Danny Reinke FW25 Styles an Impending Doomsday
The Berlin designer was simultaneously inspired by Heinrich Hoffmann’s popular children’s book, ‘Struwwelpeter,’ and the Doomsday Clock, or the metaphorical countdown to humanity’s destruction.
Berlin designer Danny Reinke’s Fall 2025 collection was equal parts innocent and infernal. On the one hand, the prêt-à-couture fashioner looked to Heinrich Hoffmann’s Struwwelpeter, one of the most popular German children’s books that tells several cautionary tales with distinct moral lessons that ultimately end with exaggerated, disastrous consequences. And on the other hand, Reinke was galvanized by the Doomsday Clock, a scientific metaphor representing humanity’s proximity to self-destruction.
Well, the designer’s latest fashion manifesto, “90 Seconds To Midnight,” was quite close to total debauchery (in a stylish way, of course).
Reinke called the fashion line a powerful mix of “historical influence, dark symbolism and rebellious design,” drawing from the Biedermeier period, an era in Central European art and culture in the 19th century that prioritized the middle-class values of simplicity and functionality. On a menacing color palette, the collection’s anarchy was punctuated by rough textures, chaotic fraying and punkish holes; however, despite its non-conformist nature, the range still managed to be both playful and practical.
A tantalizing scissor motif cut through the range — as a print on formal blazers and dress pants, as a furry little broach on collared tops and as a sharp, head-turning clutch for the label’s campier clientele. Unruly coats, made in collaboration with textile innovator Hannah Kaplan, utilized all of the scraps from the collection’s creation, and band T-shirts paired with classy tweed outerwear in a combination that was just as defiant.
Amidst the line’s darkness, there were smile-provoking moments. On eveningwear ensembles, blinding Swarovski crystals were arranged like a calm night sky (perhaps just before the Doomsday Clock struck midnight); and on statement daywear, bright floral prints were contrastingly happy. The moodboard was dotted with the designer’s favorite childhood stories, after all.
See Danny Reinke’s Fall/Winter 2025 collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned to Hypebeast for more Berlin Fashion Week coverage.
