Bernhard Willhelm Homme Spring 2006

[sea of stitches]

hmm, i actually like the two outfits in post #3. the sweater shape i not super enthusiastic about, but i don't find it hideous either. the other stuff though isn't very interesting to me at all. i have a bit of a soft spot for bernhard too, but usually only reserved for the women's collections. i hope you are right anna k, as i think he's already pushed his luck enough lately...

 

[birdofparadise]

The clothes are distinctive and always his. Lovely prints. The right person will get away with murder in the clothing...which makes me think of it all as slightly elitist in its own way. Even through his choice of models, he's trying to scratch beyond the surface and question for whom is fashion for. I think it's...important and very modern to begin to attack not only sexuality in fashion but also the luxury element. Years from now, perhaps, his constant reference points on ethnicity will seem landmark.

 

[*sayan]

Free

hehe, i just love free spirits, and to me BW is one. Can you imagine being free to create with no outside boundaries, living inside your body completely, creating your world, your perceptions. I cannot imagine the feeling one must have being able to trust himslef so much. Seing and building a dream, without fear. letting go...

I love Fashion, I love it!, and I love visionaires for loving themselves.

p.s. BirdsOfParadise:
"Years from now, perhaps, his constant reference points on ethnicity will seem landmark."

i could not agree more, thats all there is to this earth: getting to know each other

 

[Lena]

hehe, i just love free spirits, and to me BW is one. Can you imagine being free to create with no outside boundaries, living inside your body completely, creating your world, your perceptions. I cannot imagine the feeling one must have being able to trust himslef so much. Seing and building a dream, without fear. letting go...

totally agree BUT the question is what is the esthetic or innovative result of one's 'creation outside boundaries' what comes out when 'letting go'..

my first reaction to this collection is laughing out VERY loud..
which is good concidering i had another tough day today..
BW is just beyond words and i will agree with tricotineacetat on German
fashion being a lot more than this.. BW should be considered more as a
'belgian' than a German designer, contemporary berlin startups are amazingly creative and 'adaptable' no gimmick styles, hardcore new attitude.

thanks for the photos and the topic M-o-M

 

[orlem]

my first reaction to this collection is laughing out VERY loud..

Me too, and that's why I say it's a pretty good collection

Not for wearing though, but that doesn't much matter to me since I'm a girl

 

[travolta]

i like it. maybe it's too 80's, but regardless it hits me in the right place. the sweater on post # 3 first struck me, but everything is pretty great. i personally would feel quite happy to see someone walking down the street wearing his clothes...or clothes like this: good shapes and fun prints. i am a lover of volume...

hehe, i just love free spirits, and to me BW is one. Can you imagine being free to create with no outside boundaries, living inside your body completely, creating your world, your perceptions. I cannot imagine the feeling one must have being able to trust himslef so much. Seing and building a dream, without fear. letting go...

 

[Spacemiu]

like to much candy

i soa gree with you travolta and sayan.


I think ti's really cute, fun and free!
But I deffinetly wish he would move on from the 80's style, wich is to played out IMO, he is more original than that.
The volume and shapes are great, the prints are nice to.
it makes me smile.

 

[kit]

Kit, I´d agree with you on this if Bernhard Willhelm was anyhow a representation of German fashion, or if other German designer´s would follow the same aesthetic, as with the Japanese (Kawakubo, Miyake, Yamamoto, etc.).

Let me tell you that there is in fact a german fashion scene/german designers from which the majority is not at all like Bernhard Willhelm - people like Kostas Murkudis, Dirk Schönberger, Frank Leder, Stephan Schneider or Markus Stich are coming to mind, and they are all far away from the 80ies kitsch of Bernhard Willhelm´s work. It´s probably due to the fact that their designs are much more on second sight that they don´t get as much attention as Bernhard Willhelm.

I totally agree , tricoinacetat ,

I used to admire a Berlin designer called Rolf Handscuh .

It's just a rather pathetic joke that when one thinks of German ' fashion' , what first comes to mind is ESCADA !!!!!

 

[Alejandro]

I want that workout striped tank

I really want a lot of things from this collection, it's very me in a way

 

[Lena]

not to hard to customise one for your sweet self dear ale

 

[rach2jlc]

This is the fourth or fifth straight collection that I've seen from BW that is just ridiculous, culminating in the ugliest collection I've ever seen (the football suits from a few seasons back). If he keeps it up, he'll soon disappear entirely, because does anybody really buy much of this stuff?

