Achtland SS14

Welcome to the new smugness. That’s what ACHTLAND‘s collection appeared to be at first sight. But looking deeper and trying to find the message behind the fashion, you’ll see it’s neither narrow-minded nor old-fashioned. The label just succeeds in combining glaring extremes.

Stiff blouses over sporty vests – the collection is full of tension, embedding such opposites as elegance and handcraft. The designers behind the label, Oliver Luehr and Thomas Bentz, got inspired by the biggest preserved collection of outsider art and therefore named their SS14 collection ‘Prinzhorn’s Finches’. The inspiration is found in the details, like complex embroidery, printed textiles or in the layering. Reading the lines, the seams, the forms – the disparities become clear.

Judith Brachem