ROBBEN & WINKLER

For the exhibition “Robben & Winkler,” Berlin artist Eric Winkler has created a clothing collection as an homage to the iconic Berlin car rental company Robben & Wientjes OHG.

THE ROBBEN & WINKLER COLLECTION

Robben & Winkler is Haute Couture and Prêt-à-porter reflecting the full spectrum of pluralistic Berlin lifestyles. Appropriation Blaumann (Boilersuit Appropriation). Codes and attributes of labor, heritage, obsession, and everyday reality form costume-like expressions of the symbolic capital of an individual local existence. Berlin’s unique quirks unite in fringes, cuts, labels, and accessories. Eric Winkler gives shape to his own biographical and romantic connection to Robben & Wientjes, while simultaneously capturing the remarkably unspoken resilience of an original Berlin enterprise.

THE COMPANY: ROBBEN & WIENTJES

Robben & Wientjes is unpretentiously steadfast and “Old Berlin.” Its analog way of working ensures the highest level of barrier-free, democratic accessibility. At Robben & Wientjes, we are all equal, a melting pot for the heterogeneous mass of Berlin identities. In the headquarters on Prinzenstraße, Kreuzberg, people smoke; there are corded telephones; no credit cards are required, and online bookings are impossible.

The “Robbe” (Seal) is a synonym for and a condition of the possibility of movement and transport. A guarantor of survival for the freelance precariat. It is the better TV Tower; the Walkman and the Tempo-tissue of the Berliner Mischung (Berlin mix) of roles and ways of life. Underground style. A landmark of the Berlin cityscape. Only walking is cheaper.

To the videos of the fashion show finale on Vimeo