Berlin – You have to be in the mood for the Sunday crowds in Mauerpark; to the sneaking, pushing and shoving at the flea market, which is more like a cattle drive with shopping opportunities, especially when the weather is good. The situation is similar in the second-hand shops, where the big rummaging breaks out on Saturday: Hundreds of Berliners work their way through the six Humana floors at Frankfurter Tor, for example, like truffle pigs, always hoping for one big find. And if that doesn’t happen? Is the whole beautiful Saturday in the bucket.
Vintage shopping is much more convenient and easier – more goal-oriented, if you will. Because if you choose a well-stocked, small vintage shop, you don’t have to mutate into a truffle pig yourself. The industrious owners have already taken on the task of searching and finding: shops like Veist on Selchower Strasse in Kreuzberg or the Collect Boutique on Oranienstrasse in Kreuzberg have a well-curated range. Of course, you have to be a little lucky there, too – but the probability of finding that one second-hand item in sensational good condition is simply significantly greater if there aren’t 500 worn-out C&A shirts from the 90s to the right and left of it, sadly from the hang ironing.
outofuseberlin
Left: green cowboy shirt for 85 euros and strawberry T-shirt from Milan for 95 euros; right: green pear bowl for 45 euros and orange vase from the 70s for 75 euros.
Currently very popular with resourceful vintage connoisseurs: outofuseberlin. This is not a classic second-hand shop, but a vintage showroom where you can only shop by appointment. But if you book a slot with the founders Sissi Pohle and Pat Scherzer, you can look forward to an extremely carefully put together range of vintage parts from the fashion and interior sectors.
outofuseberlin
Left: blue flower vase for 85 euros and a salt and pepper set from Paris for 40 euros; right: biker leather jacket with large-format smiley decoration for 350 euros.
Pohle and Scherzer – something like the punk royal couple of the Berlin fashion scene – trundle through Europe in their bright yellow, ancient Mercedes, looking here and there and everywhere for new old parts for their showroom on Pappelallee. They often bring originals from Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel or Hermès home with them from their trips in the trunk – but their focus is on good design in general and not on old luxury goods in particular. That works: outofuseberlin has long been known beyond the city limits, and Sissi and Pat also cooperate directly with major international fashion brands.
outofuseberlin
Left: Maison Martin Margiela’s iconic copper-tone Tabi boots for €600; right: vintage earrings for 45 to 150 euros per pair.
Nevertheless, the two luckily always find time to tear something up in Berlin. Like next weekend: On Friday and Saturday, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., they open the doors to their wonderfully quirky showroom and host an exclusive pop-up shop at Pappelallee 7 – ironically not that far away from the Mauerpark cattle drive.
outofuseberlin Pop-Up Shop on April 8th and 9th, Pappelallee 7, Prenzlauer Berg. [email protected], phone: +49 178 9408051, www.outofuseberlin.com