Photographer Axl Jansen on the Coolness of the Berlin Fashion Scene and how “Art is Always a Kind of Danger in Itself”

Ears here! Do yourself a favour and take a break from doomscrolling Trump...

Berlin fashion week is about to roll around again, and we're inspired. Not least because last year Fashion Council Germany became the first to officially adopted Copenhagen Fashion Week's sustainability framework, complete with 20 minimum standards for participating designers.

If you don’t live there, what’s your impression of the city's vibe? Dark, grey and dystopian?! In winter, there’s a bit of that for sure, but it also crackles with electric creativity. Largely devoid of corporate nonsense, Berlin's fashion culture fosters indie talent, DIY and sustainability innovation, all mixed up with the underground arts scene.

Think fashion as dialogue, self-expression and provocation. Community over ego. And embedding political movements - including sustainability and DIEB - into the shows.

Plus, of course, the legendary club scene is never far away.

“It is alternative,” says this week’s guest, much-loved fashion photographer, cult magazine maker and adopted Berliner Axl Jansen. “They don’t nip on their champagne and talk about art; they live it. Life is dangerous, you know? As an artist you have to define always new ideas, you have to find new paths of thinking, so it’s always in a kind danger, art itself.”

While this conversation isn't really about politics - it's about creativity, fashion, music - Clare's question to you is: Can we disassociate these things? We don't think so.

Art reflects the times we live in - and these, once again, are turbulent ones.

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