On trend
Düsseldorf, the fashion capital
Düsseldorf is Germany’s fashion capital. Fashionistas can be spotted window shopping for luxury global brands, one-off items and the latest trends on boulevards and at festivals, in shopping malls and in trendy districts. The city is like a catwalk for eminent fashion designers and those who aspire to join them.
The best shopping in Düsseldorf
- Königsallee, or ‘Kö’ for short, is Düsseldorf’s grandest boulevard and considered one of Europe’s top shopping locations thanks to the many luxury brands found here.
- Numerous fashion designers – some of whom are internationally renowned – hail from Düsseldorf, have made the city their home or have travelled here for fashion events.
- In the trendy quarters of Flingern and Bilk/Unterbilk, a succession of galleries, pop-ups and concept stores offer everything from preloved fashion to designer pieces.
- The industry’s event highlights are the Düsseldorf Fashion Days and the strike a pose festival.
The Kö is king
Düsseldorf has a deep and long-standing relationship with fashion. It all started with pioneering clothing trends in the 18th century, and has since encompassed visits by icons such as Vivienne Westwood, Karl Lagerfeld and Naomi Campbell, and expos and stores that are continually reinventing themselves. Glamorous yet unpretentious, elegant yet approachable.
The best place to spot a famous face, or be seen yourself, is Königsallee, popularly known as the ‘Kö’. This is one of Europe’s prime shopping locations, with the shop windows of Gucci, Dior, Luis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada lining up like pearls on a string.
Shopping malls, shopping arcades and the Manufactum
There are also many temples to shopping away from the ‘Kö’, such as KÖ Galerie, the Schadow arcades and the Düsseldorf arcades, where you’ll find established brands, boutiques, unusual souvenirs and the always-welcome food courts.
Manufactum sells elegant products, many of which are made using traditional methods, and anyone who loves interior design should definitely pay the stilwerk a visit.
Shopping in the trendy quarters
For fashion off the beaten track, head to the bohemian quarters of Flingern and Bilk/Unterbilk.
All around Flingern’s Ackerstrasse and its street art you’ll find independent shops, design studios and galleries. Here, café owners welcome their patrons by name and with a handshake, while world-class art hangs in the window next door. Unique and bespoke are the order of the day here, where furniture and other objects are created that are anything but ordinary. At koko selected, you’ll find an attractive mix of preloved and new fashion, while aest specialises in monochrome clothing from Copenhagen.
In Bilk/Unterbilk, the atmosphere is enhanced by the music booming out of record stores and the mouthwatering aromas from international bars and restaurants. In between, there are all manner of alternative clothes stores and vintage fashion outlets. A look inside the small shops on Lorettostrasse, for example, is always worthwhile. Anyone who loves boho chic should head to N°129 concept store, or to Tuxedo for feminine fashion from Italy and France with a touch of sport and bohemia. Elsewhere, sustainability and design are the focus at LIVE LAB STUDIOS, which offers a range of fashion, furniture, homeware and beauty products.
Where fashion is created and celebrated
Düsseldorf is a fashion hub that attracts creative types, so it comes as little surprise that the city is home to, and often visited by, German and international designers. Take Annette Görtz and Dorothee Schumacher, for example, who both launched their careers here. Marion Strehlow studied at Düsseldorf’s Modeschule Eller fashion school, and now designs clothes as well as guided tours that take you behind the scenes of the city’s fashion studios. The internationally renowned designer Hiroyuki Murase sells his Suzusan collection in Düsseldorf and beyond, and his creations have even been worn on Dior’s catwalk.
Elsewhere, Miaki Komuro is shunning our throwaway mentality in favour of making one-offs and sewing in the labels by hand herself. Designer Marianna Déri-Hanasab also cares about how her creations are made, and champions ethical production methods and fair working conditions.
Fashion is also celebrated, hyped up and sold during the Düsseldorf Fashion Days. Every year, the event’s showrooms and open-air catwalks present the latest trends and ideas that are pointing the way for the industry. Also causing a stir is the strike a pose festival, which brings together art and fashion.
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