The Berlin Bears

Ape approves: These fellows live practically on our backyard in Mitte, and I see them every day walking towards the river and to Jannowitzbrücke. They're apparently the Berlin City Mascots and they are settled in a fencing on the yard of Märkisches Museum. They're called Maxi and Schnute and they love hanging out in the sun. Sometimes a dude appears to sing for them. Ape totally approves!

(Never mind me blabbering in Finnish baby-talk in the backround.)

Dressed for the occasion

Most people like to dress collectively. And that's what fashion is all about, right - feeling like you belong to which ever social group you wish to represent. I'm also like that. When I go to my childhood home I like to wear the ugliest outfit I can find from 2002, because that's how they dress in Vääksy, Finland, and i love it. I like to imagine that they still know me there when I walk into the local market, instead of looking at some snobby city-kid coming in to spend the summer by the lake.

Most fashion designers hate dressing collectively. Although they want all of their customers to dress alike, they do not want to blend in themselves. In my class in the Design school I was the only one who suggested getting one of those tacky student-overalls with badges so we could feel like real students and crawl on the streets in the 1st of May. But no, no collectivity there - since I was the only one.

Here are some clips from the years back of getting dressed for the occasion (above: pirate party in Helmi, Helsinki):

Provinssi Rock-summer festival - sometimes it gets quite cold but you don't wanna hide your NKOTB-shirt.

Getting lost in Cologne

I went to Cologne on some 'business' and was amazed by the beauty of it. Last time I went there in 2006 it was filled with red-faced English soccer fans (see picture), but now it was just lovely. It's like London, Prague, Madrid and Stockholm put together with a big-ass river and a gothic sky-line. Of all the cities I've visited it curiously looked the least like its german fellow Berlin.

Cologne in 2006.

I have to say though, the guy who ever created the subway-system must have had one too many lattes: all the stations sound the same, for example Neumarkt (on the bottom left) and Heumarkt (next to it, rounded with some kind of rude symbol in my map). I can hear him go like: "Hey guys, so let's think of a station next to Neumarkt... what do you think would sound the most alike... and if the initials could even look almost the same from a far that would be great..."


Just check out the top right corner and try to count all the stations which have a different combo of the words Deutz/Messe, Kölnmesse, Messe/Deutz, Deutz/Kölnarena and so on, and imagine explaining an American tourist how to get to the fair. (Try also reading them aloud like he would: Dootz messy, Coln messy, Messy dootz etc.)

Ape approves: On the narrow streets of the old city you can find authentic cosy restaurants and bars for all tastes. Ape gave his special consent to the legendary Papa Joe's Jazzlokal which fills up every night from people in all ages listening to big band music or troubadours, having a cold pint of Kölsch. Ape approves!

A memory of the English footie-fans still remains in the toilet of Papa Joe's.

For a fashion designer I own rather few clothes

...and they're not all pretty. I also don't always accessorize madly or even know what's the hottest hot of the moment. I recently went to Mexico and was totally clueless of fashion as I know it for 3 months. I had to go to Finland (!) to find out that strappy leather bags were apparently the thing right now.

In Mexico it was all about looking like a lady: shine, sass and matching accessories.

Actually today, on my first day as a conventionally unemployed person, I didn't even get dressed. I reasonally quit my job as a consultant's assistant and decided to see what else I could do. (Yes - I have heard of the recession aswell.) So I wore my baggy 90's velour-pants and my boyfriends blue satin-robe (that he bought from a middle-aged lady in Mauer Park and thought it looked like something Hugh Hefner would wear drinking a glass of Scoth). I was obsessed on getting all my ideas on paper, of all the things I could be working on in the future... and getting settled into a new chapter in my life in Berlin. There was no time for fashion.

Back in Europe it's all about looking like a guy wearing a women's jersey-night gown. I like!