German Fashion Design Links

• Training Opportunities and Professional Associations
• Museums
• Trade Fairs
• Competitions
• Online Portals

Training Opportunities and Professional Associations

• Deutsches Mode-Institut (German Fashion Institute) Comprehensive information on international trend devlopments in the areas of fashion and interior architecture.
• Gesamtverband der deutschen Textil- und Modeindustrie (Umbrella Organisation of the German Clothing and Fashion Industry) Represents the German clothing and fashion industry in questions relating to social policy, collective bargaining and economic policy. Offers current information and economic data on the industry.
• Internationaler Verband der Naturtextilwirtschaft (International Association of the Natural Clothing Industry) An alliance of businesses with the goal of producing high-quality natural clothing following strict ecological and social policy guidelines; assigns the quality seal of approval „Naturtextil.“
• VDMD – Gesamtverband Deutscher Mode- und Textil Designer e.V. (Association of German Fashion and Textile Designers) The most powerful professional representation for fashion and clothing designers in Germany. Numerous services, among others a comprehensive overview of fashion academies and technical universities in Germany via menu item; routeing to their websites.

Museums

• Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München (Bavarian National Museum) continue by selecting the menu item „Kostüme“ (German)
  Major costume collection, court dress constitutes the core of the collection, in addition bourgeois clothing and traditional costumes; special exhibitions on the development of court and bourgeois fashion.
• Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin (German Historical Museum Berlin) The collection „Clothing – Textiles“ encompasses approx. 15,000 pieces of civilian clothing from the middle of the 18th century to the present.
• Deutsches Schuhmuseum Offenbach (German Leather Museum, Offenbach) 15.000 international artefacts, among them sandals from ancient Egyptian graves, Empress Sissy’s silk boots and Joschka Fischer’s training shoes.
• Neues Museum – Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design (i.e. New Museum – State Museum of Art and Design), Nuremberg An international museum of contemporary art, with two collection areas: design (from the collections of the Munich Neue Sammlung – see above) and international contemporary art. The design collection is being continually expanded.
• Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin (Arts and Crafts Museum Berlin) Costume collection from the early 18th century to the present, featuring pieces by leading fashion designers from Charles Frederick Worth, founder of Haute Couture, to Versace; temporary exhibitions.
• Lipperheidesche Kostümbibliothek in der Kunstbibliothek (Lipperheid Costume Archives of the Art Library) World’s largest specialised collection documenting the cultural history of clothing and fashion, with approx. 40,000 books and magazines, manuscripts, paintings and approx. 100,000 drawings and photos: special exhibitions.
• Modemuseum Schloss Ludwigsburg (Ludwigsburg Palace Fashion Museum) This extensive textile collection presents fashions in clothing from the 18th – 20th centuries, as well accessories such as collars, gloves and fans.
• Museum of Arts and Crafts (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe), Hamburg The collection Fashion and Textiles encompasses about 60,000 objects, from ancient Egyptian grave goods to pieces by Yves Saint Laurent, Wolfgang Joop and Issey Miyake. Extensive textile and embroidery collection, changing special exhibitions.

Trade Fairs

• Igedo Fashion Fairs, Düsseldorf Four to-the-trade-only fairs under one roof where producers present themselves: CPD (Collections Premiere Düsseldorf) with women’s wear and accessories, HMD (HerrenModeDüsseldorf) with men’s fashion, Body Look with body-, beach- and leg wear, and Global Fashion.
• ispo winter, Munich An international to-the-trade-only fair for sport articles and sport fashion.
• Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Berlin IMG Fashion, world-wide organiser of fashion weeks, has established this fashion event in Berlin. Primarily German designers present their new collections at this event.
• Premium exhibitions, Berlin International to-the-trade-only fair for women’s and men’s collections, with focus on young innovative labels and trends. The offshoots in Düsseldorf and Munich are much smaller in scope.

Competitions

• Apolda European Design Award Die Region Apolda in Thuringia is the centre of the German knitwear industry. Only the top-ranking graduates of European universities selected by the organiser may apply.
• Innovationspreis textil + Mode (Innovation Award Textile and Fashion) Award of the umbrella organisation of the German textile and fashion industry (see „Professional Associations“) in the categories of fashion design, innovative textiles/textile design, and visual staging. Young graduates and independent designers can participate.

Online Portals

• Modabot News agency for avant-garde fashion.
• Modedorf This street style blog dicovers Düssedorf’s style and trends.
• modekultur.info – Magazine for Berlin The online magazine reports about the Berlin Fashion Scene and Fashion Design in Germany.
• Stilinberlin This street style blog shows what is being worn on Berlin’s streets.
• Styleclicker An excellent street style blog from Munich and other cities, its creator Gunnar Hämmerle even works for Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair now.
• TheLabelFinder Search engine for designers, fashion labels and shops world-wide, with focus on Berlin and Germany.
• www.textilwirtschaft.de Online trade magazine for the area of fashion and textiles by the trade magazine TextilWirtschaft, with current news. Some of the articles are accessible free of charge, others only for subscribers.