2023-11-14 14:47:55
A fashion show in Berlin might not sound like anything special at first. In just a few months it will be Fashion Week again, from February 5th to 8th; It must be the 33rd or 34th edition, we don’t know for sure anymore.
Months before, however, last weekend (November 11th), a show had already been held – and it was no ordinary fashion show.
On the one hand, the Berlin designer Marcel Ostertag, who has often shown his fashion at Fashion Week, explicitly invited people to a charity event. The entire proceeds from the designer items that were shown there and then sold will be donated to Berlin animal shelters, which, according to the show, lack food and staff. On the other hand, it is noticeable this evening that the guests do not appear as a colorful fashion crowd as usual. The majority of visitors appeared in red clothing. An accident? Hardly likely.
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The color red is the identifying feature of the Female Red Club, a networking club for women that was invited that evening. Almost half of the club’s more than 100 members are said to have shown up. Not all of them know each other, and yet the identifying mark – the red clothing – has an impact: people find each other, recognize each other, and anyone who doesn’t wear red is just one of the other guests of the evening.
The atmosphere is reminiscent of a “James Bond” film
The club was founded in 2018 as the Red Ladies Club. “The prerequisite for club membership is openness, tolerance and empathy,” it says. And of course, members also have to pay a monthly fee, without which it would hardly be possible to plan and hold their own network events.
The club’s founder, Michaela Mumm von Oldenburg, also organized the show on Saturday evening together with the designer Marcel Ostertag and the Westin hotel director Tina Brack. Not bad at all: the piano is playing in the entrance area, the champagne is flowing, the atmosphere has something of a “James Bond” film.
And then suddenly a side door opens, the glasses are put aside, the catwalk opens. Ostertag appears on the catwalk and says that he has often been a guest at the Westin Grand Hotel on Friedrichstrasse with his shows. “The Westin Grand is like a second home for me,” explains Ostertag. “It always feels like a coming home.” For some members of the Female Red Club, however, this evening is a first – they are attending their first fashion show.
The collection seems a bit indecisive
Above all, Ostertag wants to emphasize that this evening is not just about fashion, but about the animals that are particularly close to his heart. “Today we are collecting money for animal protection,” announces Ostertag. It could be that one of the guests has already forgotten that. “I hope you all open your wallets today,” he adds before clearing the runway for his models.
Ostertag will be right, some guests of the evening will open their wallets very wide. Even for three exclusive “mystery outfits” that will be auctioned off on stage at the end of the show. The idea is simple: three bags can be auctioned off, each containing a voucher for a dress, a coat or a suit.
However, the person who purchases the bag does not simply receive a piece of clothing from the new collection. Ostertag will create the designs in consultation with the person in his studio in Berlin. Of course, the proceeds from the auctioned “mystery outfits” will also be donated.
However, the auction gets off to a slow start; the starting bid is 500 euros. But then things pick up speed and ultimately all three “mystery outfits” are auctioned together for 5,400 euros. Interestingly, two of them go to a man who sits inconspicuously in the third row and outdoes all the members of the Female Red Club with his bidding. If you want to donate without taking part, you just have to scan a QR code that was printed on the guests’ place cards; the Westin Gand Hotel also adds 1000.
The collection that Marcel Ostertag is presenting that evening can then be purchased in the hotel foyer: eye-catching faux fur and faux leather coats, a red glitter bodysuit, blazers in beige, pink and orange. Numerous patterns and various cut details paint a somewhat indecisive but also diverse picture. At the end of the evening, not all of the clothes racks were emptied – but a considerable amount of designer items were gone. The animal shelters will be happy.
#red #event