FASHION?! - In German Sign Language

The Berlin fashion label Souvenir Official designed this T-Shirt as a reaction to the 2016 British EU membership referendum. It displays the flag of the European Union with one star missing. The fashion company's intent was to raise awareness for the immanent turbulence that would grip the EU. The single star can be seen on the back of the T-Shirt where it symbolizes hope, and combined with a EU-hotline number, it functions as an invitation to act.

This seemingly ordinary top from a DHL uniform is deceptive. It is actually a T-shirt from the design collective Vetements. Translated from the French, Vetements means clothing.  It is the aim of this enterprise to imbue everyday clothing with new meaning. With this "DHL" shirt they make reference to the fashion industry and its worldwide capitalist circulation of goods.

When Christian Dior died unexpected in 1957, the press insisted that the end of the fashion house was all but sealed. The first collection from his successor Yves Saint Laurent was awaited with a combination of tension and skepticism. With his trapezoidal line, which relied on geometry and formal rigor, he took different paths than his predecessor. He became a star overnight and was known as the “savior of French fashion”.

The French fashion magazine Jardin des Modes was founded in the 1950s. With the breakthrough of prêt-à-porter fashion, it became an advocate for ready-to-wear clothing. The three mannequins on the cover make this clear: with their identical poses and dresses with a similar cut they exemplify the standardization of body measurements introduced by the concept of standardized sizes.

Despite limited consumer choice in the GDR - fashion options were scarce as well- the establishment of the magazine Sibylle introduced a publication with aesthetic standards. It successfully combined fashion photos and everyday photographic observations. The fashion trends from Paris were not ignored and regularly featured in the “Vogue of the East”.

The British fashion magazine i-D appeared for the first time in 1980 and still contextualizes fashion in relation to music, youth culture and lifestyle. Street fashion is considered a source of inspiration for fashion. The magazine refuses to adopt an elitist understanding of fashion like that of Vogue. It depicts the world of young people of all genders. Its increasing success has allowed it to draw nearer to the taste of the masses.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and her choice of clothing consistently draw the attention of the media.

The Duchess wore this light blue and white striped summer dress from the clothing chain Zara at a polo match in 2018. A few days later, the dress was sold out across Europe.

Up until the middle of the 20th century, headscarves were seen more often in the public sphere. A headscarf provided several functions: it was worn in the workplace; it served as a stylish accessory; it provided protection from the sun, wind and weather; it was a popular head covering for women of any age, regardless of religious affiliation. This headscarf was worn by a Swabian farmer, who wore it while she worked in the fields.

In 2007, the Canadian Nour Kaiss established the label Nourka with the goal of designing high-quality fashion for Muslim women. This headscarf, printed with a repeating pattern of Venus symbols and a fist, can be read as feminist. This piece plays with the apparent contradictions inherent in the headscarf debate that flares up again and again, where feminist attitudes and the headscarf clash.