The Berlin Fashion Week has always represented independence and focused on individuality with its variety of designs and concepts. This season the Berlin-based label Laura Gerte explored the darker aspects of female nature as she created looks that explored the characteristics of female villains. Delivering a powerful exploration of autonomy, femininity and resistance. 

Since launching her label in 2023, Laura Gerte has built a reputation for empowering the feminine silhouette. Her designs help the body reclaim its power. Her work focuses on practicing scalable upcycling, often created from reclaimed clothing or deadstock textiles that are reconstructed into hybrid fabrics. Having graduated from Weißensee Academy of the Arts she has cemented her namesake brand in Berlin.

Gerte’s designs explore bodies reclaiming their power, oscillating between fragility and strength. Dramatic silhouettes and playful shapes are a consistent hallmark, often defined by heavy piping and sculptural construction that reshape the body into unexpected forms.

Berlin Contemporary

As of 2025, she has been recognized as a “Berlin Contemporary” designer at Berlin Fashion Week, an initiative supporting innovative designers during fashion week, further highlights the industry’s growing attention to her work.

While earlier collections balanced softness with playful irreverence, Autumn/Winter 2026 represents a shift toward something more intense. Deviant Defiant confronts the dark allure of feminine empowerment directly.

Villainess as resistance

Rather than portraying a villainess as moral failure, Gerte interprets it as a form of resistance. Women become “villains” precisely when they cease to be controllable, when they express autonomy, knowledge or sexuality outside socially acceptable boundaries. 

This conceptual narrative is reflected not only in the narrative of the collection but also in its visual language. The garments appear both seductive and confrontational, creating silhouettes that command attention rather than seeking approval.

The palette is dominated by dark tones further enhancing the femme fatale motif. Black, charcoal, deep burgundy and ink blue reflect an atmosphere of authority and tension. These hues are realised across a wide range of materials, sculptural wool, flowing jersey, rigid leather, tight satin and sheer mesh. The contrast between these textures creates a dialogue between softness and structure, a recurring theme throughout Gerte’s work.

Ideas of female autonomy

The show itself unfolded inside a reclaimed department store space. The industrial vastness of the setting heightened the dramatic atmosphere. Before the first model appeared, a spoken monologue echoed through the room, reflecting on ideas of female autonomy; by the time the runway began, the audience had already been drawn into the narrative world of the collection.

As the show progressed, elongated silhouettes remained a defining motif. Slim shapes were repeatedly disrupted by unexpected volumes like sculptural sleeves, exaggerated hips or dramatic drapes that created tension within the garments. This interplay between restraint and expansion mirrored the collection’s conceptual theme: the constant polarities of female autonomy with defiance.

Mesh and cut-outs introduced a sensual dimension, revealing glimpses of the body beneath rigid structures. Not necessarily overtly provocative, yet the result was a carefully balanced eroticism charged with intensity. Some looks evoked mythic villainesses, with sharp shoulders and long, dark gowns reminiscent of cinematic antagonists. 

Deadstock fabrics and recycled garments

Throughout this collection sustainability remained at the forefront of Gerte’s design policy through the transformation of existing materials into something entirely new. The use of deadstock fabrics and recycled garments allowed for the creation of textile hybrids as each piece subtly retained traces of its previous life.

This approach reflects a positive shift towards the progress toward circular design. The idea of transformation through materials being reborn into new forms mirrors the collection’s narrative of reclaiming identity and power.

Textures play a crucial role in this process. Heavy wool absorbs light, giving garments a sense of density and weight. Leather introduces rigidity and resistance, while satin and jersey bring fluidity and movement. Mesh, meanwhile, offers transparency. Reinforcing Gerte’s interest in clothing as a form of transformation.

Power, autonomy and the cultural anxieties

The collaboration with Dr. Martens offers a subcultural edge to the collection. This collaboration is suitable considering the brand has long been associated with countercultural movements, from punk to contemporary streetwear, thus adding a layer of historical resonance. 

Leather panels derived from the shoes were reconfigured as structural elements reinforcing the darker and rebellious tone. By transforming these iconic boots into garments, Gerte blurred the boundaries between clothing and object, functionality and symbolism. This design concept reflected the designer’s fascination with transformation and reinterpretation.

Ultimately, Laura Gerte demonstrated the power of narration in Deviant Defiant. Through performance, materials and silhouettes each look held presence and a story. Gerte constructs a narrative about power, autonomy and the cultural anxieties surrounding female independence.

Seductive and unapologetically

The villainess, long portrayed as a warning against ambition or defiance, becomes something entirely different in Gerte’s world. She is not a threat to be contained but a figure of fascination powerful, seductive and unapologetically autonomous.

As Berlin continues to assert itself as one of Europe’s most experimental fashion capitals, designers like Laura Gerte are playing a crucial role in shaping its identity. Her commitment to sustainability, conceptual storytelling and sculptural design sets her apart from more commercially driven labels. Discover the Brand: lauragerte.com