An apter title could not have been given, regardless of the body of work that appeared under it: “Survival Strategies.” It’s a thought and an instinct that extends so far beyond fashion that it almost feels weird to put it into a fashion context: From immigration to consolidation, frustration to indignation, there are a lot of people right now trying to figure out the next steps in guaranteeing security for their futures.
GmbH’s Benjamin Alexander Huseby and Serhat Isik have, for awhile, talked about and designed around what it’s like to live with this mindset; both have witnessed, and to an extent continue to face, the challenges of being of mixed backgrounds (the former is Pakistani-Norwegian; the latter is Turkish-German). So they considered “life skills,” said Isik, through “thinking about our mothers, and their experiences,” said Huseby. Isik’s mother was a “brown woman in Germany in the ’60s. She had to prove herself.” Huseby’s was a Norwegian woman dating a Pakistani man in Oslo around the same time. Both, as one might imagine, faced daily challenges.
What resulted was GmbH’s finest collection to date. The line now features a dedicated womenswear branch, which was new this season, and actually dominated the runway in terms of looks. These designs did, resultantly, have an emboldened, daresay surprising elegance to them, with a trace of the abovementioned ’60s apparent, too. See: a darkened scarlet jumpsuit, styled belted, with a very shiny shield buckle (a survival tool out of medieval times), and another jumpsuit in a gray blend with lush golden embroideries.
Men saw endurance elements as well, such as with “back brace” tailoring—jackets that had strapped supports built in around the midsection. There were also tightened T-shirts, mimicking rash guards, in a way; crisply glinting boilersuits; and GmbH’s de facto, look-like-they-can-ward-off-anything PVC pants, one particularly great pair in an excellent teal hue.
Lastly, and commercially relevant: GmbH’s first-ever handbag made its appearance tonight. It can be described as a semi-envelope-style fold-over carrier, with chains, and a hammer as the handle (crossed hammers are another of GmbH’s recurrent icons). “I was born in the mining city of Turkey, where they dig for coal,” said Isik. “That’s why we have the tools.” With all of that, combined with the pair’s ongoing commitment to recycling and upcycling, their own survival strategy would appear to be laid out. It’s amazing, and maybe even frightening, that thinking about survival can foster and flint-spark creativity to this degree. The more conversation about it, and consideration of it, the better.
