At the invitation of the Fashion Council Germany, Lutz Huelle showed the highlights of his collections at the end of Berlin Fashion Week in the hall at Berghain and brought Parisian splendor to Berlin with opulent chandeliers and gold-plated chairs. After studying at Central Saint Martins, he worked for Martin Margiela and then launched his eponymous label in 2000. As a two-time Andam award winner and consultant for the Max Mara Fashion Group, Lutz Huelle is a fixture in the international fashion industry.

‍You launched your label in Paris and have always shown it there. How does it feel to show in Berlin?

‍Berlin is one of my favorite places in the world and it feels great to be here. I feel like I'm at home. We had the fitting with a view of the Memorial Church, which was incredible. If someone had told me years ago that I would show a collection in Berlin, and in this great building, too, I wouldn't have believed it.

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‍How does fashion in Germany differ from other countries?

‍I think German fashion has a lot more potential than is perceived internationally. There are so many interesting things happening in fashion in Germany, but it is still relatively difficult for a young designer to gain a foothold. Here it is more about selling clothes on a large scale straight away. That is not necessarily the case in France and Italy. They have shown for decades that you can also do business with creativity and interesting things.

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‍What needs to change here?

I appreciate the incredible down-to-earthness that prevails in Germany. I find it extremely pleasant that you always know where you stand. But a certain openness is missing. In Germany, people believe that if you do one thing, you cannot do a second thing differently. I work abroad for various brands that have nothing to do with my own brand and have a completely different style to me. And I think that you should rely more on your instincts, especially when it comes to fashion. Sometimes you might just have to say that this is the right thing at the moment, even if it is not marketable to every woman in the world.

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‍Acting instinctively describes you quite well. You were one of the first to go out on the street, observe and bring streetwear and counter culture onto the catwalk. It took years for you to achieve great success. How do you view the fact that so many brands - including major fashion houses - are now flirting with these themes?

‍I think it's great. It's the best thing that could have happened. It's a sign that I had the right instincts and that it's completely natural to pick up on what you see in everyday life. That's the interesting thing about fashion. Everyone has the same idea and then it goes on. I just had this idea a little earlier.

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‍What's next? Now that so many are implementing a similar aesthetic and the image is slowly becoming saturated, is there going to be a turnaround again?

‍It always moves forward. There are always other things that move forward, but I have the feeling that at the moment there is a return to a certain elegance. It sounds old-fashioned, but that is precisely what I find interesting.

‍You grew up with the artists Alandra Bircken and Wolfgang Tillmans in Remscheid and went together first to Cologne and then to London. How important is a community of like-minded people for creative work?

I didn't work with either of them, we are first and foremost just friends. But like-minded people are extremely important because nobody wants to be alone and everyone wants to be understood. It is incredibly important to have a community, especially today so much happens through collaboration. The idea of ​​doing things alone is completely outdated for me.

‍How do you see the work of the Fashion Council Germany in this context?

‍The work of the Fashion Council is extremely important. Crazy enough, it has been around in other countries for decades. The fact that it now exists here is a sign that fashion is finally being taken seriously in Germany. I sometimes wonder whether I would have moved away at all if things had been different back then. But when I started, it was simply not possible to build something like this in Germany.

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‍In the spring, you were invited to Emmanuel Macron's Elysée Palace in Paris together with other designers and were now received by Angela Merkel in the Chancellery with representatives of the German fashion industry. How did that feel?

It felt just as great in Berlin as it did in Paris. The French President told us: "Ici, c'est votre maison". It makes you feel like you're being taken seriously.That was also the case in Berlin when the Chancellor received us. You can say what you want about fashion, but the fact is that it is a huge industry. It is just as important as the car industry and I think it is completely crazy that people in Germany have not wanted to acknowledge it that way up to now.