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TEDxBerlin TALKS – A Cultural Take On The Anatomy of Fashion

No products, no trends, no textbook information, nor marketing strategies. For its recent edition held in parallel with Berlin Fashion Week, the latest TEDxBerlin talks on fashion had a clear, concise point of focus: Ideas. Ideas that drive one to create, ideas that reproduce new ones, and ideas that build stories to be narrated to the masses… Simply put, the ideas that play a pivotal role in creating what we today call "fashion."

Togla Ra

Photo: TEDxBerlin TALKS, BFW AW26 © Spyros Rennt

Taking place at the iconic Kraftwerk, powered by Reference Studios in partnership with INTERVENTION, TEDxBerlin hosted its first series specifically dedicated to fashion and design in an open discussion format.

As creative figures from both Germany and abroad aligned their voices, the event became a genuine metaphor for how communities can build a stronger, fairer, and more free-spirited essence for the industry. What the salon experienced was beyond a regular conference, the spirit was palpable, the inspiration was there. Each panel, enriched by invaluable expressions of creativity, took attendees on a journey, a collective brainstorming session that created a microcosm where creativity existed as a fundamental mindset.

When Enthusiasm Faces Structures

The first session, moderated by Berlin-based journalist Valerie Praekelt, welcomed Mumi Haiati, founder of Reference Studios, and René Célestin, founder of OBO Agency. Focused on the panel’s title, Sustaining Enthusiasm, Haiati and Célestin discussed how creativity remains present within, and interacts with, technological and logistical processes. While academic and professional structures from security protocols to organizational norms were reexamined and questioned, the conversation struck a perfect balance between their creative stances and industry insights. From the ideal length of a fashion show to perceptions of visibility, Haiati and Célestin gifted the audience an energetic and eye-opening discussion.

Institutions, Expressions, and Consequences

Two powerful voices taking Berlin to the world, GmbH founders Serhat Işık and Benjamin Alexander Huseby, participated in a profound conversation with global fashion icon Edward Buchanan for the third session, Institutional Speech and Creative Positioning.

Buchanan, who became the first Black creative director of a major European luxury house at Bottega Veneta in the '90s, is a revolutionary figure in the journey toward inclusivity. Işık and Huseby, meanwhile, are known for their vocal awareness of humanistic and political affairs, standing up for marginalized communities and oppressed nations.

As these figures merged their voices to discuss how institutional tolerance is structured and why authenticity cannot be separated from the consequences of public expression, they proved that genuine, transparent voices can indeed coexist in fashion. But there was more to hear from these leaders.

When asked about Berlin’s role in shaping innovation, Serhat Işık told The Columbist: “I think what’s most innovative about fashion in Berlin is that it is still very free and creative. It is where innovation thrives in the first place. That’s what Berlin Fashion Week feels like to me compared to other cities like Paris or Milan, which we’ve also experienced many times as GmbH.”

Benjamin Huseby, who believes creativity is all about interaction with community and different disciplines regardless of segmentation, added: “I think fashion is not independent from what else is going on in the world. What we are seeing is a kind of monopolization, and we are losing independent, young, talented designers. Everything becomes about institutions.”

Huseby also noted that the industry seems to have forgotten the topic of sustainability, stressing the need to reinitiate that vital conversation.

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