In these uncertain times, Ottolinger’s designers Cosima Gadient and Christa Bösch figure the best strategy is to “just buckle up and stay focused.”
“We have to be sharper where we might have been looser before, be leaner and more precise,” they said during a video interview. To that end, for resort they kept everything close to home, literally and figuratively. This lookbook was shot in the street in front of their Berlin studio, as well as the park—a former airfield—behind.
The designers described this collection as not a uniform, exactly, but rather as a true reflection of how they personally dress for moving through the world, from gallery openings or parties to travels farther afield. “Berlin is a place of transit,” Gadient offered. “It’s not like Paris, where you show up with a suitcase and a dream of staying.”
Little, if any, distinction is made between day and night. Gold lurex numbers nodded to the German capital’s famed nightlife, a safe space where the designers said they felt free, connected, and in touch with their dreams. Here and there, they embellished pieces with donut-cut rose quartz or lapis as good luck charms for moving through tough moments. Ottolinger diehards will likely take to wild statements like those cat and dog prints, but the criss-cross dresses in ribbed cotton jersey could win over some new fans.
Throughlines from the current collection included painted denims, a raw-edged shift dress and deconstructed men’s suiting with a cross-over fly. Jersey mesh prints reprised the spirit and mood of urban art. Cardigans designed with extra trim and a “slightly deranged” fastening system could be worn creatively or classically. The brand has also recently introduced swimwear, and that material returned here on a royal blue dress (yes, it’s technically swim-friendly, but that’s not the intent). A new logo played on that of American rock band Tool. And there’s a teaser in here of what’s in the pipeline: those showpiece peel-aways are made from scuba memory foam, an extension of the duo’s recent work with wetsuits. “Those show how we create shapes and find form,” Bösch noted. “It can be beautiful when things fall apart.”