Exactly halfway through GmbH’s AW25 show, floodlights illuminating the catwalk fell dark, and an intermission began, where the voice of Norwegian writer Gunvor Hofmo could be heard reciting her 1947 poem “From Another Reality”. Though the rare recording was in a language less than five per cent of the room would be able to understand, designers Benjamin A Huseby and Serhat Işık sought to split the show in two, to denote the dual reality we’ve found ourselves living through, one where fierce political divisions are commonplace. Hofmo’s poem – about how different people experience similar events but do not perceive them as the same – was the perfect soundtrack for that moment.
Prior to the intermission, Huseby and Işık’s AW25 – also called From Another Reality – began with sharp suits, floaty organza, imposing shoulders and thigh-high leather boots, which were replaced by a second section of schoolboy shorts and university crests, political slogans and crimson overcoats. Along with the Hofmo inspiration, show notes also saw Huseby and Işık reflect on their practice as designers, when fashion can seem so frivolous in the face of such abjection and loss. “For us, we always try to make fashion that has a purpose,” said Huseby, in a conversation after the show. “We have to keep that in mind. It’s important to remind yourself of why you’re doing it, what’s driving you, and I think we had to reevaluate those things.”
Below, Huseby and Işık talk us through five of those key pieces from their AW25 collection, from religious clothing in non-traditional fabrics to a Sailor Moon-inspired university crest.
As the lights fell and the show thwacked into life, a model in a sharp navy suit materialised on the runway, a gossamer veil protruding from its lapels. “Serhat cut this suit, and it was just such a great fit,” Huseby later said of the look. “It’s quite a cinched, sharp silhouette, and [the veil] gave it a sense of softness.” With the show taking place in the historic Bauhaus car park Kant-Garagen, Huseby also added that the veil was designed in juxtaposition with the industrial, multi-storey car park setting. “We wanted this hint of a couture salon presentation, but in a garage,” he continued. “There’s always this juxtaposition of something very raw and very refined, which kind of sums us up.”
“It was also setting the tone of the collection,” Işık also said of the look that began the show. “The collection is about grieving and mourning, but also about finding beauty in that process, of overcoming those emotions. The veils very much embodied that for us.”
With work that often draws on the Middle East, this season Huseby and Işık introduced shin length kaftans, but rendered in buttery leather and sheer organza. “Similarly to the veils, the kaftans are so recognisably religious or Middle Eastern,” said Işık. “Presenting them in materials that they would otherwise not exist in, like leather or silk organza, embodies this edge that we’re always navigating in our lives.”
Growing up both queer and Muslim left the pair open to scrutiny as a result of their religious backgrounds, and presenting these traditional garments in decidedly non-traditional materials is a reflection of that process, of both the vulnerability and strength it produced. “The organza kaftans are very much connected to those veils,” says Huseby. “There’s this vulnerability they show, by having a garment that is normally about covering the body, and suddenly it’s totally sheer.”
During the AW21 season, at their ‘World on a Wire’ show, the pair introduced a runway silhouette which would become one of their most recognisable. “Back when we first did them, we called them the revenge neckline, because they were inspired by Princess Diana’s revenge dress,” says Huesby of the torso-hugging, off-the-shoulder silhouettes, which have become a GmbH signature. And though we haven’t seen them in a collection for two years, AW25 seemed like the perfect point for a reintroduction.
“We were going into this quite contemplative mode of looking at our work and analysing it, seeing where we were the truest to ourselves, and where we felt like our ideas were purest and truly not affected by the noise and opinions,” said Huseby on the return of the revenge neckline. “It’s so normal that a massive house would repeat its codes over and over again, but there’s so much pressure on young, independent designers to constantly come up with new ideas,” seconded Işık. “There’s the expectancy of novelty, which also doesn’t convey longevity, honestly.” And while the pair have seen riffs on their own silhouettes appear on other catwalks in the industry, this was as much about returning to a place of joy as it was a reminder of their influential work. “That was the happiest I’ve been making those garments [for AW21]. There’s a lot of power in being confident about the work you’ve created that does not always come from a place of novelty,” finished Işık.
Also featured on a trench coat, bomber, fleece and more this season was a coat of arms, one that resembled a university crest with the motto “Love & Justice” at the bottom. “The slogan actually comes from Sailor Moon,” says Huseby, “which kind of sums up how eclectic our influences are.” The pair have pulled from the iconic manga and anime before, with a SS25 collection inspired by the progressive Japanese series. “I guess we just wanted to make the University of GmbH, which stands for love and justice,” continued Huseby. The university aspect we’re quite inspired by uniforms…
As well as this, the pair also take inspiration from uniforms, and this AW25 was populated by references to school in ties, crewnecks and bermuda shorts. “You might have noticed some of the looks are quite juvenile,” explained Işık, “in the sense that we are in school, we are always learning, we are open for conversation, and we’re all going through the same life still trying to do our best.”
Arguably the most striking moments of the show came courtesy of political slogans splashed across knitwear and vests. Two knitted onesies – shown with smart trousers which made them appear as crewneck jumpers – repeated the phrase ‘Refuse to trade with the enemy’ across their fronts, while another vest reminded us that “the most dangerous anger is built in someone who has a good heart”.
“The origins of the artwork really comes from anti-fascism before the Second World War,” says Huseby of the ‘Refuse’ onesies, “when Jews were creating a boycott campaign against Germany to stifle Hitler’s rise. This was before the outbreak of the war, but that’s what it comes from.” And while the origin is specific, Işık explains that the garments could be applied to any political situation. “Look at the rise of fascism, not just in Europe but in the States. With Trump and his entourage in power, thinking about the image of masculinity they’re projecting, it’s so Boomer-ish and backwards,” he says.
“Generally the idea of this collection – living different realities in one – is that we have to get ready for a fight against values that are not ours, continued Işık. “[The slogan] is not very specific, it can mean anything, but definitely a call for action as well.” Huseby then went on to echo the same sentiments about the slogan, adding “we wanted to leave it open for interpretation – but I think refusal is one of the strongest non-violent actions you can take. Refusal to comply, refusal to take part in something. That’s really powerful.”
