Esther Perbandt
ABOUT THE BRAND
Esther Perbandt is a premium fashion and jewelry brand founded in 2004. The designer was born in Berlin and has lived in Moscow and Paris. Her childhood and adolescence during the 70ies/80ies were strongly influenced by open-minded parents. Attending feminist movements and standing up for inclusivity from a young age gave rise to the avantgarde-driven ambitions that she followed later in life. She is considered the "Queen of Black" of Berlin, as she has been designing exclusively black collections for over ten years. From her store and atelier in Berlin, she supplies her customers around the world. In various media, Esther Perbandt talks about her black universe and makes an unmistakable statement against fast fashion. In 2020, she participated on Amazon Prime's American TV-series “Making the Cut” by Heidi Klum and came in second place.
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
– ZERO POINT - A Diary Entry
Berlin. A rainy, gray day. Why does everyone long for Berlin? I once left. Years passed. I returned. Now I know why. I sit before two hundred black spheres moving, floating, sometimes in symmetry, sometimes in waves, hovering in the air. At home, a signed photograph of them hangs on my wall. Many know this place, or should. It would be a shame otherwise. I hope they give it the attention I do. I could sit here for hours, again and again. I have done so. Today, once more. Most people stand. I sit—legs crossed, settling in, knowing I’ll linger a long while. I am completely still. I barely move in fact, not at all.
ZERO POINT
Only my mind is alive, spinning at full speed. I know this feeling. Now—just hold still… I play a game with my mind: “What if?” And so it begins… What if I take these black circles before me, the simplest symbol on earth no, in the universe as inspiration? A symbol so ancient, so universal. Unmistakable, everywhere. In many cultures, a sign: sun, eternity, perfection, life. Sun? For me, it’s the moon. I love the sun, but the moon feels closer. I remain perfectly motionless.
ZERO POINT
A circle no beginning, no end. Infinity. I like that. In my search for the color black, I try to touch the depths of infinity ever further, ever deeper. Like a black hole, perhaps? What if? A collection built on black circles? It’s been done. Yes, almost everything has. And rightly so. Why? Because it fascinates. Like Malevich’s black square the start of pure abstraction, the “zero point” of art, nothingness as the source of everything.
ZERO POINT
Still, I do not move. What if circles overlapped in fabric? Sometimes transparent, sometimes heavy or light? Or felted in three dimensions, like small hills rising from delicate ground? What if circles pierced the clothing opening new ways to style? What if I hinted at circles with slits, letting light shine through? What if this created a dance of light and shadow sun or moon shining within the garment? What if those slits looked like circles carved in thick book covers like sculpture? Or set in the most delicate fabrics, so airy they might fly away? And what if, sometimes, they were simply black circles no meaning at all? I hardly dare to breathe.
ZERO POINT
What if I let my impressions from Tokyo flow into this? Tanizaki wrote: “Shadow is the true medium; in it, clothing becomes deeper, more dignified, more poetic.” Tokyo was beautiful. I saw beautiful people a different kind of physicality: soft, yet sharply cut. Wait… And what if I showed this new collection only on men?
ZERO POINT
My legs are asleep, awkward as I rise. An hour has passed. I am alone. I walk away, pause, and look back at the black spheres.
ZERO POINT…
…the state of minimal, yet never-ending energy an invisible foundation for movement, change, and the future. From stillness, transformation. Even in darkness, a constant vibration.
All images can be found in the official Berlin Fashion Week MEDIA HUB.
