Berlin Fashion Week AW25: Doomsday Prophecies

Playing the doomsday card with animal leather has become way too easy – so easy, in fact, that it’s quite frankly boring. That’s why, earlier in February, we searched high and low at Berlin Fashion Week AW25 for designers who took the ethical memo to the heart as much as they did the doomsday prophecies. And we must say, we were more than pleased – if not thrilled – with what we saw (the looks, not the prophecies).

Maximilian Gedra delivered a collection of spectacular forms that looked as though they could grow and shape-shift at any moment (after all, the name Stalactite does come with expectations). Kilian Kerner took on hate and hostility on the internet, and showcased a scroll (pun intended) of short series of shapes, colours, and textures, each morphing and evolving into the next, only to take a sharp turn and turn into something entirely new (sound familiar?).

Maria Chany took her sustainability commitments a step further, and extended the use of animal-free and recycled materials beyond her phantasmagorical runway looks (repurposed rubber and bio-waste, such as walnut peel) to the venue itself (solar panels, geothermal heating, recycled construction materials). The collection, Elysium – named after the utopian paradise – is anything but an utopian dream. If anything, Chany’s fusion of creative vision and material circularity makes this paradise as real as it gets.

Kasia Kucharska did what she does best – laser-printed latex sculpting – and clearly enjoys every second of it. Meanwhile, Marlon Ferry is equipping humanity with the coolest experimental outfits (3D printed from recycled PETG and other fashion waste) to perform the ultimate experiment – meeting the aliens. Maybe they will save us, maybe they won’t, but as long as we look cool, we’re good.

Even on doomsday, pick ethical.

Excited to see more brands embracing cruelty-free alternatives?
Check out our Directory for a comprehensive list of fully vegan brands leading the way!