how to make a statement. Enjoy my impressions after the jump.