AAAREA’s mission is to allow people to experience fashion in the city. This is exactly what the “Helmut Fricke: FASHION” exhibition, curated by Florian Joeckel, one of the AAAREA Managing Directors, does: The stunning images full of stories from the catwalks in New York, Milan and Paris are put on display in renowned hotels, cult shops and trendy places in Frankfurt. Frankfurt-based photographer Helmut Fricke worked for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper all over the world for decades and captured lavish fashion shows, legendary supermodels and impressive moments from the runways with his camera. The exhibition, which will be open until 27 February, started with a tour of some of the locations, including the Hilton Frankfurt City Centre, the Jumeirah Frankfurt and the Massif Central. It makes fashion photography accessible across the entire city, and not only to fans of fashion and photography, but to everyone. Outstanding works in Frankfurt City – or, to use the words of mayor Peter Feldmann: “Photography that makes you doff your hat.”
Sustainability and digitalisation were the key words at the Frankfurt Fashion Week. Designer and sustainability expert Christine Fehrenbach (Consultant Sustainable Brand Transformation) combined the two subjects perfectly in our satellite event “Transforming Frankfurt Fashion – The Frankfurt Fashion & Design Forum”. She curated an exhibition in which she introduced local designers and artists who focus on sustainable fashion. Sustainably produced bags by “the paperbag” and dresses made of men’s shirts by “LIMO WARDROBE” were on display for one week in the cleanly designed space of electric car manufacturer Polestar. Following the opening on Monday, which was attended by Frankfurt Economic Development GmbH, the exhibiting designers exchanged ideas in daily digital showcase talks that were broadcast as live streams and answered all the questions of initiator Christine Fehrenbach and moderator Beatrice Steiner. The event culminated in the panel discussion “Fashion and Design in Transition. An Opportunity for the Future?” with guests including Alexander Lutz (Managing Director of Polestar Germany), Bettina Bär (Show Director for Neonyt and Val:ue) and Benjamin Mandos (Got Bag).
High fashion in a club atmosphere: Under the theme of “L.A. Nights”, trendy men’s fashion label Baldessarini presented its new autumn/winter 2022 collection in the form of a digital fashion show at no less a location than legendary night club Gibson right on the Zeil, Frankfurt’s main shopping street. Modern designs, dancers, a live DJ and a hint of gin & tonic combined with a mixture of club vibes and fashion show created the perfect atmosphere for a unique virtual show experience. The Gibson also became the site of a première that breaks with traditional gender roles: In addition to the male models, five female models walked along the catwalk in looks from the men’s collection for the first time.
Contact with people. Showcasing what you have created. Offering an opportunity to touch products. These are aspects that Alisa Menkhaus, founder and art director of sustainable made-by-order label SUSUMU AI from Berlin, has missed the most recently. Having won the “Frankfurt Stage” project of the Fashion Council Germany, her brand, which focuses on sustainability, craftsmanship and inclusion, got the opportunity to present its first fashion show at the “Danzig am Platz” venue in cooperation with other sustainable brands. In an effort to make the brands directly accessible to the customers, fashion fans had the opportunity to purchase items from the show at the pop-up workshops in the Jumeirah Frankfurt hotel the next day. This was an idea put forward by AAAREA that Alisa Menkhaus raved about during the casting for the show. For one whole day, visitors were able to purchase not only the garments from SUSUMU AI, but also jewellery by Anna Auras, bags from label Frau Frieda, shoes from Maison Baum and glasses by Leinz. The passion for sustainable, long-lasting and high-quality fashion was evident in every one of the pieces and brought the theme of the show full circle: “Continuous Love.”
Some projects remain present in the city after the Frankfurt Fashion Week. In addition to the “Helmut Fricke: FASHION” exhibition, our exhibition project “RUNWAY on the B(eautiful) level”, which turns the B level of the Hauptwache train station into a different kind of runway, will remain in place until 10 February 2022. The project is a cooperation with the Professional Association of Freelance Photographers and Film Creators (Berufsverband Freie Fotografen und Filmgestalter e.V. (BFF)), its British sister organisation (AOP) and local transport operator Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt am Main (VGF).
Frankfurt Fashion Week winter 2022 – how was it? Not quite as planned, no. But there was a great deal of potential and drive to get something going and provide people with an experience beyond the restrictions, and to turn Frankfurt into a fashion city for a week – and more. All that remains
Stay tuned!
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