In a stunning showcase at Berlin Fashion Week last week, rising star designer Laura Gerte unveiled her latest collection, “Deviant Defiant.” This collection invites us into an audacious exploration of willfulness and the captivating trope of the female villain. Laura Gerte’s designs sculpt radical silhouettes that artfully fuse raw femininity with future punk aesthetics. Each piece dances with vitality, twisting and pulsing with an energy that is as playful as it is defiant, provocative yet soft, fragile yet resilient. Crafted from reclaimed clothing, deadstock, and recycled textiles, Gerte’s garments transform the remnants of the past into textile hybrids that tell stories of their previous lives. Each piece is not merely clothing, but a transformative experience.
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Inspired by the cultural narratives surrounding the female villain, “Deviant Defiant” delves into themes of willfulness, mythology, otherness, and the multifaceted experience of womanhood. This collection challenges societal expectations, reimagining villainous women not as cautionary figures but as powerful embodiments of agency and autonomy. The female villain serves as a mirror, reflecting cultural anxieties surrounding female power, knowledge, sexuality, and maturity. She becomes “evil” simply by refusing to be subdued.
In this collection, the figure of the villainess is rendered anew, stripped of cliché and costume. Dark hues of sculpted wool, fluid jersey, rigid leather, and ethereal mesh play together, highlighted through rich textures and innovative drape. The resulting silhouettes are slim and elongated, yet captivatingly disrupted by unexpected volumes, an embodiment of Gerte’s vision of strength touched with fragility.
A notable highlight from the collection is the artistic collaboration with Dr Martens. This partnership exemplifies a conscious engagement with the Original Icons of the esteemed footwear brand. Through Gerte’s innovative upcycling approach, these iconic shoes have been transformed into bespoke garments and accessories, their original purpose shifted, yet their structural and cultural integrity beautifully preserved. The showpieces evoke dark, subversive themes while reinforcing the collection’s feminine narrative through their surprising forms.
While the essence of Gerte’s design remains an elegant dance between strength and delicacy, this season’s collection resonates with an added layer of seriousness, maturity, and eroticism.
The captivating show took place in a vast, reclaimed department store, artistically transformed to enhance the collection’s atmospheric impact. A thought-provoking monologue preceded the presentation, resonating with the collection’s core themes and inviting the audience to dive deeper into Gerte’s visionary world.
As we look to the future, Laura Gerte is undoubtedly a designer to watch, a luminary who is redefining the boundaries of fashion, one audacious silhouette at a time.
Creative Direction: Laura Gerte
Production: Elli Crespo
Styling Direction: Luisa Probst
Hair & Make Up Direction: Philipp Verheyen
Casting Direction: Benedikt Verheyen
Set Design: Marilena Büld
Light Design: Lars Murasch
Movement Direction: Dafni Krazoudi
Monologue: Samja Zad
Photo: Emilio Tamez
Video: Thilo Garus
Guest Management & PR: haebmau Atelier
