Events – Numéro Berlin https://www.numeroberlin.de Thu, 12 Nov 2026 09:04:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 RECAP NUMÉRO BERLIN PRESENTS: HUGO X ENTIRE STUDIOS https://www.numeroberlin.de/2026/11/recap-numero-berlin-presents-hugo-x-entire-studios/ Mon, 09 Nov 2026 16:37:31 +0000 https://www.numeroberlin.de/?p=77588 INSIDE NUMÉRO BERLIN’S EXCLUSIVE HUGO X ENTIRE STUDIOS LAUNCH
WORDS BY LEA SCHAUB IMAGE COURTESY OF ALESSIA STAMATI
Photographer THOMAS HAUSER
Photographer THOMAS HAUSER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of October, HUGO and Entire Studios unveiled their new capsule collection, bringing together the characteristic strengths of both brands in a fresh take on tailoring and contemporary dressing. To mark the launch, our team at Numéro Berlin hosted an exclusive brunch on Thursday at our gallery space, Schlachter 151 in Berlin, welcoming around 30 selected guests from the city’s fashion, art and creative scenes. Among those invited were gallerists, art curators, actors, photographers, content creators and other creatives such as Stephanie Grau, Anna Deller and Noah Miguel Rodriguez, gathering in an intimate and relaxed atmosphere.

Rather than a formal presentation, the gathering offered our guests the opportunity to discover the collaboration at their own pace, explore the garments and exchange impressions in a more personal setting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The central element of the occasion was an exclusive editorial produced by Numéro Berlin specifically for the launch. For this occasion photographer Thomas Hauser reunited with the magazine to capture model Nicole Atieno wearing selected pieces from the capsule, with styling by Götz Offergeld, founder of OOR Studio, and artistic director of Numéro Berlin. Through the editorial, we explored the versatility of the silhouettes and the different possibilities for individual styling, adding our own visual interpretation of the collaboration. In this way, the resulting black-and-white photographs were exhibited throughout the gallery, instead of remaining confined to the pages of the magazine, turning the editorial into an integral part of the event itself and an experience that guests could immerse themselves in. The setting reflected the aesthetic of the collection, with the gallery space styled predominantly in black and white, from the floral arrangements to the overall presentation.

 

 

Photographer THOMAS HAUSER

 

 

Beyond the event, the collaboration brings together two distinct approaches to contemporary dressing. While HUGO draws on its established expertise in tailoring and construction, Entire Studios introduces a more experimental perspective on proportion and silhouette. Founded in 2020 by New Zealand born designers Dylan Richards Diaz and Sebastian Hunt, the young label has developed a distinct aesthetic shaped by its monochromatic color palettes and oversized proportions. Particularly known for its signature „Heavy“ series, the brand explores exaggerated silhouettes through substantial fabrics and carefully considered construction of shape. For HUGO, the collaboration reflects the brand’s evolution towards a more directional perspective on tailoring. While it remains rooted in the craftsmanship and precision, HUGO increasingly explores more relaxed silhouettes and a versatile approach to dressing. As Marco Falcioni, Creative Director at HUGO BOSS, explains: „We wanted to explore what contemporary tailoring can become when you approach it with a different mindset.” It is this shared interest in rethinking established ideas of dressing that forms the foundation of their collaboration.

 

 

 

 

Visually, the collection follows a predominantly monochromatic palette, with black taking centre stage in keeping with both brands’ elegant and timeless approach to design. The pieces themselves are largely defined by statement outerwear and strong silhouettes. Heavy coats and tailored blazers with experimental detailing stand out across the collection, reflecting Entire Studios characteristic aesthetic while bringing it together with HUGO’s well-established expertise in precise construction and attention to detail.

