Ottolinger’s Moment Is Now
Ottolinger has always been cool.
Since 2016, the Berlin-based brand has fused electric silhouettes with avant-garde design concepts, rising to the top of the indie-brand circuit and curating a level of steez on par with more established brands.
But Ottolinger's influence has previously mostly been felt only by those who know. Well, not any longer: This season, Ottolinger is deservedly stepping into the spotlight.
Ottolinger's Fall/Winter 2024 campaign is a good mission statement. Shot with Korean-German photographer Heji Shin, known for brooding and "surreal" shots, the imagery stars the low-key label's founders Cosima Gadient and Christa Bösch. The shoot perfectly encapsulates Ottolinger's grittily sublime aura, putting its provocative, progressive fashions first.
In hindsight, Ottolinger's forward motion has been building up to this moment. After all, you don't get Bad Gyal Rih Rih's sartorial co-sign without serious swank, nor do you obtain the frequent favor of the KarJenner clan without big-time buzz.
This is all thanks to the forward-thinking minds of co-founders Gadient and Bösch, who've been making Ottolinger synonymous with intrigue for nearly a full decade.
Ottolinger's Spring/Summer 2025 Ottonymous capsule is another good example, jaws and all. This presentation saw its models walking out of the gaping mouth of a beached shark, an oceanic homage to the runway's splashy swimwear.
The capsule collection was a collaboration with Shayne Oliver, fashion's most contemporary enfants terrible, in a sort of passing of the torch moment from one Berlin-based genius to another.
And that's only the start. Ottolinger is making history by kicking off G-Star's "The Denim" series, a project that enlists various guest designers to create unique, limited-edition variations of the G-Star Elwood.
The resulting shapes are familiar but, also, not quite like any jeans you've ever seen before, what with all the seams and slits and interrupted shapes.
Ottolinger can and has been standing firm on its own but the frequency of high-powered partnerships signifies greater recognition for the young label, a sea change long in the making.
And we're not just talking sharks.
