Intricately minimalistic design duo Cottweiler expanded its spring/summer 16 vision from London to Berlin, presenting Relief Development in collaboration with recently launched gallery space Trust Ltd. The collection was a hymn to the state of pearlification, maneuvering between textures, layers and transparency through multiple shades of cream and white. Extending on this purity, Cottweiler’s design duo — Ben Cottrell and Matthew Dainty — revealed the unseen coral elements from their LC:M presentation while further exploring previous influences from new age religion and the Hare Krishna group. Looping ecclesiastical melodies accompanied the models’ repeated movements throughout the whole performance — soundtracked by Cottweiler’s long-term collaborator, Panthamilk.
What attracted Cottweiler’s spring/summer 16 nomads to the beat of Berlin? Trust Ltd., founded as a partnership between the shape-shifting retailer Primitive London and multi-faceted publishing project-cum-tattoo parlor Sang Bleu, this center for events and commerce is built on friendship. It celebrates creative collaboration in what its founders describe as “a city of exile and passage.” “Berlin has a genuine anti-capitalist culture that is friendly to creative ideas and open to alternative lifestyles, but influences a lot the way people manage businesses and develop careers,” Trust explained. “Darryl was born in Canada, Andrew [of Primitive] in Australia, Jeanne-Salomé [of Sang Bleu] in Switzerland, and we all found a form of home here.”
For one night only, Trust opened its home to Cottweiler to create an experience that broke beyond the boundaries of a cold installation to warmly embrace the brand’s ‘friends and family’, in front of a selected audience and with all collaborators sharing a personal friendship with one another. “It’s great to work with people that understand us without us having to explain much.” Matthew affirmed, “Everyone brings their own perspective to our concept but there is always a common understanding as we spend a lot of time together socially. We have a lot of respect for what our friends do creatively so it makes sense to collaborate.”
Credits
Text Georgina Yi Wan
Photography Stefanie Schmid Rincon
Art Direction Niklas Bildstein Zaar