Alternative fashion scenes in major German cities
Styled with pleasure

Style and fashion awareness in Germany? For a long time, this topic was met with little more than a pitying smile. But the picture has now changed – here are four stylish trends seen in major German cities.

Pragmatic functional clothing, often in unconventional colour combinations – this is what many Germans feel particularly comfortable in, regardless of whether they live in small or large cities. But that's not enough for the internet-savvy Generation Z. Thanks to social media, they are always up to date with the latest global trends and realise that the styles created on the internet can also be mixed with local accessories. And so they combine new and sometimes expensive items of clothing with flea market finds and the chic things in their parents' wardrobes.

Y2K

Whether among skaters in the concrete jungles of Germany, at raves in Berlin's techno clubs or among hip-hop kids in the suburbs: The Y2K style has been flourishing everywhere for years. There are colourful T-shirts with big logos, shameless velour tracksuits, short crop tops and wide baggy jeans. The name is made up of the English word for year and 2000 (2K). In a nostalgic mood, young people from a wide range of subcultures want to embody the old vision of the future from around the turn of the millennium with selected items of clothing. The style is always peppered with memories of their own childhood: the stylistic source of inspiration is more likely to be an old Bravo magazine celebrating stars like Tic-Tac-Toe than the latest issue of Vogue.
 

Blokecore

For a long time, if you saw someone opening a beer on the regional train and they were wearing a football shirt, loose jeans and a scarf, you knew that a football match was taking place in your neighbourhood. The weekend atmosphere depended entirely on the score of the local team. Those days are long gone; a new fashion trend has now established itself in the mainstream. People like to dress like football fans – in the UK they are called blokes – with less knowledge of the game, but with a little more style. It was an organic process that led to Blokecore. It all started with the comeback of the Adidas Samba. Then the bohemian crowd in student cities suddenly started bidding for old football shirts at astronomical prices on online classified ad portals, whether from VFL Bochum, Werder Bremen, FC Barcelona or a Brazilian club.

The blokette, the female equivalent of the bloke, also wears the jersey with wide jeans or neat items of clothing such as pleated skirts. Narrow-minded football fans are outraged that people now wear jerseys without even knowing a player. However, since the European Men's Football Championships took place in Germany this summer at the latest, they have had to realise that their style has long since left their subculture: The free Germany jersey from a price comparison portal is the omnipresent 2024 garment alongside the German team's pink away kit.
   

Coquette

Velvet bows as hair ribbons. Dresses, skirts, blouses and tops in pink, light blue or cream colours. Plus jewellery earrings from grandma and decorated bags containing the digital camera from childhood. The hyper-feminine "flirtatious" style of dress is appearing more and more frequently in universities, bookshops, cinemas and cafés. Elegant and playful items of clothing and accessories are combined with everyday trainers, hoodies and bomber jackets – the daring breaks are intentional. This is how mostly young female academics move through everyday life in a trend-conscious way.
   

Gorpcore

Eye-catchers: functional trousers with detachable sections that can be converted into shorts. Windproof and breathable rain jackets. Hiking boots in unusual shapes and colours. Accessories such as a practical, ergonomically shaped rucksack and a thermos flask complete the principle of “comfort before taste” – well-groomed from the Alpine foothills to the North Sea and Baltic Sea and beyond. In recent years, the outdoor look has evolved from a purely functional style in the hiking scene to a fashion statement that is recognised worldwide. Equipped with high-priced Birkenstocks and functional jackets made in the workshops of luxury brands, even US superstars have long since shown that they are happy to afford anything when it comes to trendsetting.