Over the last months Berlin’s cityscape was featured as backdrop for various advertising campaigns. Former GDR apartment blocks, the City-West and an unique architectural U-bahn station created momentum for Berlin and its gritty looks.
 

The latest Adidas campaign – shot by Jürgen Teller – captures the ‘only the essentials’ design philosophy that is behind the new EQT sneakers when they were first introduced in the 90s. The series also pays tribute to the Berlin youth it was part of during that time – the look and feel is completely anti-glamour, something both Berlin and Adidas are known for. Adidas is not new to featuring Berlin: photographer Benjamin Alexander Huseby used the underground station ‘Fehrberlinerplatz’ as the backdrop of the active wear and lifestyle collections. This bright red, sculptural underground station with it’s rounded corners has a pop-art feel to it which stands in stark contrast to the National Socialist administrative buildings surrounding it.
 

Last year, within days of each other, Gucci and Givenchy also used Berlin also As the backdrop for their latest collections:
Director Glen Luchford created a colorful, nostalgic and cinematic aesthetic for Gucci. He clearly took inspiration from the cult movie Christiane F which caused controversy as the movie tells the true story about teenage addicts in the heroine scene of Berlin in the eighties. The brand stated it was ‘inspired by the carefree and hedonistic spirit of Berlin as well as the visual language and aesthetic of German Eighties pop culture.’

While Gucci focused on the West, Givenchy focused on the East: photographer duo 02gb created a series of images and Matt Lambert the accompanying video. Locations included the Karl-Marx Allee with it’s Plattenbau and Socialist Classicist buildings and the Kino International – a iconic cinema which hosted all of the East’s premieres until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
 

Arthur Groeneveld
 

www.adidas.com
www.gucci.com
www.givenchy.com
www.glenluchford.com
www.juergenteller.com
www.benjaminhuseby.com
www.dielamb.com
www.02gb.com

Arthur Groeneveld (1986) is the co-founder of creative consulting collective 1kg as well as one half of photography duo Arturo Bamboo.