During Berlin Fashion Week, the streets fill with cameras. What separates a good shot from a great one is rarely the equipment. It is the instinct to notice what others walk past, and the eye to turn it into something that lingers. That is exactly what we set out to find with our Streetstyle Photography Competition in January/February 2026, and our jury – Inga Klaassen, Neslihan Degerli, Nina Suess, Per Appelgren and Fräulein Editor-in-Chief Ann-Kathrin Riedl – reached a unanimous decision: Tim Kestel is the winner!

The photographer stood out not for chasing the most elaborate looks, but for something harder to teach: a distinct visual language. His images carry an editorial feel – precise in composition, atmospheric in mood, and rooted in a genuine love for Berlin's raw, unpolished character. Motion blur, unconventional framing, and a color grading so considered that some viewers assume the shots were captured on film. "Motion blur is also very important to me. It adds dimension and captures the atmosphere of the moment more authentically. I mean, that’s what Fashion Weeks are for, right? To see fashion in motion," Kestel explains in an interview with Fräulein Magazine. For him, the actual looks sometimes play a secondary role in his images: "I care more about composition and context than about the street style itself."

"For me, it’s all about the dynamic nature of it. With editorials, you can plan every tiny detail endlessly. Street style, on the other hand, relies much more on intuition. The time window to get “the shot” is small – especially when you consider the number of events and locations in the schedule. And street style happens in real life, in everyday settings. That’s what makes it exciting." - Tim Kestel

As part of the prize, Tim's winning images are published across Fräulein's channels as well as an exclusive interview about his work. On top of that, he will be hired as one of our official photographers for the next season of Berlin Fashion Week.