In a world teeming with uncertainty, fashion emerges as an elixir for healing, a canvas for telling stories, and a compass pointing towards serenity. Pioneering designers Benjamin Huseby and Serhat Isik, of the German brand GmbH, echo this sentiment in their GmbH Spring/Summer 2024 collection. Embracing turbulence and transforming it into an oasis of tranquility, the collection is a testament to resilience and the beauty of metamorphosis. This collection marks the duo’s creative rebirth following a year strewn with professional hiccups and personal hardships.
Swimming against the tide, Huseby and Isik consciously pressed pause on their professional collaboration with Trussardi. Adding to this tumult, Isik confronted a perilous automobile accident. Both experiences nurtured their longing to craft a collection that personified lightness and healing.
The release of their 2024 menswear collection intersected with Eid al-Adha, a significant Islamic event epitomizing the Qurbani ritual. “Qurbani represents sacrifice, yet it also signifies a profound closeness to divinity and spirituality. It encapsulates the journey through rituals that ultimately culminate in healing“, elucidated Isik. Drawing inspiration from this spiritual essence, the designers embarked on a quest to alchemize chaos into serenity. Their design progression from white to black, mirroring the sun’s path, symbolized their reorientation.
In this collection, Huseby and Isik revisited their sartorial roots. Their two-zip jacket from the previous season reappeared, harmoniously teamed with their emblematic double-zip trousers – a nod to the simplicity of German carpenter pants. These zip features found a home on shoes and a shaped asymmetric halter, crafting an unusual amalgamation of robustness and lyricism. Printed pieces boasted protective spells, while jackets with arch-like cutouts paid tribute to the finesse of Islamic architecture, reminiscent of the awe-inspiring Alhambra.
One eye-catching ensemble involved a jacket paired with a bandage-like bathing suit that relocated their iconic crisscross design from shoulders to hips. “The rich lake culture of Berlin stimulates an effortless transition from a lakeside rendezvous to a bustling event or the pulsating energy of a club“, shared Isik, adding a novel perspective to maillot-dressing for men.
Draping appeared to be an ongoing narrative for the designers, following their fall collection adorned with trains. Isik derived inspiration from an old family photograph showcasing him in a cape during his circumcision ritual, while Huseby reminisced about his childhood frolics with his mother’s wedding sari. To encapsulate this sense of drape, they invented a detachable sash/cloak hung on a ring worn as a necklace, attached to a tank. The fabric was threaded through a loop on the opposing hip, paired with airy skorts, concocting an ensemble that heralded a new age of strength – a harmonious fusion of resilience and delicacy.
At its core, the GmbH Spring/Summer 2024 collection portrays a narrative of transformation – a transformation from disarray to order, from uncertainty to faith, and from hardship to healing. It is a testament to the power of the human spirit to rise from the ashes and craft beauty from the chaos, a story stitched together by the threads of resilience and the loom of creativity.
Read more: Jacquemus Fall/Winter 2023
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