 

 

 

 

 

Those different interpretations could also be explored firsthand during the brunch at Schlachter Gallery. We displayed around 20 selected pieces throughout the space, inviting our guests to look beyond the photographic presentation and get a closer look at the individual garments. Representatives from HUGO were also present to offer insights into the collection, allowing guests to discover the pieces and their details beyond their visual presentation. Together with our exclusive editorial by Thomas Hauser, the display brought the different elements of the collaboration into one setting, giving guests the opportunity to experience the collection through both our photographic interpretation and the garments themselves

 

Launched worldwide in October 2026 under the campaign motto #RedMeansGO, the HUGO x Entire Studios capsule collection is available at selected HUGO locations, on hugo.com and through selected partners.

 

 

 

 

 

WORDS BY LEA SCHAUB IMAGE COURTESY OF ALESSIA STAMATI
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ON OUR RADAR https://www.numeroberlin.de/2026/11/on-our-radar-157/ Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:38:42 +0000 https://www.numeroberlin.de/?p=77530 Numéro Berlin’s weekly collection of the most exciting news about fashion, music, and simply everything that is on our radar. And here is why it should be on yours as well!

 

The Soft Outside: The North Face x Cecilie Bahnsen

For their fourth collaboration, The North Face and Cecilie Bahnsen revisit the outdoor brand’s iconic designs through the Danish designer’s distinctly feminine lens. The seven-piece collection combines functional materials with sculptural silhouettes and delicate floral details, introducing a romantic take on technical outerwear. All the pieces are available from November 2026.

 

 

Alpha Industries x No Problemo Return with a New Collaboration

For Fall/Winter 2026, Alpha Industries and No Problemo reunite to reinterpret another piece from the former’s archive: the CWU-45 flight jacket. Inspired by No Problemo’s Mount Kailash collection, the collaboration brings together the military-inspired silhouette with hand-drawn figures, abstract symbols and graphic details across the back. The jacket is available from October 28.

 

 

Moose Knuckles Explores the Urban Wilderness with City Tundra

For Fall/Winter 2026, Moose Knuckles takes inspiration from the unpredictable nature of urban life. Its global campaign City Tundra brings together a new generation of creatives, athletes and musicians, while the collection explores the intersection of technical performance, urban culture and expressive outerwear.

 

 

On a Night Out with Mango and Alex Consani

Mango welcomes the party season with a new campaign starring model Alex Consani for its premium line SELECTION. Directed by the ever-inventive Nadia Lee Cohen, the campaign takes inspiration from the glamour of old Hollywood parties, following Consani through a surreal night filled with unexpected encounters and distinctive characters. The accompanying collection features statement mini dresses, animal-print coats, sparkling embellishments and refined tailoring.

 

 

Two Nights, Three Venues: 8MM Fest Takes Over Berlin

On November 13 and 14, 8MM Fest returns to Berlin for two nights of underground music, bringing together artists across three venues in different parts of the city: the iconic 8MM Bar, ACUD MACHT NEU and Zionskirche. In collaboration with Berlin-based collectives and international concert series, this year’s expanded line-up puts emerging artists from Berlin and beyond in the spotlight, showcasing a diverse range of musical styles.

 

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IN CONVERSATION WITH ARNAUD FRISCH https://www.numeroberlin.de/2026/10/in-conversation-with-arnaud-frisch/ Fri, 02 Oct 2026 16:33:44 +0000 https://www.numeroberlin.de/?p=75608 ARNAUD FRISCH BRINGS PARIS’ SILENCIO CLUB TO BERLIN

 

 

 

Fifteen years ago, Silencio opened its doors in Paris and quickly became a landmark for the city’s creative community. Its founder is French entrepreneur Arnaud Frisch. To mark its 15th anniversary, Silencio is bringing its concept to Berlin with a temporary pop-up in the former Watergate space. Opening on 30 October 2026, Silencio Berlin will bring together music, art, cinema and design while connecting with the city’s creative scene. Following the opening party, our Deputy Editor in Chief Antonia Maria Schmidt sat down with Frisch to talk about Berlin nightlife, the idea behind the new space, his long-standing friendship with Mumi Haiati and the evolution of Silencio over the past 15 years.

