Following the Wall’s destruction, it became a cheap living destination and therefore a haven for alternative lifestyles: artists, musicians, intellectuals and renegades have flocked to the war torn city for decades in search of freedom and affordability. “There was no establishment, only space, and you could define things for yourself.”.....
ON CULTURE cassidy george
“When the wall came down and it was like the wild west for creatives. There was no establishment, only space, and you could define things for yourself. ”
Following the Wall’s destruction, it became a cheap living destination and therefore a haven for alternative lifestyles: artists, musicians, intellectuals and renegades have flocked to the war torn city for decades in search of freedom and affordability. “The wall came down and it was like the wild west for creatives,” explains Maria Koch, the co-founder and lead designer of 032c Apparel. “There was no establishment, only space, and you could define things for yourself. That’s why it ended up not being a place of glamour, but rather like a club, a place of freedom for certain ways of being.” Even after the West absorbed the East, the city retained its leftist spirit, which played a key role in the creation of its famed, hedonistic venues.
For the most part, nightlife feels synonymous with the city’s visual identity. “Berlin is often considered somewhere absent of boundaries, a kind of contemporary bohemia,” says Mumi Haiati, founder of the fashion agency, Reference Studios. “In nightlife, a sense of liberation is tangible, which of course makes for a great foundation for creativity.” Photographer Vitali Gelwich agrees, “It’s not top secret. Clubs like Berghain are huge cultural institutions at this point, and I assume are interesting and influential to every successful creative here, in some capacity.”
