Apr 5–Jul 8, 2011
Spot on: Fashion
The Haus der Kulturen der Welt began this concerted effort to highlight the creative potential of design students in Berlin in 2010 with its event series Spot on: Fashion. In doing so, the Haus, whose unique architectural form makes it predestined for discussions about design, has created a platform for innovative, non-commercial fashion presentations. This platform continues to expand in 2011.
In 2010, the featured academies were the MDH – Media Design Hochschule, ESMOD – Internationale Modeschule, Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee, the HTW – Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft and the Lette Verein. In 2011, the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee visits the Haus der Kulturen der Welt once again. On 5 April, the Greenlab, which is part of the KHB, addresses current questions and positions on the subject of sustainable design with a one-day symposium entitled Green Design 2.0 Learning from Nature. And on 8 July, the Kunsthochschule is putting on two fashion shows entitled seefashion11, featuring selected semester collections and diploma and master’s assignments by students of the fashion design program.
Berlin is considered the up-and-coming European fashion city of this century: radical street wear, young, internationally active ateliers, high-quality hybrid design, all inspired by the transformative powers of the metropolis that is Berlin. Berlin has also been named a UNESCO “City of Design”. The city owes this reputation in part to the excellently trained and educated graduates of its nine fashion design academies, where the emphasis is on teaching an avant-garde and sometimes interdisciplinary approach to fashion.
And while the Berlin fashion design academies presented so far at the SPOT ON: FASHION series all share this approach, there are still marked differences in their respective training programs and their specialized fields. The schools set their priorities according to technical and aesthetic trends along with questions and issues related to the fashion industry, such as sustainable design, China as a manufacturing center, the trend toward leisure and sports apparel and the use of innovative materials.
In cooperation with Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee