“Workers Were Called But Humans Came”
There’s a real moment of reflection when it comes to Les Benjamins’ collection for Autumn/Winter 2022 as Creative Director, Bunyamin Aydin looks back at his heritage and pays homage to the guest workers that left their homelands and helped rebuild Germany after the destruction of the war, one of whom being his grandfather.
Acting as an exploration into the duality and multiplicity of integration and de-integration, the collection is split into two stories – one of a long goodbye at a train station, the other of German living – with each piece serving as an ode to a specific migrant job from garbagemen and welders to factory women, tailors and nurses.
CREDIT: Directed by : Melih Kun/ Creative Direction : Bunyamin Aydin/ Starring : Ahmet Rifat Sungar/ Music by : Veyasin
“He was a welder, and was one of the first guest workers from Turkey. Him taking the courage to leave his small village in East Anatolia, where they had almost no literacy rate, still serves as a major inspiration to me,” explains Aydin on the collections influence. “Their clothing is almost military-like in that their clothes became their armour. So this collection is truly an homage to what made me who I am today. I too have tried to fit in and assimilate. I’m questioning what it means to fit in, and what it means to let go of your identity.”
Adopting a utilitarian approach to design through heavy knitwear, jumpsuits, leather gloves, and leather vests, the collection in turn offers moments of comfort in the form of floral embroidery and traditional paisley prints – a tribute to the wallpaper often seen in the homes of workers that represented both heritage and respite.
PHOTO CREDIT: Les Benjamins