 

 

 

 

MILENA ZARA

 

 

Antonia Schmidt: You’ve already done several pop-ups in other cities. Why now Berlin?

Arnaud Frisch: In Berlin, club culture has historically functioned as a cultural form in its own right, bringing together music, performance, visual culture and communities in an organic way. In that sense, Berlin feels very close to something that has always been central to Silencio.

 

AS: Nightlife as well.

AF: Berlin is the model. This city has inspired the rest of the world. I have great admiration for the clubs here, the ones still running and the ones that are gone, and not only for the music. What Berlin built is a place where individual freedom is taken seriously, where people are protected and where everyone is allowed to be whoever they are for a night.

 

AS: Watergate specifically is a great location.

AF: Watergate is a landmark, and taking over a room with that history is intimidating. It drew its own path to the city with that window onto the Spree. Anyone who has watched the sun come up over the water from the lower floor knows it. Its closing was a real loss for Berlin. What mattered to us was that it stays a club rather than becoming offices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AS: Can you tell me a bit about the program already?

AF: Cultural programming is the centre of the project. In Paris, beyond the club nights, we run carte blanche invitations, art performances, concerts, installations and talks. The first Berlin night already gave a sense of it: a performance by Valentina Magaletti, DJ sets from Richie Hawtin and Ben Klock, and a limited-edition military tag by Maurizio Cattelan given to everyone who came.

AS: Berlin has this quality, where all these different scenes are already so connected to each other. The music scene overlaps with the fashion scene, the film scene… A lot of people are already in exchange with each other.

AF: In Paris the scenes overlap, but they’re vertical. Everything passes through institutions, and each world has its own gatekeepers. Berlin is horizontal. People collaborate before anyone has given them permission, and that changes what a night can be.

AS: Tell me a bit about your relationship with Mumi, the founder of Reference Studios who is now supporting you with the pop up.

AF: It happened naturally. Mumi came to our first Fashion Week at Silencio. His agency was new then and was doing things nobody else was doing: connecting fashion with art, hospitality, and other fields. That was very close to how we were already working. We kept crossing paths around the world, and it grew from there.

 

INTERVIEW & WORDS BY ANTONIA SCHMIDT
MAX HEEB
JOSEPH KADOW
JOSEPH KADOW
MILENA ZARA

 

AS: I’m curious, how do you see Berlin nightlife?

 

AF: What Berlin has is unique, and it’s now official: the city’s Technokultur has been recognised as intangible cultural heritage. And it comes with things no other city can offer, spaces you simply don’t find elsewhere and a freedom that has no equivalent anywhere in the world. That’s also why we’ve spent years bringing Berlin to Paris rather than the other way around. At our Parisian club FVTVR we regularly host Berlin collectives and clubs: BCCO, Pornceptual, Primal Instinct, Multisex, RSO…

AS: You’ve spent so much time in Paris and now you’ll be spending more time in Berlin. What feels different between the two cities?

 

AF: Berlin is much bigger than Paris, with parks and green space everywhere, and you feel it immediately. Paris is a finished city, in the sense that it was built long ago and nothing is left over. You work inside what already exists.

AS: You collaborated with Studio Karhard for the club.

 

AF: Studio Karhard made this project possible. Thomas Karsten knows this city and everything that opening a club here involves. Marc Leschelier’s work is fascinating: brutalist, sometimes uncomfortable and very poetic. Then Studio Raito did the lighting.

 

 

AS: The lighting was great. I told my friend at the opening party, the lighting is really, really good.

AF: Lighting can transform a room completely. Studio Raito doesn’t light a space the way a club is usually lit, from above and onto the crowd. They treat light as material: they place sources within the architecture, work with reflection and shadow as much as with brightness, and let the fixtures themselves be visible objects rather than hidden equipment. The result reads closer to an installation than to a lighting rig.

AS: Tell me about the objects in the club, particularly the big installation on the terrace?

