…go to KaDeWe!
July 2002 marks the month when I first visited KaDeWe, the German department store in Berlin, whose short name stands for Kaufhaus des Westerns (Eng: Department Store of the West). The exact date of this visit I cannot recall. Obviously, that is because I was magnetised to it on several occasions throughout that particular month during my stay.
Nonetheless, almost 7 years later, KaDeWe remains as one of my favorite stores with a great selection of stocks, splendidly and ingeniously decorated shopping windows as well as a fantastic catalog/lookbook out every season.
The Spring/Summer 2009 catalog features Germany’s own rising star Kathrin Thorman. Photographed against a fresh aqua blue background with an incredibly modern set, the young Ms. Thorman, with highly teased hair, brings out the breeziness from the sea that is reminiscent of the wonderfully relaxing spring/summer season.
As I flipped through the catalog, I came across an image of the young model in Celine by Ivana Omazić. Really, I think it is one of the best look featured in this season’s catalog. (My No# 2 look is Jil Sander, of course.) I like how modern, clean, preen and yet feminine the whole look is, so I decided to make a real life visit to see all the wonders from the gigantic 60,000 square meter store, in particular Ms. Omazić”s wonderful collection for Celine.
After wriggling through the always-crowded cosmetics counter with boundless effort, I finally made my way to the third floor of KaDeWe.
Searching through the brightly litted floor space with its racks sitting primly and precisely at invisibly-marked spaces was like wondering through an eerie forrest of unknown. Step by step, I discovered the placement of different labels, as I wandered through it for the very first time (in years). Eager sales made their way slowly but precisely around the spaciously placed racks, like wild carnivores searching for their preys: precious high-spending consumers.
Honestly, I was not expecting to see any smiley sales, because let’s face it, high fashion has always been exclusive to the high society. Why would these high-paid sales need to be nice to non-prospect customers, who are simply drooling over the clothes making them dirty?
But I guess Mr. Wilson of the New York Times is right: Fashion has became recession-proof with friendly staff and generous servicing, like “Would you like some champagne, madam X?”
I would rate today’s overall friendliness as ’slightly’ positive. Perhaps it was because it was close to the closing time, I did not receive any smiles from some of the more stern-looking sales.
Celine’s quarter is situated near Armani’s little corner. As I sat down on the comfortable couch, I could instantly feel myself indulging in the tranquil atmosphere without the interruption and the disruption from the memories of the bad day I have had in my mind. The calming soft piano music was in particular soothing and it allows my mind to freely wonder upon the gorgeous collection.
I can’t believe it!
I just cannot believe it!
As we all know, sometimes the result as seen on the racks without the special effects is cheesy and cheap. I’m not even going to elaborate details on it, but this collection is utterly even more beautiful than you could ever imagine.
It is as captured by any editorials: incredibly modern, feminine and chic. Best of all, it is invitingly soft to touch and that makes me utterly yearn for it.
There are so many pieces I am dying for and some even with incredibly marked down prices: a Lanvin-esque studded T-Shirt with the print of an uninhibitedly chic femme (Sorry, forgot the price), knotted T-Shirt (349), amazing silk-jersey dresses in black and fuchsia (1149 to 799), strapless silk-jersey dress (549) and silk trench coat (899).
With these great prices, there is really no better time to buy.
So let’s show those execs how sacking the talented Croatian designer is just wrong!
Then, I drifted towards Jil Sander’s territory, which is right next to Stella McCartney (Watch out for those dangerously stick heels).
Without the elaborate couch and the flat screen hi-res Television, it really feels a little bit dowdy in comparison, but perhaps, this simplicity is just an indication of the German luxury brand’s minimalist style.
I approached the rack and casually picked up a simple little black dress. I gave it a brief exaimation then immediately declared it as not worthy of reporting.
Then, as I brushed through the rail of clothing lightly, I felt the texture of the clothing.
“Oh… It’s not bad at all”, I exclaimed.
Subsequently, I picked up a stringy dress from last season. It is black and has versi-strings as shoulder straps. I must say that is not the hottest from that season, as there are many more that screams sleek and sexy, but I could clearly see why the KaDeWe’s buyer chose to sell that particular dress: the construction of the dress, despite its simplistic minimalist apperance, is elaborate and ultimately intense. The precision in the structuring of any of its little details makes it worthy of purchase and let alone its overall look.
Simple tops under sales is below 200 and dresses from my memory begins at 349.
For me, JIl Sander is definitely a great investment that would last for centuries [1].
Afterwards, I wandered aimlessly in level 3, perhaps half because I was already tired and half intoxicated by the beauty of Jil Sander’s clothing.
As I walked half asleep, something glistened when I walked past Filipa K’s little Universe in the enormous store: cute little black dresses again!
Yes, it is another black dress, but this one is so different, you see, it is silhouette-less, but you could sooooo easily shape it with a silk bow or a nice belt then voila! You are cute and ready-to-go! I don’t think there is any depth or complexity in the dress (under my rather still-distracted observation) and perhaps that makes the entire assembly precisely much more young and youthful in the sense of what you see is what you get.
There are two dresses from Filipa K that I like. One is around 100ish and the other 300ish. Unfortunately, it is not on sales at the moment.
As the clock fast approaches 21.00, it is time for me to go back to living my life: a life of poverty budget living. I head out the grand store, thanked the primly dressed doorman, then off to the bakery to get some closing-down discounted bread rolls.
Well.. When will my Cinderella moment come?
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Endnotes:
[1] If handled correctly and with care.
[2] Forgive me. I did try my best to remember all the prices, but seriously, can you tell me what π stands for?
Posted by Yulya X under 
