Ottolinger
Ottolinger’s Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient put a new spin on virtual reality with their fall show, staged at Espot, a cavernous gaming arena opposite the Louvre. To view the Berlin-based label’s video, each attendee was assigned a separate screen and headset in the underground space, with the screening followed by a real-life runway show.
“It’s kind of like a gate to the metaworld,” Gadient said of the unusual format — staging a runway show was a last-minute addition to the program that just seemed to make sense. “We’ve been spending so much time [on digital] that we thought it’s fun to go and experience that altogether and have a physical fashion moment as well.”
The collection homed in on Ottolinger’s distinctive sci-fi body-con aesthetic, adding texture with the expansion of the knit offering and the use of crushed velvet, worked close to the body with the label’s signature strapping details or in padded pieces with a Space-Age vibe.
Puffer designs also got the wraparound treatment, pulled into place and tied asymmetrically to form a kind of protective armor or draped into a gownlike form. Shearling pieces had a metallic sheen, done in vivid blue, while fake fur accessories added a raw edge to the lineup, intended to conjure confidence and power.
With every brand under the sun looking to plant its flag in the metaverse, for Ottolinger, it would seem a logical next step. But despite its avatar-friendly creations, the brand is content with the real world for now. “It didn’t feel right for us yet,” said Gadient. “We’ve seen people doing Ottolinger wearables, but they’re not ours. Maybe we should hire those people to do it. It’s the future for sure.”