projektGALERIE showrooms
A permanent fixture of Berlin Fashion Week is the design platform projektGALERIE. Sven Krüger explains projektGALERIE’s concept: “This is where fashion design meets art. The initial idea was to give young designers the chance to be inspired by art. Now a whole network of people interested in interdisciplinary exchange has built up. It is especially important to us that this isn’t a circle of people who just ‘consume’ Berlin’s special qualities but that the members also give something back to Berlin.”
projektGALERIE invites carefully selected designers to present their work in the HOF96 gallery space in Berlin-Mitte. These include experienced designers and young talents, avant-garde visionaries and streetwear and high fashion specialists. What counts is top quality that can compete on an international level, professionalism and of course potential – in other words, designers who innovate.
The nice thing is that at projektGALERIE art counts too. In January 2008, for example, the gallery hosted a truly memorable world premiere: two works, never before shown in public, showing European couturier Mario Borsato portrayed by none other than pop art doyen Andy Warhol. This was combined with a retrospective of Borsato Haute Couture photos and costumes.
This week’s events kick off with an opening party in projektGALERIE on June 30 in the gallery’s own showroom at Torstrasse 96. Doors open to a night-shopping session at 7 pm, marking the official launch of Berlin Fashion Week. But shopping is not the only attraction. The opening party also promises a combination of live acts, performances, fashion presentations and films on the coming season as well as (video) art portrayals and plenty of room for dancing. Artistic inspiration is provided this year by New York photographer Fumi Nagasaka and her exhibition “Dreaming till the sun goes down”.
An essential event for all bargain hunters is taking place in the Apple Design Gallery at Torstrasse 114 for the entire Berlin Fashion Week. projektGALERIE, local heroes such as Sopopular, Maqua and Penkov and international big names are offering their last-season creations at one-off prices.
Of course the end of Berlin Fashion Week is not a happy occasion. But go ahead and party anyway – to consolidate the contacts you made over the past few days, to show off your newly purchased finds from the designer sales, or simply because the legendary “Come Together” projektGALERIE closing party is always worth a visit. Following the Seven Star Gallery and the former Hungarian cultural institute HBC, this season’s location is no less spectacular. The Roadrunners Rock & Motor Club at Saarbrückenerstrasse 24 in Berlin-Mitte is the place to be on July 3. From 9 pm, culinary delights and other aural and visual highlights await you, including performances, art installations and films, pretty candy girls and music from Berlin acts Little Miss Luzifer and Female Macho.
There’s plenty to look forward to then as one thing is certain: in July 2009 projektGALERIE will once again be doing its best to make sure the days of the year when everything revolves around fashion are unforgettable. (German text by Carolin Skiba from AMD Academy Fashion & Design for creative face Magazine)
