Fabian Hart comments on fashion and other means of expression. Inspired by the exhibition GERMAN POP, the author and fashion blogger set out to look for the Pop in German fashion.

In this contribution, GERMAN POP takes place in the form of fashion, because by definition it is popular culture. But for the most part we are presenting German fashion, which is evidently popular and at the same time completely unfashionable.

We produced a fashion spread with German labels, which are considered conservative and stuffy. They therefore embody the same attributes that the representatives of German Pop Art ironized in the 1960s, for instance Karl Horst Hödicke, Christa Dichgans, and Sigmar Polke.

Experts also like to smile at our version of GERMAN POP--or ignore it altogether. Because we find that a bit too ignorant, we are doing it differently and celebrating German labels such as Brax, Cinque, Lloyd, and Lerros, because they deserve it. Not only because all of these companies turn over several hundreds of millions of euros annually--Brax alone, famous for its Feel Good jeans, made about 280 million. They are much more than an economic factor--they represent the taste of a large share of the German population: down-to-earth and functional.

Yet those who speak about German fashion don't like to talk about it. Not about Gerry Weber, Basler, Marc Cain, or Tamaris, but preferably still about Jil Sander, about Hugo Boss again thanks to Jason Wu, or about Lala Berlin, Perret Schaad, Kaviar Gauche, and Achtland, for example. Besides the major French, Italian, and American fashion houses and the established high-street brands, they are welcome names in the manufacturers' lists of prestige titles. One doesn't like to be reminded of the other big players, and if so, then mostly by the advertising department. In editorials they are therefore fudged, cropped, hidden under a coat, or laid out as small knock-outs.

But doesn't the challenge consist precisely in styling Brax with the same elegance as Balenciaga? Wouldn't it be bold and new to depict Helene Fischer below the jeans, because this would also be showing German style?

The truth is: it's not hard to have models look good in Total Looks by Prada. That is at least as safe as the picture of old-boys labels in these images. Why not Camel Active instead of Bottega Veneta, and BRAX instead of HBA for a change? We're not afraid of GERMAN POP.

Fabian Hart writes about life and survival, among other things, on his website fabianhart.com. Besides etymological phrases and other figures of speech, he uses fashion as a means of expression. For the exhibition ESPRIT MONTMARTRE he dressed in paintings by major artists.

Motif 1: shirt A. W. DUNMORE jeans BRAX socks SOCKS WITH ATTITUDE shoes LLOYD

Motif 2: coat CINQUE shirts A. W. DUNMORE jeans BRAX socks shoes LLOYD

Motif 3: turtleneck sweater LERROS sweater BRAX

Motif 4: coat CINQUE shirt A. W. DUNMORE jeans BRAX socks SOCKS WITH ATTITUDE shoes LLOYD

Motif 5: sweater BRAX jeans BRAX socks SOCKS WITH ATTITUDE shoes LLOYD

Motif 6: turtleneck sweater LERROS sweater BRAX

Motif 7: cap sweater CAMEL ACTIVE