AF: Marc Leschelier’s work draws on an abstract architectural vocabulary, using materials associated with construction and heavy industry while often leaving their function deliberately unclear. On the floating pontoon, this pavilion is draped in a cement-impregnated textile more commonly used in heavy infrastructure, which hardens through contact with water.

AS: What is it that makes a good club?

AF: There are a lot of great clubs, and there’s no single formula, which is the good news. What Berlin taught me is the value of time: giving people long enough to actually experience several artists.

AS: How you curate?

AF: Well, a club is very much about curation. The way you design the space, the artists you bring in, the music, the installations. It all shapes the experience. But at the end, the most important thing is to bring people together around artists and ideas to create a community. This is also a curation.

INTERVIEW & WORDS BY ANTONIA SCHMIDT
JOSEPH KADOW
JOSEPH KADOW
JOSEPH KADOW
JOSEPH KADOW
JOSEPH KADOW
JOSEPH KADOW
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THE CULTURE WE CARRY: INSIDE MS. LAURYN HILL’S DIASPORA CALLING!  https://www.numeroberlin.de/2026/08/the-culture-we-carry-inside-ms-lauryn-hills-diaspora-calling/ Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:49:04 +0000 https://www.numeroberlin.de/?p=73004 THE CULTURE WE CARRY: INSIDE MS. LAURYN HILL’S DIASPORA CALLING!

Last friday, Ms. Lauryn Hill brought to live Diaspora Calling! for its first UK edition, ten years after she first conceived the project in Brooklyn. Artists, musicians, families, collaborators and audiences from different generations and geographies came together, connected by something that has always sat at the centre of Hill’s work: the understanding that culture can function simultaneously as memory, resistance, communication and healing. For one day, diaspora became physical.

The scale of the gathering was immense, yet the energy surrounding the event remained intimate. Backstage, between artists, musicians, friends and extended creative communities, the borders between performance and gathering dissolved. Gunna, Common, Rapsody, Tiwa Savage, Little Simz, Stonebwoy, Victony, Tolu Coker, Foday Dumbuya, Sabrina Elba, Zeze Millz and Derek Chisora were among those moving through a space that increasingly felt like a cultural convergence in its own right. Many of the people present belonged to an interconnected conversation that had been developing across countries and generations for years. Diaspora Calling! made that network visible.

The project was first conceived by Hill in 2016 as a combination of music, visual art and cultural exchange, but its roots reach further. Hill has spoken about an earlier trip to Ghana and a conversation there that made her recognise the communities she and Wyclef Jean had independently built throughout the African diaspora. The question became what might happen if those networks were deliberately brought into contact with one another.

A decade later, Milton Keynes offered one possible answer. Ms. Lauryn Hill was mapping relationships.

The programme moved geographically as much as musically: from the radical lineage of American soul represented by Erykah Badu, to Nigerian artist Fireboy DML, London rap through Giggs, and the continuing Jamaican lineage represented by Hill’s sons YG Marley and Zion Marley, grandsons of Bob Marley. Dave Chappelle, whose comedy has long occupied the intersection between entertainment, politics, race and cultural criticism, hosted the day.

The map expanded further through Nigerian DJ DJ OBI and Haitian-Guyanese producer and DJ Michael Brun, while British-Ghanaian live band The Compozers brought another bridge between West Africa, Britain and the wider diaspora. Later, The Compozers would join Hill during the closing performance, adding to the expansive live-musician architecture surrounding her onstage. During Giggs’ set, Kano appeared unexpectedly for “P’s & Q’s” and “Rudeboy” — a meeting between two defining voices of British rap and another reminder that the cultural geography of the day was continuously being redrawn in real time. 

Africa, the Caribbean, Black Britain and Black America existed as points along a cultural continuum. Hip-hop moved into reggae; reggae into soul; soul into Afrobeats. Contemporary voices stood beside artists whose work helped construct the cultural languages from which newer generations continue to draw. This ability to connect histories while preserving their individual identities has long defined Hill’s position. For more than three decades, she has expanded the role an artist can occupy. Her work continuously engages with identity, spirituality, race, womanhood, love, exploitation, faith and self-determination. At a moment when culture increasingly moves through accelerated cycles of consumption, Hill continues to insist upon something slower and more demanding. She puts the message first. Diaspora Calling! takes that principle out of the record and turns it into a cultural space.

