Ottolinger: burnt, slashed and rebuilt in Berlin
Some labels refine. Ottolinger takes things apart and puts them back together differently. The Berlin-based label burns holes into fabric, slashes denim, leaves seams raw and then builds the result into silhouettes that are precise, sensual and very controlled. It is one of the most distinctive voices in womenswear today, and a small but sharp selection of it hangs in our Rotterdam store.
Two Swiss designers in Berlin
Ottolinger was founded in 2016 by Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient. Both are Swiss, and they met as students at the Institute of Fashion Design in Basel. After graduating they moved to Berlin, largely because their friends were there, and the city has been the label's home ever since.
The name has a disarmingly practical origin. "Ottolinger" was the name already on the doorbell of their first studio, and the designers kept it so that deliveries would still find them. It is a good indication of the attitude: no grand manifesto, just a studio, a group of friends and a lot of work.
Recognition came quickly. In 2018 Ottolinger was shortlisted for the LVMH Prize, and the label began showing on the international schedule, mostly in Paris, which remains the home of its main ready-to-wear shows. For Resort 2026 the designers did something new and staged their first show in Berlin itself, in the halls of Messe Berlin during Berlin Fashion Week. Asked what the city gives them, Gadient put it simply: "It's the freedom. The distance from trend cycles."
Reconstruction, not destruction
On the surface Ottolinger clothes can look damaged: burnt, frayed, torn, painted over. Look closer and every one of those interventions is deliberate. The designers describe their approach as reconstruction rather than deconstruction. Holes are burnt into fabric until, in Gadient's words, it "creates almost a lace, it's very delicate." Denim and cord are slashed and reassembled. Their reworked line goes a step further, taking old stock, including pieces from earlier collections and even garments from other brands, and dyeing, distorting or shredding them into something new.
The process starts with fabric. Collections begin in Switzerland, where Bösch and Gadient work with traditional mills and craftspeople to develop their own materials and prints. From there the shapes are draped directly on the body rather than drawn as a flat sketch, which is why the clothes sit the way they do: close where it matters, loose where it doesn't.
The older sister you never had
Gadient has a neat way of describing who the clothes are for. "Ottolinger is the cool older sister you never had," she has said, a wardrobe that should make the wearer feel "confident, or cute, or strong." It explains the range of the label. There is club energy in the mesh and the cut-outs, tailoring in the blazers and suit trousers, and a very relaxed side in the sweats and baggy denim. Bösch has joked about the contrast between the two cities the label lives in: "sometimes in Berlin you just have sweatpants on, and then you arrive in Paris."
Ottolinger at ANSH46
Our Ottolinger edit reflects all of those sides. Denim comes in two treatments: the Glazed Baggy Jeans in brown overdye and the Glazed Curve Jeans in blue with black paint, both with the glazed finish the name promises. For tailoring there is the Cropped Fitted Blazer and the matching Drape Suit Pants, both in anthracite and easy to wear as a suit or as separates.
The softer side is covered by the Jacquard Wrap Sweats, while the Mesh Gown in pink-brown and the Lounge Gown in washed black bring the evening. The Pulsar Top and Pulsar Cascade Skirt in black and brown work as a set, and the Strapped Baggy Leather Pants are the boldest statement of the lot.
How to wear it
Ottolinger rewards a confident mix. Put the glazed denim with a simple top and let the treatment do the talking, or pair the anthracite blazer with the wrap sweats for exactly the Berlin-to-Paris contrast the designers talk about. Several pieces are cut with a loose, layered fit, so check the size details on each product page, or ask in store if you are between sizes.
Shop the full Ottolinger selection online, or come and see the pieces in person at our store on the Van Oldenbarneveltstraat in Rotterdam. Most styles are available in one or two sizes only.