As far as the whole "free spirit" idea, I think it is great in one sense, but not in the sense that he still calls himself a fashion designer. He should call himself a performance artist and stage performances if he wants to keep being so absurd. Rei Kawakubo is one who is certainly a free spirit, but even when she is WAY out there, she manages to make interesting clothes. BW over the last few seasons just makes clothes that make the wearer look like a badly dressed clown.

I couldn't wear these clothes myself, even if I wanted to, but they don't even peak my interest in an abstract sense (like CDG or even Galliano, which aren't necessarily my style but are still interesting). To be honest, his sense of fun, freedom, humor, etc. just seems to have gone over the edge into sheer nonsense.

John

 

[travolta]

i can see what you are saying from a business point of view -- i'm not sure many guys will run out and buy this. but i'm glad he did it -- it tickles me, and inspires me; however, i wouldn't spend the money on it, but i would make me want to put together a fun whimsical outfit. it makes me want to create.
i think sheer nonsense is really relevant sometimes -- pure silliness, and it makes total sense when applied to fashion.

 

[AlexN]

Such an awful and pointless joke

 

[travolta]

The clothes are distinctive and always his. Lovely prints. The right person will get away with murder in the clothing...which makes me think of it all as slightly elitist in its own way. Even through his choice of models, he's trying to scratch beyond the surface and question for whom is fashion for. I think it's...important and very modern to begin to attack not only sexuality in fashion but also the luxury element. Years from now, perhaps, his constant reference points on ethnicity will seem landmark.

agreed. very insightful

 

[softgrey]

This is the fourth or fifth straight collection that I've seen from BW that is just ridiculous, culminating in the ugliest collection I've ever seen (the football suits from a few seasons back). If he keeps it up, he'll soon disappear entirely, because does anybody really buy much of this stuff?

As far as the whole "free spirit" idea, I think it is great in one sense, but not in the sense that he still calls himself a fashion designer. He should call himself a performance artist and stage performances if he wants to keep being so absurd. Rei Kawakubo is one who is certainly a free spirit, but even when she is WAY out there, she manages to make interesting clothes. BW over the last few seasons just makes clothes that make the wearer look like a badly dressed clown.

I couldn't wear these clothes myself, even if I wanted to, but they don't even peak my interest in an abstract sense (like CDG or even Galliano, which aren't necessarily my style but are still interesting). To be honest, his sense of fun, freedom, humor, etc. just seems to have gone over the edge into sheer nonsense.

John

good post...
couldn't agree more...

 

[*sayan]

i have to say the small amount of BW clothes i saw and tried on were very cool and easy to wear. They were a toned down version of the show, maybe he styles the show with bigger sizes for the look. It just wasnt that extreme in real life.

 

[Lena]

Such an awful and pointless joke

on the point Alex

*still laughing loud everytime i browse the BW photos,
brilliant pick-me-up thread

 

[kit]

Browns of South Molton Street always sells BH on its e-shop site , so there MUST be a market for this among the ' more money than sense brigade ....... '

http://www.brownsfashion.com/menfashionthree.html#willhelm

 

[coconut]

a friend of mine buys bw every season at heimat in kologne - 30+, buff, well educated, journalist. he calls it post-glamour and ironical. what i liked about the wierder collections is that the pieces have this 3D feel due to the techniques bw uses - it's not as simple as it is on the pictures.

and it's always about individual pieces right? noone's obliged to wear the total look, n'est ce pas? and if you break the catwalk image you'll have just enough to spice up any quiet outfit without going overboard.

 

[faust]

The clothes are distinctive and always his. Lovely prints. The right person will get away with murder in the clothing...which makes me think of it all as slightly elitist in its own way. Even through his choice of models, he's trying to scratch beyond the surface and question for whom is fashion for. I think it's...important and very modern to begin to attack not only sexuality in fashion but also the luxury element. Years from now, perhaps, his constant reference points on ethnicity will seem landmark.

years from now, and probably not that many, BW will be out of business if he keeps this circus up, once his teenager-with-money audience grows up. this is not original by any means - this is just a pathetic copy of van Bierendonk (sp?), so let's not laud Bernard for his originality. This is not just bad, it's arrogant. he may question some things, but i would like to pose this question - who would be ARROGANT enough to pay the big bucks Bernard charges to look like a poor, abused, hungry African who dressed in scraps of what the Western world throws at him?