Down the graffiti-laden alleyways of Friedrichshain, you will find streetware shops, urban brands and all kinds of unusual inner-city stores with unconventional merchandise. In a corresponding light, the more aristocratic suburb of Savignyplatz is rising up as a classy new hub for rare and valuable antique stores, as well as refined, avant-garde fashion. These two budding city neighbourhoods may contrast sharply with each other, but in comparable terms, both are emerging as principal locales where fresh-faced, aspiring designers are choosing to set up businesses and build up a recognition in Berlin. With very different target clientele, rent expenditure and personal characteristics, the many businesses that entrepreneurs set up in either Friedrichshain or Savignyplatz, are done so with a lot of strategical thought.
According to aspiring designer Nina Tonnies of Superschlupfer in Friedrischshain and designer duo Marlene Scheffel and Iskander Porodjuk of Luxxus Fashion Department in Savignyplatz, the most important thing to consider when setting up a business is the location, as this can make the difference between its failure and success, particularly in the delicate afterglow of the economic downturn, where all need to tread carefully.
Nina Tonnies, set up her designer underwear store ‘Superschlupfer’ in Friedrichshain two years ago, right before the global financial meltdown hit Berlin. Her store sells a wide selection of men and women’s underwear, ranging in prices from 10 up to 30 euros. Although she currently only sells reputable labels, Nina hopes to create and sell her own line of underwear someday. However this dream won’t be recognized until more funds come in.
Nina admits that the business did suffer a little during the global recession, but being able to scout the right location and design her own layout of the shop using expert knowledge gained from her preceding years as a graphic designer and having a creative knack for knowing what people like, has all contributed to the survival of Superschlupfer.
When asked ‘why Friedrichshain?’ Nina replied that it was a place for people who want to develop and act upon their creative ideas. With a funky underground vibe, as well as cheap rent, food and most importantly, beer, the store’s location in Friedrichshain was worth fighting for. The competition was intense and it took a lot of saving and investment, but Nina’s choice was essential in order to attract the necessary target customers.
Today, Nina considers her business to be establishing itself in the locality quite well and said she wants to try it out for a while before taking the next major step towards the creation of her own unique brand. One could say it is luck, but Nina’s success to date is largely a result of making her mark in this multicultural and urban community.
Similarly, Marlene Scheffel and Iskander Porodjuk opened Luxxus Fashion Department in the noble and exclusive atmosphere of Savignyplatz just one year after graduating together from a private design school in Berlin back in 2005.
The duo talked about the idea of starting a concept fashion store representing two different styles of fashion; haute culture and dance sport culture, as Iskander was a former dancer. With help from parents and after a lot of saving, everything Marlene and Iskander had invested was put towards the incorporation of the business. Today, two collections are produced annually in the attached studio. Aside from the daily range, Marlene and Iskander also create customized pieces for their clients upon request.
There is a common belief that Berlin is becoming more prominent in the fashion scene, alongside Paris and London. Sales are targeted towards people looking for individuality and customers tend to be young adolescents that are involved in dance sports and come from wealthy families. Young Russian dancers are Luxxus’ most popular clients.
Unfortunately it’s a Catch 22 state of affairs for Luxxus. In order to meet the target clientele, the business needed to be established in the richer part of Berlin, but Savignyplatz is such an exclusive area that few potential buyers come by to browse. With prices for a typical dance costume averaging around 1000 euros, it is not surprising that the income hardly covers the rent and material costs and the business sometimes struggles because of this. Furthermore, the pair admits that there is not enough money in Berlin, particularly as a result of the economic crisis and to add to the complexity, there is a lot of competition from other young designers that are in the same boat.
Marlene and Iskander have come to realise that it is impossible to live from profits and that for the survival of the business, some changes need to be made. Lots of talking and cooperation is essential and the team has some current active ideas on how they can do this. These include promoting the collection in eight different fairs that are going on around the city and making efforts to upsell the dresses. Again it all comes down to money and the partners would still have to pay a hefty fee to take part in fashion shows for the promotion of their line.
Nevertheless despite the adversity, Marlene and Iskander still have not lost their sense of humor, which they both know is an essential attribute to uphold in this industry. When asked why he quit dancing, Iskander answered “I would rather be a bad designer than a bad dancer”.
Berlin winter group 2009
UND WAS NUN?