As I mentioned last week, I connected with buddies Anja & Tetsu in Berlin over the weekend. They live together in NYC’s Chinatown but Anja is from Hamburg and Tetsu was born in Japan. Anja was integral to our clothes swap initiative I blogged about several weeks ago. I always got compliments when I wore something of Anja’s, even if it was several years old, because of her unique style sensibility. As we explored Berlin’s shopping possibilities, we couldn’t help comparing the gentrifying Mitte district to New York’s Soho. The expansion of worldwide chain stores and brand names has spawned a monoculture dominated by global labels such as Nike, Prada, and American Apparel. This makes it more and more difficult to pick up that unique item while traveling that sets oneself apart from other city dwellers.

I used the opportunity of a road trip from Berlin to Amsterdam to ask Anja, a graphic designer, and Tetsu, an architect, about how they still manage to stay ahead of the pack in terms of fashion in the wake of these factors.

BGFB: Describe your style.
Anja: Unorthodox mixtures; mixing different designs to make it more interesting. Not too much, but mixing 2-3 different styles. For example, wearing something very elegant but breaking it up with boots or a belt so it doesn’t become too much in one direction.
Tetsu: Anja’s a uniform strategy. She likes one thing and wears it.
A: I always have a favorite that I’m wearing until it dies & I replace it.
T: For me, love of vintage, like the 70’s, without following the immediate trend. And looking for unique detail. Proportion driven style. Importance in the silhouette profile. Colors are seasonal. But I would say I’m pretty conservative. Choice of material, definitely polyester & cotton. But the love of vintage is more the past and I’m going now in the direction of concept-driven and deconstruction/sculptural apparel entities. Meaning, for example, something kind of futuristic but not sci-fi. Something beautiful and sculpture-like that I’m still looking for. Symbolic and abstract. You could say I’m looking for something that doesn’t exist.
BGFB: How do you respond to the increasing presence of shopping districts like Soho and Mitte that have essentially identical stores?
T: No comment at this time, I need to have a lawyer present. (laughing). It’s a sad global change. I always like to see more local, unique, grass roots design. I think there’s a certain dependency by the consumer on what people want to look like and it’s being driven by the industry.
A: We were looking in the wrong direction (in Mitte). You need to find the young designers. Five years ago Mitte was a lot of young designers. It’s shifting, now they are somewhere else. There’s still a lot of young designers out there, too many in fact, you just have to find them. I know it’s really hard as a young designer to compete with the big brands. They are stitching things themselves so it’s expensive. In NY there are always department store sales and if you are lucky you can pay 20% more than wholesale. But if you are small you have one sewing machine and buying small amounts of cloth and therefore have to charge more and they’re still probably almost starving. So I like to support these young designers.
BGFB: What is your approach when shopping?
A: I don’t like shopping. I like looking, but not when I’m searching for something. Usually it jumps at me. Then I need to think about it. If it’s still there the next day, then maybe I get it. If I know right away it’s very rare. If I go to buy something specific, like I really need shoes, I will not find anything and I get really annoyed.
T: I definitely use a scanning technique. If something pops out that meets my needs then I buy it right away. There’s a whole retail psychology from the retailer’s point of view. There’s a certain spot in the entrance where you can see everything. I stand there and sweep L to R and it’s a very receptive thing. At the end of the day I’m looking for something that jumps out at me. I don’t go through the hangers one by one.

BGFB: Do you have any advice for people trying to create their own look?
T: Travel more instead of looking at magazines. Know yourself and understand the materials and find your preferences. Travel and see the cultural…there’s usually a climate reflection and the way people live. I prefer to have people understand the kind of variety & lifestyle instead of depending on the editors of magazines. I don’t watch that much TV or buy magazines. Even though I do spacial design.
A: I do people watching more. Old movies are a great resource for style, like from the forties. People on the street. I don’t buy magazines, I never did. If you see something in a shop I think about how I can wear it in a different way. Basically what we did at clothes swaps all the time.
BGFB: And speaking of clothing swaps, Galit is hosting one in Amsterdam this Saturday. Details:

Bring your discarded items and a bottle of wine to Floris Versterstraat 15 huis 1058 JL Amsterdam on Saturday May 19th at 17:00.
We will pile everything on the floor or sofa. Then, go shopping, or swapping!
And for b-good collection will be for sale!
Please let me know if you are planning to come and if you will bring your pile.
I’m looking forward to hear from you
Galit
www.b-goodfashion.com

-Jill Woodward