Episode 62

“If you are being outspoken about politics you kind of lose clients, and that was nothing that we really cared about. We just cared about being honest.”

In the current episode of the Telekom Electronic Beats Podcast, host Jakob Thoene talks to the founders of the fashion label GmbH, Benjamin Alexander Huseby, and Serhat Isik. The photographer and the fashion designer met in Berlin’s nightlife in 2015 and founded the fashion label with a strong connection to club culture the following year. Within four years, GmbH has made a name for itself in the fashion world by using leftovers from overproduction by well-known designers and the purposeful but subtle use of political messages. Without claiming to be perfect, they are committed to a sustainable approach to fashion and more visibility for people of color. They present their collections almost exclusively on Arab models to give them more visibility in the Western-centric fashion industry. In the interview, Huseby, who was born to a Pakistani father and a Norwegian mother, and Isik, a first-generation German of Turkish descent, talk about their first collection, working together with friends, and the influence of Berlin nightlife. They explain what fashion by GmbH stands for and to what extent fashion can be used as a tool to counteract everyday racism and create awareness of political issues. The label operators also talk about their personal experience with Covid-19 and to what extent GmbH is also economically affected by the corona crisis.