THE SCORE, THIRTY YEARS LATER

At the centre of the evening stood another reunion: Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean marking thirty years since the release of the Fugees’ The Score. Released in 1996, the album achieved something increasingly rare: enormous commercial reach alongside extraordinary cultural complexity. Hip-hop, reggae, soul, Caribbean musical memory and political consciousness coexisted inside a record capable of reaching audiences far beyond any one of those communities. 

The Fugees themselves embodied diaspora. Their music carried Haiti, the United States, the Caribbean and the experience of migration into the centre of global popular culture. Even their name — derived from “refugees” — placed displacement and belonging inside the identity of one of the most commercially successful groups of their era.

Thirty years later, those questions have become even more urgent. Migration remains one of the defining political subjects of the present. Questions of borders, belonging and cultural ownership have intensified. Simultaneously, musical traditions across the African diaspora are more globally interconnected than ever: Afrobeats travels through Lagos, Accra, London and New York; dancehall continues to shape global pop; hip-hop has become an international language; younger artists inherit sounds whose histories stretch across continents. Returning to The Score in 2026 reveals how far ahead the record already was.

Hill has described revisiting this history through the language of reclaiming and healing timelines. During an intimate conversation surrounding the Milton Keynes gathering, she speaks about the idea of returning to the path. Relationships fracture, people separate and lives move in unexpected directions. Sometimes, as Hill explained that evening, we move away from the path we were supposed to be walking. Healing begins with recognising that distance and finding a way back — reclaiming the path.

In the context of her relationship with Wyclef Jean, the idea carries particular weight. Their reunion contains a history of extraordinary creative intimacy, global success, separation, conflict and reconnection. Seeing them together now allows those chapters to coexist. The distance itself gives the return its meaning.

Healing becomes the decision to move through history rather than remain trapped inside it. Thirty years were precisely the point.

A FAMILY TREE IN MOTION

One of the most compelling qualities of Diaspora Calling! was the way cultural legacy remained in motion.

The presence of YG Marley and Zion Marley made that particularly visible. Bob Marley’s cultural impact has long exceeded music itself; his work became part of a global vocabulary around liberation, spirituality, Africa and resistance. His grandsons standing within a programme alongside Hill and Jean created another generational line — Jamaica speaking to the United States, the Caribbean speaking to Africa, one musical inheritance being reinterpreted by another generation. YG Marley performed “Praise Jah in the Moonlight,” while Zion reached directly into that family archive with Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” before moving into his own music. Legacy here became something active and this is where the curatorial intelligence of Diaspora Calling! becomes clear: diaspora really is a living network. And that network extended beyond sound.

Before the Milton Keynes gathering even began, Hill had translated the idea into something powerfully visual. In central London, she curated the presentation of a short film created by Los Angeles artist Lauren Halsey across the monumental screens of Piccadilly Lights. Halsey’s animated collage of heroes and symbols of the global African diaspora transformed one of London’s most commercial public spaces into a temporary site of diasporic memory.

At Milton Keynes, visual art, fashion, film and community programming continued alongside the music. Halsey’s visual language reappeared within the festival, while Denim Tears, Kids of Immigrants and Topicals participated through cultural and fashion activations. A curated marketplace brought diasporic artists, designers and entrepreneurs into the same ecosystem. Weleh Dennis, co-founder of Kids of Immigrants, also designed Ms. Hill’s stage look, inspired by workforce garment designs, whereas the powerful background singers wore custom-designed, cropped LOVE hoodies.

The distinction matters. Music remained the gravitational centre, but the vision surrounding it was interdisciplinary. Culture was being allowed to speak to culture, fashion to music, art to politics, history to a younger generation. Commerce to community, Africa to its diaspora and the diaspora back to Africa.

