Design & Culture by Ed

What’s better than spending a rainy July day on visiting your favourite Berlin spots? Going for the sale-season triathlon? Discovering new designers? Induldging yo’self in tuna tataki? I think nothing can beat those…

Few days ago, The Store and Berlin-based label Ottolinger launched an exclusive collection of tie-dyed t-shirts and sweatshirts in all tones of rusty-brown, illustrated by the brand’s friend and collaborator @ruffiodoom (Instagram nickname). Also, the paint-covered accessories caught my eye – choose between the customized Nike AF1 sneakers and the tiny-miney hand-bags with souvenir charms (you know, the tourist ones, like the ‘I love Italy’ trash) attached. One-off DIY feeling of Ottolinger is Christa Bösch’s and Cosima Gadient’s signature style, perfectly fitting Berlin’s current creative energy.

Torstraße 1 (enter through Soho House Hotel). More about The Store here.

Fiona Bennett‘s store is both a beautifully lit display of the brand’s headwear and an atelier filled with local petites mains of millinery. We were all considering one of those summer-y straw Panama hats, the house’s new addition…

Potsdamer Straße 81-83

Sticks ‘n’ Sushi is a brand new spot which explores Japanese cuisine in a modern, but quite relaxed way. From delightful sushi with wagyu and a wide selection of sashimi to bowls of edaname and signature ‘Emotion’ set, the place is the right choice for a quick-lunch. The industrial interior à la former warehouse with spacious interior makes it super appealing.

Potsdamer Straße 85

Andreas Murkudis is a must-go whenever I visit the city. This time, my favourite concept store invites you to experience the Birkenstock Box. The travelling ‘retail experiment’ in Murkudis’ courtyard will stay there till 22nd of July. It offers slightly revamped Birkenstock sandals, created exclusively for Andreas Murkudis If you’re not really into cult orthopedic sandals, and a massive Céline sale doesn’t excite you (ok, that’s creepy), then you will surely fall in love with the massive installation by Kostas Murkudis – a line of satin dresses hanging down the ceiling, forming a rainbow colour palette. Looks very, very impressive.

Potsdamer Straße 81e

See you in Berlin!

Sometimes, innocent morning scrolling on Instagram hurts. My heart ached, while I was reading Colette’s latest post. Hoped it’s a late prima-aprilis kind-of-pun. But when all Parisians started posting the signature, blue dots, this became a fact – Colette closes its doors. The boutique on rue St. Honore was founded in 1997 by Colette Roussaux (who decided for retirement), and has been led by her daughter Sarah Andelman in recent years. “It’s the only shop where I go because they have things no one else has,”Karl Lagerfeld told BoF last year. “I buy watches, telephones, jewellery there — everything really! They have invented a formula that you can’t copy easily, because there is only one Colette and her and Sarah are 200 percent involved.”

An era ends on the 20th of December. By that time, the most famous spot in Paris will reach its 20 years of ‘hype’ existence. When I visited Colette for the first time in 2007, it felt like a fashion mecca, where everything, BUT everything was (and still is) the ultimate holy grail. Colette became the example for all concept stores around the world to follow. The idea of having high-end brands like Dior together with streetwear favourites and niche books felt like out of this world, like total non-chalance. And it was the Colette’s founder who did that first. If you think of the number of collaborations Colette has done with all their brands – from sequin totes by Ashish to the current Balenciaga installation – its a chapter of fashion history on its own rights. As for now, the official statement of the store says: Until our last day, nothing will change. Colette will continue to renew itself each week with exclusive collaborations and offerings.

In other words, it’s another sad, sad day for the fashion industry.