Off the Wall

I am not referring to a Michael Jackson album. Nope, not this time.

No, I mean literally off a wall. The Berlin Wall, to be specific.


The Berlin Wall, a symbol of division, oppression, and communism was also a great, large place for graffiti art. A very famous image on the wall is “The Mortal Kiss” by Russian artist Dimitrij Vrubel, depicting the former leader of the Soviet Union, Brezhnev, in a kiss with the former head of East Germany, Honecker. When the wall came down in 1989, parts of it were preserved by the East Side Gallery and are undergoing preservation in anticipation of the 20 year anniversary of the wall coming down, which is November 9, 2009.

In honor of this anniversary, Daniel Rodan, a German haute couture leather designer, has created a special line of clothing called Mauerkleider, or "Wall Clothes," using images taken from the wall. Rodan is well-known for designing leather outfits for Tina Turner and David Hasselhof (that figures). He has designed pieces for both women and men, and the menswear includes some strong pieces. It’s clearly not an afterthought to the women’s collection.

The iconic lip lock takes center stage on this tiny little strapless minidress. I love the positioning of the red straps trimming the top edge of the dress, the lone suspender and the low-slung belt, in contrast to the grey/blue leather of the background. The other dress in the picture features white barb wire trim against a black background and another image from the wall.









My favorite piece is this dress using images painted by Keith Haring pieced together by black leather straps. It’s a little risque with lots of skin showing between the straps and wider pieces of leather, but the whimsy of the colorful faces adds something other than your run-of-the-mill sex appeal. It’s edgy, political, artistic and just hot. I love the armband and the necklace with more Haring images.



To me, the collection is a celebration of freedom, and it's notable that we have reached a point in history where we can take somber images of the Cold War and turn them into something fun and fashionable. The clothing will be worn by German celebrities and athletes at an auction later this year, and the proceeds will be donated to charity. More pictures of the collection can be found here.

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I would like to deeply thank Em Hall for her hard work and dedication on behalf of Goodwill for the past 2 years. I consider myself very lucky indeed to follow such a talented person’s legacy and to build on the foundation that she created as the original DC Goodwill Fashionista. And to you, dearest readers, I welcome all your feedback, good, bad, and otherwise. Thank you for granting me the opportunity to talk fashion with you, while supporting Goodwill’s critical mission of job training for people with disadvantages and disabilities.

Signing off from the intersection of art, politics and couture.