Grieving Trump – Musings of an American Expat in Berlin

Grieving Trump – Musings of an American Expat in Berlin

I moved from New York to Berlin two years ago. In the past month it occurred to me to have an election party, to do something American, to celebrate the sure victory of Hillary Clinton. It would be our first female president and a steady, continued course of Obama’s slow progress. Also: a reason to socialize in the cold November night! I’m glad I decided against it in the end. The timing just didn’t make sense.

I stayed up until 9am that night, much more sober than other nights I’ve stayed up until morning. I followed the live updates on Reddit and watched the New York Times odometer tick mercilessly toward the right. I texted with friends from coast to coast, trying to make sense of what we were seeing. How could it be? What the fuck is happening!! I was in denial, unable to even process it.

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Barbara. at Boxi – Streetart Notes Against Racism

Barbara. at Boxi – Streetart Notes Against Racism

I have to start this article with saying that I was super excited today. A friend wrote me on Facebook saying that my favorite street art poet Barbara. created a little exhibition of over 100 of her street art pieces exactly at my doorstep, at Boxhagener Platz. Since I have been living in Friedrichshain for 12 years it never happened that something that I am passionate about happens so close to my home. Just for this I am deeply grateful to Barbara.

For all of you who do not know Barbara., her exhibition “Das Kleben is schön” is the perfect occasion to get to know her funny, sad, poetic art that interferes with public places on a different level that you might know from traditional street art. The impact of Barbara.‘s work is not limited to the urban spaces where her little notes and jokes might disappear after a short while. Her fame began when her art went viral on the internet. Last year the refugees crisis and the neo-right-wing movement in Europe created a lot of controversy which made me really sad on a personal level.  But seeing the little art pieces of Barbara. shared by thousands everyday on Facebook and on Instagram always made me believe in a world where there will always be people opposing a narrow minded and racist society.

If any one should get a price for keeping the morals high in the last year of political change it should be Barbara. Her smart criticism and wit always embrace humor and lightness, but at the same time they point the finger directly where the shit is stinking. Don’t miss the exhibition that is hanging around Boxhagener Platz since yesterday. So far I everybody I saw was  very respectful with the notes hanging around the square, not taking down anything. But let’s not be too optimistic. It’s Berlin in the end right? If you can’t come by you can check out my best of in the pictures after the jump.

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20 Things to Do at Home When You Don’t Want to Leave the House

20 Things to Do at Home When You Don’t Want to Leave the House

photos: oh_hedwig

There are times when you simply don’t want to or can’t leave your house, no matter if it’s because of the weather, you’re sick or simply to lazy to climb out of your cocoon and just want to enjoy the cozy and warm atmosphere of your home. No-one captures this better than Saskia Bauermeister on her Instagram account @oh_hedwig. For me, she is the queen of “coffee and cake in bed” and “curling up at home” as she turns this mundane activity into an art form. Her charming photographs wrap me up in a warm blanket of comfort and let me forget all the horrible things that are happening outside like heavy rain and dirty, melting snow.

Looking through Saskia’s stream I feel inspired for many activities that you can do at home when you just don’t want to leave the house. And so I thought I transform this into a fine list of suggestions for you accompanied by some of her most beautiful photos.

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A Guide to Berlin Fashion: The Sporty Edition

A Guide to Berlin Fashion: The Sporty Edition

The fashion scene of Berlin is as diverse and colorful as it can get and I think that is one of the best things about the city. You will find something for everyone. There are those designers who are clearly inspired by the Scandinavian minimalism, you have those who do totally wearable everyday clothes that sell like bread, those who make quite crazy stuff that you can only wear for fashion week, and so much more in the middle and around, it’s impossible to list it all. With our new series A Guide To Berlin Fashion we would like to give you an overview of the different styles that we find here and show you some of our favorite designers from Berlin in each genre. We are definately not going to be able to name all of them, because the number of labels is impossibly high, so see this more as an example of some of the most notable ones.

For the first edition of our new Berlin Fashion Guide we would like to start with one of the most obvious contemporary trends: Sportswear-inspired streetwear. The sporty style has started to penetrate the collections of young designers and avant-garde labels for a handful of seasons now and with the Wang x H&M collaboration finally reached the mainstream. I think the revival of the sneaker that has been going on for the past years has played an important part in it and all the sneaker brands should be more than pleased to be so highly relevant and important in fashion right now. During my last visit of the Dissonance Area at the Premium Exhibition it felt like every second collection had jumped aboard the trend using a lot of active wear materials like neopren and mesh with wide boxy cuts.

Here in Berlin we have a couple of labels that fall into this category that we would like to introduce you to. They are either inspired by certain types of sports or have a generally sporty aesthetic to them, but all of them seem quite on point with their fashion in this day and time. And the best thing about it? You don’t even need a gym membership anymore to look sportive, these labels sure know how to create the illusion. Enjoy our guide to sporty Berlin fashion after the jump.

