Neukölln
leggings with shorts on top, and then a bandana. They all wear all black and always with North Face windbreakers. During the demonstrations they all wear similar jackets with their boots on and they all look the same. [Although normally], it’s a Berlin thing that we don’t think much about brands. It’s funny though, you always see like the middle aged, middle class Suburban dad’s wearing Wolfskin jackets… you know that this guy is into climbing, camping. Do people dress according to their subculture all the time? I would say so. Techno girls shave their heads, face tattoos, and wear all black. If I’m on the train I can tell exactly who’s going to a club. But it’s nice, liberating—I can go to a club here in my underwear and feel like completely normal and safe… like no one’s going to judge. I think the people who dress well in Berlin are always expats; when you meet people from Berlin they dress terrible. How do you think others perceive your dress? Do you dress to have others perceive you in a certain light? I’ve had moments in my life where I tried to be more like extravagant or even a bit more colourful, and I felt uncomfortable. Now I just dress more generic. Do you think it’s because you grew up in like North America? It’s much more superficial. I care but I wish I didn’t. You know? Fitting in by being alternative, right. It’s a cliché; fitting into a subculture. It’s really so contradictory. You have to fit in because if you wear different clothes when you’re going to a techno club, you don’t belong to the subculture [and may not get in]. What I find most interesting about Berlin is that everyone is just trying to put on a mask; they look really intimidating but they’re really sweet people… they dress to intimidate. How would you say that other people’s dress inspires you? I feel like you try to fight it, but when you see something and at first you don’t like the way that looks. But then you see it everyday for a year and then you grow to like it. I can’t really explain it but it just happens.
“What I find most interesting about Berlin is that everyone is just trying to put on a mask; they look really intimidating but they’re really sweet people… they dress to intimidate.”
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