Germany is home to many top-name fashion designers, such as Wolfgang Joop, Karl Lagerfeld, Hugo Boss, and of course the famous model-gone-designer Heidi Klum. Despite all the major contributions Germans have given to the world of fashion, Germany has a particular street style that doesn’t completely mirror the styles of Germany’s top designers.
Germany is home to over 80 million people with all different styles ranging from punk to floral. There are, however, a few particulars in German street fashion that are welcomed by almost every German.
The first thing most people notice about German fashion is the excessive love for scarves. Scarves are often the focal point of outfits and are worn in many extravagant ways, colors and styles. Even German men love to add scarves to their ensembles.
In Germany, the term scarf is separated into two categories: the thicker kind of scarf worn in cold weather (called a Schal) and the light, mesh-like scarf, which is mainly used as an accessory (called a Tuch). Both kinds of scarves are incredibly popular in Germany and a scarf is used in almost every outfit, regardless of the time of year.
The thicker ‘Schal’ tends to be of one solid color and can be worn in many ways (usually the bigger the better). The lighter ‘Tuch’ or plural ‘Tücher’ come in various designs and tend to be of lighter colors.
The overall German street-style is generally laid-back, with regular T-shirts being very popular. But that doesn’t mean it’s jeans every day for the typical German. Although every German usually owns a few pairs of jeans, and any tourist will see jean-wearing Germans in every city, denim is gradually becoming outdated.
Next to jeans Germans often like to wear pants, shorts, or skirts with leggings or tights. Casual dresses, both maxi and mini, are worn often and just like ‘Tücher’ are usually lighter colors, although black is obviously always in style. Many outfits are matched with a cardigan or a jacket with pleather being a desirable choice of material.
Another large trend in Germany are sneakers, which are called just that, or ‘Sportschuhe.’ This trend could possibly be linked to the amount of bike-riders in the country. Almost everyone there owns a bike. Most sneakers in Germany are brightly colored and don’t necessarily have the whole outfit. Although Germany is home to both Adidas and Puma, the sneaker of choice at the moment is Nike.