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Kai Kuhne: Prodigal Returns in Triumph

If one had to think of at least one good reason to attend the latest Berlin Fashion Week, it surely was to catch the runway show by Kai Kuhne, a German wild child resident for over a decade in New York, who returned in triumph this weekend on Saturday, July 4.

Even if nearly half the looks had already been seen in Kuhne’s most recent New York runway outing in February, this was a brilliantly fresh take on arty glamour, hardcore style leavened with just the right dose of wit and wonder.

No wonder Kuhne got the biggest cheer of any show staged in Bebelsplatz, the tented show space on Unter den Linden that was the nerve center of the four-day Berlin season.

Opening with sleek, curvy mini jackets and delightfully well hung waxy raffia trench-dresses, Kuhne underlined what a snappy tailor he can be. From the concise incisions on the shoulders of cocktail dresses to the pared down lapel-free boleros, this is a designer who understands when less can be so much more.

In a city whose architecture is all about hard edges and arrogant austerity, Kuhne’s snappy metal finished dresses and wonderful silverized swing coat – which had seen duty on actress Tilda Swinton before hitting this catwalk - looked like they had found their true home.

Kicked on by the sort of driving techno one only really hears in Berlin, the show featured some great accessories, like excellent suede court shoes given great pizzazz by their heels, culled from the chair legs of a classic Charles and Ray Eames chair.

Added to that some beautiful jewelry courtesy of Patricia Von Musulin, and the season’s best-styled show – stylist Avena Gallagher injected the right dose of contemporary dash and humor. Some models wore zombie-like glass eyes, installed by a professional optician.

In a word, Kai Kuhne, a native of the North Sea port of Bremerhaven, left, came back and conquered.

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