Benedikt Kappel, 19, asks himself the question: How can I transport a political message to wherever I am? His answer: clothes. Since last year he has been designing clothes and using them as a political medium. “We no longer have time for any abstract messages that are hidden behind curtains. We have to be more direct,” says Benedikt.
Benedikt also took part in a fashion show, but differently than you would expect: it took place in an S-Bahn. Organized by the homesick collective, seven models walked through the rows of the train on a Wednesday evening, one of them was Benedikt. “It was about taking the space that we lack for art in the city,” he says.
Benedikt deal with the topics of decay and dystopia. This is also visible in its holey, partly burnt designs. His message: If we don’t use our resources more sustainably, we are heading for a future marked by decay. “Since clothing is produced in a very resource-intensive manner, it is inevitably political,” says Benedikt.
His “What We Lose” collection consists of five pieces of clothing overgrown with plants. Knitted sweater and shoes are streaked with a rich green, as if they were a forest floor. “The living organism should represent our environment,” says Benedikt. The collection requires special care – Benedikt, for example, has to water his moss sweater regularly and lay it in the sun.
Last year he got himself a sewing machine. “I had no experience and tried to see it as a challenge,” says Benedikt. So he practiced every day, teaching himself how to sew with the help of YouTube tutorials and independent experiments. And now he’s in the process of creating a portfolio. One of his next goals: he would like to be able to study fashion in Belgium.
Benedikt has had a love of fashion since childhood. “I liked dressing up as a kid, it helped me express different emotions,” he says. When he later got in touch with the alternative scene, going to raves and demos, he felt inspired and started to get creative himself. “I was looking for something that could combine all my interests. I found that in fashion.”