Community is a word culture uses excessively and practices far less often. At Milton Keynes it felt unusually close.

Perhaps that is also why Hill appears so instinctive in this role. When speaking about bringing these artists and communities together, she described the impulse as something natural. Artists and cultural figures before her had already demonstrated what it meant to become a voice, to open doors, create language for others and understand the responsibility that can accompany influence. Among the figures Hill mentioned Bob Marley, Nelson Mandela, Bobby Seale, Harry Belafonte, Kwame Nkrumah and Sister Souljah — people operating across radically different disciplines and histories, connected by the understanding that visibility can carry responsibility. Diaspora Calling! becomes part of that inheritance and vision: Someone created space before her, she creates space for others, others will carry it forward.

TWO VOICES, ONE CONTINUUM

Few encounters captured the spirit of Diaspora Calling! as powerfully as Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill sharing the same space.

Their connection carries decades of cultural history. Hill and Badu emerged at a moment when Black women were radically expanding the language of contemporary music — its sound, politics, spirituality and image. Both established uncompromising artistic identities that moved freely across genre and challenged established ideas of femininity, success and creative autonomy.Their individual paths have remained singular, yet a deep artistic vision connects them: an understanding of music as a space for consciousness, self-determination and transformation.

Badu’s performance carried the magnetic presence that has defined her live work for decades. “On & On,” “Window Seat,” “Apple Tree” and “Back in the Day” moved through the Bowl with the freedom of music still evolving in the moment. Badu has always understood performance as something alive — responsive to the room, the musicians and the energy passing between stage and audience.

Later, Badu joined Hill onstage for “Doo Wop (That Thing)”, creating one of the evening’s defining images. A song released in 1998 suddenly held several histories at once: the era that produced it, the women who helped transform the cultural landscape around it, and a new generation experiencing that legacy in real time.

Hill and Badu have each built bodies of work around depth and independence. Their voices gave space to interiority, spirituality, sensuality, social consciousness and the complexities of Black womanhood. Decades later, both remain cultural reference points because they have protected that independence. Their friendship and artistic relationship reflected the wider architecture of Diaspora Calling!: artists connected through shared histories, mutual respect and a responsibility towards the generations coming after them.

MS. LAURYN HILL’S LEGACY CONTINUES

Hill’s cultural position remains difficult to categorise because her influence exists far beyond the size of her discography.

There is the rapper whose phrasing helped dismantle assumptions about gender within hip-hop. The vocalist capable of moving between rap, soul and reggae with complete fluency. The songwriter who made emotional vulnerability coexist with political consciousness. The Black woman who achieved extraordinary commercial visibility while remaining openly critical of the machinery surrounding that success. And then there is the cultural figure who emerged from all of those things.

Perhaps the most remarkable measure of Hill’s cultural impact is how little material it has required to sustain itself. Her solo studio catalogue essentially rests on one album.

In an industry built around constant output, accelerated release cycles and the pressure to remain permanently visible, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill has travelled across almost three decades without losing its urgency. Artists can spend entire careers producing extensive catalogues without reaching as deeply across generations as Hill has with a single solo studio album. That longevity lies in what Hill chose to address in the first place: love, faith and self-worth; motherhood, power, injustice and identity; the tension between belonging and remaining yourself; the struggle to stay truthful inside systems designed to reshape you. These questions do not belong to one era. Hill articulated them through a language in which the personal, political, spiritual and social could exist simultaneously. A record made in 1998 can therefore still feel immediate to someone encountering it for the first time in 2026. Her legacy challenges one of contemporary culture’s most persistent assumptions: that relevance requires constant production.

Cultural permanence is built through depth.

THE BUILDING OF AN INFRASTRUCTURE

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill remains foundational because generations of artists have inherited its permission: to be intellectually rigorous and emotionally exposed; spiritual and political; feminine and self-defined; commercially visible while retaining ownership over the meaning of the work.That influence now runs through multiple generations.

