DANCING THE EDGE OF A NEW TOMORROW
Benjamin Alexander Huseby and Serhat Isik of the German label GmbH channel their multicultural backgrounds and love of uniforms into progressive and transgressive fashion in a fight for dignity, equality and humanity.
By MAX BERLINGER
Photography BENJAMIN ALEXANDER HUSEBY
Designers Benjamin Alexander Huseby and Serhat Isik met in a Berlin club through mutual friends and that first encounter sums up much about their clothing brand. Called GmbH, which translates roughly into “financial limited liability” - a generic term that refers to a corporation or business - it takes its cues from Berlin’s ecstatic club and vibrant cultural scene and their tight-knit group of friends which they consider their chosen family.
The choice to use GmbH as their brand name is a sly one. A quick look at the four-year-old brand’s best-sellers - shiny PVC trousers, harness-inspired tops, second-skin rashguard-style shirts, zippered biker pants - are a far cry from anything that could be called buttoned-up or corporate. Also, it cloaked the brand in a bit of mystique and allowed for the designers to remain anonymous.
Isik, a designer by trade, and Alexander, a fashion photographer, together found a common language that reflects a new, digital generation.The duo draw on their mixed heritage as inspiration: Huseby is Pakistani-Norwegian and Isik is Turkish-German. Additionally, they have an eye on sustainability: many of their fabrics are either recycled or deadstock, to avoid overproduction. They’ve built collections around everything from the symbol of the evil eye, the dying earth, and the primordial goo from which the entire universe grew. Sharp tailoring and slouchy, relaxed sportswear collide in exciting, surprising ways - it’s heady stuff but always made with an eye on the celebratory and sensual. It’s the reason retailers such as Voo Store in Berlin, Ssense in Montreal, and LN-CC in London stock the label and why they were shortlisted for the LVMH Prize in 2018, just two years after launching.
In other words, GmbH is a brand that perfectly encapsulates this moment. From the way their cultural histories inform their current obsessions to the way they let the energy of their community propel their work forward to the way they freely mix visual references from different subcultures, Huseby and Isik are representatives of a new generation. Together with their brand, they embody the changing nature of beauty, individuality, and freedom in all its forms.
What were your childhoods like?
BH: Our childhoods were so different. Serhat grew up in the industrial heartland of West Germany, with a strong immigrant community, while I grew up on the countryside in Norway, surrounded by forests and fields...and always as the only non-white person.
SI: But still we found so much connecting us, a lot based on having Muslim immigrant parents. The industrial and natural are two really important elements of GmbH.
Both of you are from mixed descent. Does that inform the way you see the world and how you design?
SI: Absolutely. We definitely have this appreciation of our parents' homelands, which we try to embrace with our diasporic perspective through GmbH.
BH: It can be historic research into ornaments and symbols, but we also once started a collection by interviewing our mothers about their experiences of racism in Europe.
What’s your first memory of fashion or clothing?
SI: I remember knitting clothes for stuffed animals at a very young age. My grandparents led a farm life back in Turkey therefore handcrafting is deeply rooted in my memories. From crochet to patchwork, both my grandmas and my mother were great artisans.
BH: My mum made most of my clothes and I remember this one time she worked on a patchwork vest for so long that I outgrew it before it was ready. My father on the other hand was obsessed with Italian designer clothes.
What made you want to be a fashion designer?
SI: I was not so drawn to fashion, but more the craft of working and sculpting with textiles and yarns. So, it was the only way I could see myself getting to do exactly that. Still to this day I cut all patterns for GmbH and the crafting aspect is deeply rooted for both myself and Benjamin.
BH: I was really drawn to fashion through photography, music, and club culture - the way I would see it in magazines like i-D and The Face. But even as a child I drew superhero costumes, and I started making my own clothes as a teenager, as I couldn’t find the clothes I wanted for fashion shoots I would do with my friends.
There’s a rumor you two met on the dance floor. Is that true?
SI: We just met through friends in a club. There’s no special story to it, as some might assume.
How did the idea of a clothing line come up? What made you think that you two would work well together?
BH: Serhat was already a designer with his own studio. I first shared some ideas he had for a project I wanted help with developing and we just realized our ideas were so similar it made sense to join forces.
I read part of the reason you named the brand GmbH is to maintain your anonymity. Why is that important to you?
SI: We didn’t really want the brand to be about us, as we’re not interested in being famous. We wanted it to be about the message and the design. Along the way we saw people were more interested in the message when they could see us, and that we would also speak about our own personal experiences of, for instance, racism.
BH: So we sacrificed our anonymity to be able to tell our stories.
Your work takes its cues from the Berlin club scene. What about that scene do you want to express through your clothing?
BH: It’s not that what we do is directly inspired by the club scene. It would be more correct to say that music and the culture we live in - essentially our lives - is what inspires us.
SI: It just so happens that club culture is part of that.
What do you hope people take away from seeing your clothing? What do you want people to feel when they wear your clothing?
SI: We want our clothes to empower and protect.
To my eye, your collections are becoming more elegant and mature - less club, more sophisticated tailoring. Is that on purpose? How has the direction of the brand evolved over the years?
SI: We don’t really think in those terms. Our work progresses organically. It’s not a strategy.
Taking uniforms and reworking them in surprising, subversive ways is a common theme in your work. Can you tell me a bit more about that?
BH: We like the subversive codes of dressing, often seen in archetypes or uniforms. Fashion is essentially about obsessions and fetishes, why else would people be so excited about clothes?
Do you think your clothing has any political message especially in today’s charged climate?
BH: Clothes have always been political, and used both to suppress and revolt. Think of the first women wearing trousers, which was once seen as revolutionary.
SI: Especially women’s bodies have been politicized through what they wear, whether it’s for control or freedom.
What’s the hardest thing about what you do? What’s the most rewarding part?
BH: The hardest part of doing this is the lack of time.
SI: The most rewarding part is when people feel sexy wearing our clothes.
The idea of family comes up a lot for you. Why do you think the ideas of “choosing your family” or “choosing your tribe” are important to you?
SI: We know many people who have had to leave their communities, and sometimes even their families, to find like-minded people. Or because they have been ostracized for who they are. So, we get to choose our families, or even have an ‘extra’ family in addition to our birth families. GmbH is that.
Tell me about your use of deadstock fabrics. Why did you decide to use them and what do they represent?
BH: When we started it was purely pragmatic, as we could not afford producing new materials. But it quickly became clear to us that using materials that already exist is a less wasteful way to work.
You've said that “GmbH clothes are not just made for dancing; they are also designed for a fight”. What are you fighting for?
SI: Dignity, equality and humanity.
What has been the biggest challenge in running the business during the pandemic and quarantine?
BH: The biggest challenge is that there is so much uncertainty, none of us really know how long this will last.
SI: They’ve been some intense months, but for the moment we feel we have come out of it, with a much clearer purpose and vision.
Have you had any realizations during this time? Did it make you think differently about your approach to clothing?
SI: Maybe not with clothes, exactly, but more with the industry. We realized we can do anything the way we want it, and not to listen to what people tell us is right or wrong.
Looking forward, what do you want GmbH to stand for? What do you want people to think of when they think of the brand?
BH: We see GmbH as being more than just fashion - it’s a platform where ideas around music, art, culture, politics and yes, fashion come together. It’s where they meet to help progress, social reform and equality.
