Masked models, social distancing: Anja Gockel holds fashion show in Berlin after Fashion Week cancellation

Berlin-based designer, Anja Gockel, refused to back down in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and went ahead with her own fashion show, when Berlin Fashion Week was moved to Frankfurt.

Berlin-based designer, Anja Gockel, who shows her collection every year at the Berlin Fashion Week, and particularly at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin, refused to back down in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and went ahead with her own fashion show, when Berlin Fashion Week was moved to Frankfurt. The designer hosts her show every year at the luxury hotel in Berlin, and decided that she did not want to change this tradition just because fashion week had moved. Gockel showcased her Asuka collection, which translates to the fragrance of tomorrow, along with five designs by Lana Müller. Anja was inspired by the Japanese martial art of Aikido for the motto of the show, ‘Take the blow as a gift’, which in an interview the designer said was very different from the Western way of thinking, but made sense in the current times of the coronavirus.

Fashion designer Anja Gockel wears a face mask at the catwalk during a show to present creations of the 2021 summer collection at Adlon Hotel, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Berlin, Germany, June 30, 2020.

In an interview with the German publication Berliner Zeitung, Anja spoke of fashion week getting cancelled, “I asked five of my fellow designers whether they would like to participate, Lana agreed.” Like most designers, Anja too was facing a tough time keeping her business afloat, but she quickly began the production of masks and saved her company.

Models wear face masks as they present creations of the 2021 summer collection by designer Anja Gockel at Adlon Hotel, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Berlin, Germany, June 30, 2020.

Talking about how she refused to give in to pessimism and the site of the show in the same interview, she said, “The people in the Adlon have been with me at my shows for years and are so wonderfully supportive, I said on the first day of the lockdown that they shouldn’t send me emails saying it won’t work. Because it will! And it did!”

A model wears a face mask as she presents creations of the 2021 summer collection by designer Anja Gockel at Adlon Hotel, following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Berlin, Germany, June 30, 2020.

The show, which usually has an audience of over 600, took place in two parts, with only 200 people seated this time. All safety measures of social distancing and hygiene were followed by the organizers, and the seats of attendees were placed at 1.5 metre distances from each other.

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