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Live Networking – LNFA #2 with JULIAANDBEN

Live Networking – LNFA #2 with JULIAANDBEN

photos: Damien Vignaux / Elroy

Tomorrow the second Live Networking for Fashion & Art event will take place in Berlin at Platoon Kunsthalle presenting the designers JULIAANDBEN, Ivan Man, Twisted Talents, Dandie Zimmermanm, Isabel Stasinski, Appollo Krieg, Perlensäue and Marina Ballerina. When I researched all of these designers I was pleasantly surprised because except for the first two I didnt know any of them and almost all of them are really cool. So I’m extra excited for tomorrows shows. Apart from the shows there will also be some extra goodies, such as nail art by The Shit Shop, a photobooth by Canon, hair styling by Persona Non Grata, and art by Paul Vogeler.

To get you in the mood I want to show you the new Spring/Summer 2014 collection of one of my favorite labels from Berlin: JULIAANDBEN. This might very well be the best collection that designer Julia Heuse has ever done. She came up with some really great new pieces while still maintaining her iconic artsy and grungey style. The collection is very versatile with a good mix of very wearable and clean pieces and some outstanding eyecatchers. I love it! More of it after the jump.

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The SKYY VODKA SWAP MARKET 2013

The SKYY VODKA SWAP MARKET 2013

It’s become a bit of an annual tradition by now at this time of the year: On Friday the SKYY VODKA SWAP MARKET takes place at the beautiful Stadtbad Oderberger. This big charity event is already in it’s fifth year and it’s the fourth year that my Designer Scouts partner Gina and I are hosting it. The swap spot at Pappelallee 69, where people can submit their own vintage pieces in exchange for a swap voucher for the market, is already running hot and the donations of brand new designer pieces by local and national fashion labels are also pouring in. We have some amazing stuff already that is only waiting for you to be swapped or purchased, for example by big designers such as Dawid Tomaszewksi, who is one of our two main hosts, Michalsky, Guido Maria Kretschmer, but also from Berlin brands such as Blame, Tiedeken, Franzius and Liebig. A little preview of that after the jump. If you wonder how exactly the clothes swapping works we have a little how to that you can read here. Of course you can also just come to party. The event is going to be public, but if you want to secure your entrance you can sign into the guestlist here.

The big swap will start at 21h (a little earlier for all of those that receive premium swapper status by submitting super amazing stuff) and our after party starts at 23h with a DJ set of our second main host of the night: model and mutli-talent Bonnie Strange. It’s going to be a ball! And remember: It’s all for a good cause. All proceeds will be donated to the Berliner Aids-Hilfe e.V. Some previews after the jump.

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The Fruit Salad – Episode 3 – Runway

The Fruit Salad – Episode 3 – Runway

If fashion week is war, runway is the battlefield. And I did a good portion of fights last week to go to each event and make sure that everybody noticed that I was there. Is this egomanic? I do’t think so. To see all my adventures at Berlin Fashion Week and to see the shows I visited and enjoyed the most (Patrick Mohr, Moga e Mago, The Shit, Lena Hoschek, Mark Stone and the best of them all Charlie Le Mindu) please have a look at the third episode called Runway after the jump.

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Charli XCX – Superstar

Charli XCX – Superstar

Charli XCX is shit. What I mean is: she is THE Shit. This girl is so hyper trendy, she is friends with Marina of Marina and the Diamonds, hangs out with Sky Ferreira and even gangsta rappers wanna work with her. Supporting Ellie Goulding, doing collabs with the most wicked acts, getting her music remixed by the freshest djs on this planet, just like that. If you haven’t heard of Charli yet, she wrote and produced Icona Pop‘s hit I Love It, yeah the one you used to sing under the shower.

But what is it with Charli XCX, why is she so successful? Well, first of all she is a singer – songwriter, meaning she writes her own songs and performs it. Singer – songwriters are rare nowadays and mostly found within the Indie – scene. But Charli XCX is doing proper pop music. Then, it’s her style. She looks like a Goth – and a barbie. She is a goth doing pop music looking like a barbie, wearing her very own mixture of 90s clothing, combined with romantic goth style. This could in fact look ridiculous as she is not the androgyne teen type as is, let’s say, Grimes. But Charli XCX wears Buffalo boots and tight ripped tops combined with glowing make up and turns out to be the most stylish girl on earth. She is a goth, a goth who managed to make this style look very trendy. That is why everybody likes her: poppers, emos, goths, even rappers.

By the way the XCX stands for X-rated Cunt X-rated. But the X-rated cunt surprises us:  Her new album True Romance is coming out and you know what? Goth Charli fell in love while producing her album and it eventually became an album about romance and love. This stylish pretty little party goth grew up a bit and is potentially on her way to become a superstar. Her new video after the jump.

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The Coolest Bitches of 2012

The Coolest Bitches of 2012

Most blogs take the final days of the year as an opportunity to recycle their favorite articles of the year. We’ve opeted for another kind of retrospective, and it’s not really about us, but about people who have impressed us this year, more specifically the strong and beautiful women that we have been lucky to cross paths with. Enjoy our parade of the Coolest Bitches of 2012 and why we love them, after the jump.

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iHeartBerlin Anniversary Collection with Front Row Society

iHeartBerlin Anniversary Collection with Front Row Society

In celebration of our 5th anniversary we teamed up with Berlin-based label Front Row Society and came up with a Special Anniversary Collection of digital printed scarves. I created 11 designs and you have the chance to decide which five of these we will actually produce and present at our anniversary event on September 29th. Just head over to the facebook page of Front Row Society, take part in the voting until next Wednesday and win tickets for the party. After the jump you can see the designs in full glory and read the story behind it.

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