How fashion stages personal and collective identities

From July 1 to 4, Berlin Fashion Week presented itself with 35 shows and numerous large and small events under the motto “The responsible movement of freedom, inclusion, and creativity”. The organizers counted a total of almost 28,500 guests. A highlight of the fashion days was “Neo.Fashion.” as a platform for up-and-coming talent. In the Atrium Tower at Potsdamer Platz, several graduates, up-and-coming designers and digital artists from the HfK Bremen presented their ideas and designs to a specialist audience, fashion enthusiasts and media representatives over two days.
The “Neo.Fashion. 2024” kicked off with a panel talk on the topic of ‘Digital fashion: visionary insights into the integration of 3D and AI’. Experts such as Daniel Mohr, HfK graduate in Integrated Design, discussed the applications of 3D software in the fashion industry. There was also an exhibition of digital designs, for which around 50 works by established 3D artists and students were selected. These were shown on screens on the catwalk throughout the festival, inviting the public to take a closer look at virtual fashion. 
Gongxu Sun, HfK Master's student in fashion design, was also there. His passion lies in the study of queer bodies and the combination of classic uniforms with sportswear. “I have been working intensively with 3D fashion design for a year now and used it to complete my master's thesis. This experience has shown me the immense potential of 3D design for the future of fashion,” he emphasizes. By designing and perfecting garments in a digital space before physical production, the technology reduces the need for excessive patterns and minimizes material waste. It enables “rapid prototyping and iterative improvements, allowing designs to be experimented with and refined more efficiently. This approach not only supports a more sustainable design environment, but also opens up new avenues for creativity and innovation.”
In Berlin, Gongxu Sun presented his work “Perfect Boy”. Using contrasting cultural expectations, traditional family and social obligations in the home country versus individualistic and aesthetic constraints abroad are thematized. Two iconic items of clothing - the bomber jacket and the school tracksuit - serve as symbolic representations. The bomber jacket, inspired by the queer community adapting right-wing symbols, stands for freedom. The school tracksuit, which represents conformity, also has meaning in queer fetish culture. By reinterpreting these garments, Gongxu Sun reflects on the dual identities that individuals navigate in order to meet different expectations of masculinity and criticizes how social constructs shape personal and collective identities.
After this prelude, almost 100 students from eleven institutions across Germany showed what they have been working tirelessly on over the last few months. In the five Collective Graduate Shows, the audience was able to see the Bachelor's and Master's collections of the young designers for themselves. Julia Meyer, HfK Integrated Design Master's student, was one of the nominees for the “Neo.Fashion. Award” and thus ‘best graduate’ of the HfK Bremen.