NEWS: Old Masters, new fashion – Fashion Council Germany opens the exhibition “Echoes of Tomorrow” at the Gemäldegalerie during Berlin Fashion Week

Berlin, January 29, 2026: Not only around 400 invited guests – but also numerous figures from art history attended a unique evening at the Gemäldegalerie on Thursday: Under the eyes of the magnificently portrayed subjects – painted by some of the greatest artists of all time – two fashion exhibitions were opened in the museum rooms in the run-up to Berlin Fashion Week (January 30 to February 2).

While in the front part of the foyer the exhibition “Gallery Looks. Fashion Staging in the Picture Gallery” stages a dialogue between contemporary fashion photographs and designs and the paintings of the Old Masters, “Echoes of Tomorrow” in the rear part of the imposing museum space is entirely dedicated to the work of young designers: The show presents a collection by the V-Collective, which is made up of scholarship recipients of this year’s edition of the “Fashion x Craft” initiative, realized by the Fashion Council Germany in cooperation with eBay Germany and The King’s Foundation .

Within a one-year program, participants Aleksander Kudrischow, Laura De Sousa, Lennart Bohle, Jon Liesenfeld, and Melanie Parzenczewki were taught traditional crafts such as weaving and natural dyeing processes, as well as techniques outside the realm of fashion, such as woodworking and metalwork. The result is the multifaceted collection “Echoes of Tomorrow,” which, on display at the Gemäldegalerie, invites visitors to reflect on yesterday and today, the value of handcrafted work, and the future of fashion.

“As the Fashion Council Germany, preserving craftsmanship is a matter close to our hearts. Therefore, I am particularly pleased that the V-Collective, with its collection, is making traditional techniques visible and thus contributing to their preservation. Showing these works in a museum setting, where the genius and craftsmanship of so many Old Masters can also be seen, reflects our central aim: We want to make fashion accessible not only as a contemporary form of expression, but also as a cultural asset with a rich history,” said Christiane Arp, Chairwoman of the Board of the Fashion Council Germany, who accompanied the V-Collective during the creation of its collection and the accompanying exhibition.

This creative phase is also brought to life in the Gemäldegalerie: a partially exposed, unfinished wall design evokes the impression of a studio – thus transferring the work process into the institutional space. The collection itself presents itself as a charming battle of materials: a stiff jacket created using basket weaving techniques, a bobbin lace robe that drapes like a delicate net, a jacket made of thin wood with sleeves of heavy metal – a total work of art that is both imaginative and technically sophisticated.

The exhibition “Gallery Looks: Fashion Staging in the Gemäldegalerie,” which will remain open until May 31, running concurrently with “Echoes of Tomorrow,” demonstrates the interplay between fashion, photography, and painting. The show was initiated by renowned photographer Ralph Mecke, who previously explored in his photographic work how compositions, lighting, and symbolism from the Old Masters reappear in contemporary designs. Alongside his fashion photographs, the exhibition features video works by Florian Azar and garments by designers Anne Bernecker, Karen Jessen, Alexander Gigl, and Estelle Adeline Trasoglu of the brand Plaid-à-Porter. The show was curated by Katja Kleinert, curator of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish art at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin; the fashion concept was developed by Christiane Arp.