On what might have been the hottest day of the year in Berlin, rising fashion label SF1OG presented its new collection at Berlin Fashion Week. A collection that explores themes of romance, longing, and nostalgia by interweaving 2010s silhouettes with historical costume references.
The audience was fighting the heat by fanning themselves or pressing ice cubes from their matcha to their cheeks, but no one wanted to miss this show. The setting this time was a still-under-construction raw space on Kurfürstendamm: a light-filled hall with concrete floors transformed into an ephemeral forest. Pillars printed with cursive letters and music notes, through which the models later weaved their way.
SF1OG plays with the tension between innocence and the loss of it, contrasting dark indie sleaze looks and heavy make-up, kiss marks, with softer, feminine elements, like flowing skirts and delicately laced corsets. Evoking feelings of reckless teenage romance, the intensity and messiness of it, but also the hopeful naiveté. No wonder it can leave people idealizing and longing for those first romantic experiences even decades afterwards. The brand uses their collection as a metaphor, reminding us that romance can tip both ways- it can feel both light and dark, hopeful and desperate. The show’s mood was intensified by the soundtrack, soft percussion layered with hazy, dreamlike vocals, leaving you with a haunting feeling of yearning for something or someone.
Skinny jeans and leather leggings, sequinned micro shorts styled with wedge heels, and hooded vests brought back memories of the 2010s Tumblr era, complete with all-black eyeliner and straightened hair. The pieces that really stood out to me were the ones with historical influences layered in: high collars, lacework, corsets, hip padding, pointed shoes, and armor-like vests. The entire collection was rich in art-historical and literary references, ranging from medieval paintings to Robin Hood and The Little Prince associations. Personally, my favorite pieces were the skin-like, high collared leather vests with tattoos on them, a contemporary interpretation that gave them an unexpected twist.
The only thing I would’ve wished for, especially with the return of indie sleaze and its skinny silhouettes, would be to see more diversity in body shapes and sizes, like they did at their last show. Proof that skinny bodies are not a necessity for this look.
I truly enjoyed how the collection blurred gender lines. The looks could be worn by anyone, and that’s what makes the brand feel current and true to Berlin. A long pleated skirt, a mesh top, or fingerless lace gloves can level up anyone’s outfit.
After the show, I spoke to SF1OG’s designer, Rosa Marga Dahl, about her inspiration, romanticizing the past, as well as playing with gender norms through silhouettes.
This collection explores romance and nostalgia. What inspired that?
Rosa Marga Dahl: We thought about how you romanticize things that are no longer there. And so we looked at what things you miss, or you reminisce about, and why you romanticize them. A person, a place, or a time in your life. There are looks and moments in the collection that are related to people, but it can also be a time in life or a beautiful memory.
So this longing for past memories played a big part.
Rosa Marga Dahl: Exactly, but it can even be a bad memory you later romanticize; there’s a certain darkness to that, too. That’s why there’s also this dark vibe in it. It’s about missing, remembering, but on a romantic level.
Some models wore headbands with arrows pointed towards them. Is it Cupid’s arrow?
Rosa Marga Dahl: Exactly, this is the Cupid that shot the person in the head. But in fact, the inspiration came from a historical costume book. And in it, we found these nuns from France who wore a similar headpiece. It was a circle, and inside there was a little bush, and we thought, it’s so strong. So we really wanted to use that in our collection and integrate that on a new level.
I also noticed a lot of men in skirts, leggings, mesh tops, generally looks playing with femininity. How do you play with gender roles in fashion?
RMD: I think because I’m a female-identifying person, thinking of menswear, I always put a bit of my feelings into it, I would say. That’s how I would analyze it, because for me it comes naturally to see this. For example, the skinny silhouettes also play a bit on romanticizing the past, like when I grew up, for example. We also have some funny references, like Justin Bieber being on a stage in 2008 with huge sneakers and skinny jeans. That was also in there. We always want to have different kinds of personas walking, and then some of them are more feminine
Would you say that also influences who can identify with the brand? That everyone could wear the same look?
RMD: Totally. For me, it’s always really important the way we style things that it’s really telling a story. In my opinion, if you pick apart the looks, each and every single piece can be totally worn by anyone who likes it. You’re able to really tone it down, like strip it down to its basics. Then it’s actually neither very feminine nor masculine and can be interpreted by each person for themselves. In the styling, it always reflects a bit of a more intense and specified version.
I loved the makeup and styling detail of the kisses on the neck; it reminded me of a hickey.
RMD: They’re very cute. It was an idea of our makeup lead, because we thought, what do we do for makeup? And then we always want to incorporate some symbolism into it. For example, we also had some tattoos done together with a Berlin-based artist. But also, this kissing stain was actually trying to tell the story of a memory of a person, which is really the bottom line of the whole thing. Similar to the memory of a night with someone. You go home, and the moment’s gone, but this is still stuck on you, and it stained you in a way.
I love the indie sleaze looks. But I also wonder with the return of the skinny jeans, and leggings, there also comes this return to romanticising skinnier bodies. Talk about romanticizing things that can be very bad for us. As a designer, is that something you think about? How you present these looks and what bodies you present them on?
RMD: So I would honestly say that I think anyone can wear a slim silhouette. I also will very honestly say that we didn’t have the time to do a proper plus-sized look this time. Last time we did, which was also already in our more slim era, I would say. This time it fell short, and I was really sad about it, actually, because I totally see all bodies and all body shapes in this.
