berlin fashion week: mongrels in common
(images via mbfwb)
oh! we’ve always had so much fun discussing the house of mongrels in common at berlin fashion week in the past (see s/s 2011, a/w 2011, s/s 2012, a/w 2012) that i’m quite sad opt is now on fast-forward mode and i simply don’t have as much time to do it. but designers christine pluess and livia ximenez debuted their s/s 2013 range in a presentation format in lieu of their typical runway show, so maybe they were in a quieter mood, too. at any rate, there were certainly less exits than we’re generally accustomed to from the label.
of course we were subject to their famous (and unlikely!) crossover topics, and the german site styleranking explained that the range, titled ‘home run for mods’ (trans.) “transposed a sporty theme and created a historically influenced combination of baseball and the subculture of the ’60s.” and “(d)elicate prints in black, white and neon yellow, coral, khaki and sometimes a dark blue mingled in a perfect synergy. Contrasting piping, raglan, set-in sleeve jersey blazers and blouses with rounded corners reminded us again and again with all the elegance of the sporting background of the collection,” (trans.) modeopfer 110 reported.
it wasn’t totally clear to me how, but the german site qvest also noted that the collection was some sort of a collab between the mongrels in common designers, stylist julia freitag, and another label called liebig, and although i did like the range, i will say it didn’t shine for me the way mic’s recent couple of shows have, leaving me to wonder if it was all the extra help. really, i got the sports factor, but as with some of their earlier work, i didn’t really get how the sixties-mod motifs factored in as strongly, finding the paint splatter to be the biggest additional factor. the site two for fashion, meanwhile, deemed it replete with (trans.) “clean lines and clear proportions.”
interestingly, the german site glam didn’t seem to fully grasp the mod notions either, making a bigger play for an underlying military theme (which i guess i could see, with all the khaki and cargo elements), while the random noise picked up on my paint-splatter suggestion in writing that (trans.) “(a) dotted print à la Jackson Pollock adorned the little further cut dress pants, the women’s suit or shirt with a white Peter Pan collar…In the choice of colour they put on their typical dark blue and yellow, but combine these for the summer with light Citron, white, olive, gray and delicate prints.” so there you are. some liked it (and indeed, there were several delicious pieces). but i can’t help but hope they return to their triumphs of the last two seasons—it seems the designers were doing better on their own.
(watch a short video here)
