"Growing up on a small, isolated island in Denmark, I had intense feelings of longing and a desire to escape. My obsession with the unknown turned into an investigation of everything around me — constantly dissecting, questioning, trying to understand why I felt this way. That kind of practice stayed with me and continues to inform how I work today: how I choose fabrics, develop shapes, and experiment with volume,” says Danish-born, Berlin-based designer Sia Arnika.
For this year’s fashion show, Arnika invited guests to the Havel Studios in Berlin-Westend, located right by Stößensee close to Wannsee.
Sia explains that the lead-up to her show was incredibly intense. When we spoke with her backstage after the presentation, she told us that she spent around twelve hours a day working with her five-person team for nearly two months. A large part of the clothing - including the patterns and drapings - was produced by hand in her Kreuzberg studio. “It’s often easier to realize an idea myself than to explain it to someone else,” she says. Many of the fabrics she used are manipulated by hand, or involve technically complex materials like neoprene or foam - and in those cases, she prefers to see and feel the results herself.
Did she ever question her decision to leave Denmark and start all over in Germany?
“Copenhagen is great, but it’s a bit too toned down for me. Coming from the countryside was a great first step, although it soon felt too polished. I applied for fashion college in Berlin and soon fell in love with the city and a man – twelve years later, I’m still here. “It’s the perfect city to live and work."
