A Home for Art, Fashion and Design

To present its huge range of exhibits, covering a multitude of styles and materials, the Kunstgewerbemuseum offers a variety of themed tours. The new fashion gallery beckons as soon as you enter. In large showcases, installed in rooms lit dimly for conservation purposes, mannequins model around 130 costumes and accessories. Representing 150 years of fashion history, the display conveys a sense of strolling through a shopping arcade, with the creations of such famous couturiers as Paul Poiret, Elsa Schiaparelli and Christian Dior in the windows. This is the first time that Berlin has had a permanent exhibition covering every aspect of fashion. The core of the display is the international collection of Martin Kamer and Wolfgang Ruf, which was purchased in 2003.

Another highlight is the new Design Collection display in the basement. This top-quality selection presents Bauhaus classics alongside the designs of contemporary design celebrities such as Ettore Sottsass, Philippe Starck and Konstantin Grcic. A chair gallery rounds off the tour, with a selection of innovative designs from the 19th century to the present day. The chair illustrates the different possibilities of design better than almost any other object; here the spectrum ranges from the simple and serviceable to the luxurious, culminating in designs where imagination completely overtakes functionality.