Diaspora Calling! reveals another dimension of Hill’s work: She is building infrastructure. Who shares a stage? Who meets backstage? Which histories are placed beside one another? Which younger artists gain proximity to their predecessors? What happens when African, Caribbean, American and British creative communities encounter one another in a physical place? And who, having once been given that space themselves, assumes the responsibility of creating it for somebody else? That final question feels central to Hill’s understanding of her own position. Cultural influence becomes something to circulate.

And this is where Diaspora Calling! begins to move beyond the continuation of Hill’s own legacy. It proposes a model for what cultural spaces might become. For all the language of global connectivity surrounding contemporary culture, meaningful physical spaces for exchange have become increasingly precious. Digital culture moves music across continents in seconds, yet the deeper histories connecting those sounds can easily disappear in the process. Diaspora Calling! restores those relationships to the foreground: The past becomes active material for the future. Healing, in this context, means creating the conditions in which difference, fracture and history can exist alongside the possibility of connection.

Hill has described this moment as one for growth, healing and pushing forward. At Milton Keynes, those ideas became a methodology.

CREATING NEW VALUE SYSTEMS

There were histories on that stage and throughout the Bowl of migration, of diasporic musical traditions travelling and transforming, of families carrying cultural legacies forward, of friendships fractured and repaired, of artists navigating industries that profit from their creativity while frequently failing to protect the people producing it.

Even the abrupt ending of the night became an expression of that relationship. As the National Bowl reached its licensing curfew and the Fugees’ performance could no longer continue as planned, Hill refused to let the energy disappear with the stage lights. She moved down towards the crowd, extending the connection beyond the formal boundaries of the performance. The gesture felt almost like a final articulation of the day itself: proximity over distance.

Diaspora contains the routes through which people continually find one another again, like a living network — constantly moving, constantly being redrawn.

And this is where Diaspora Calling! points beyond the legacy of one artist, one album or one generation. It proposes a different cultural model.

An industry built around algorithms, accelerated release cycles, individual visibility and constant consumption has taught us to understand culture through what comes next. The next record, the next artist, the next image., the next moment. It recalls a thought FKA twigs has raised around the need for a different value system in music — one capable of recognising what numbers cannot measure. Streams, sales and visibility can quantify reach, but they cannot fully account for cultural impact: the ideas an artist leaves behind, the communities they create, the doors they open, or the way a piece of work continues to shape people decades after its release.

Diaspora Calling! asks powerful questions: what happens when culture moves through connection rather than succession? When an elder does not disappear as a younger voice emerges. When legacy becomes responsibility rather than status. When influence circulates instead of being owned. When community becomes infrastructure rather than branding. In this model, history and innovation do not compete. Africa and its diaspora are not separated into centre and periphery. The past does not sit behind the future but they move through one another.

The future of music will inevitably be global. The more urgent question is whether it can remain connected to the histories, communities and human relationships that gave it its language in the first place. At Milton Keynes, Lauryn Hill offered one possible answer.

Perhaps the future of music also depends on learning how to value what cannot be counted. It shapes a vision of culture as circulation rather than consumption, legacy as responsibility rather than status and community as infrastructure rather than branding.

Thirty years after The Score, Hill is still drawing the routes. And making space for others to follow them home.

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ADVERTISEMENT: WORLD PRIDE AMSTERDAM 2026 LEVI´S https://www.numeroberlin.de/2026/08/world-pride-amsterdam-2026-levis/ Wed, 05 Aug 2026 13:23:33 +0000 https://www.numeroberlin.de/?p=72777 Together, We Ride: With Levi’s® at WorldPride Amsterdam 2026

During WorldPride Amsterdam 2026, Levi’s® once again expressed their ongoing support for LGBTQIA+ communities. Through a series of collaborations with local organisations, artists and creators across the city they celebrated this years pride – full of colours, love and courage, which becomes even more crucial after the tragic attack on Berlin´s CSD a week earlier.

Through the lense of Dustin Hanke we get to re-experience this beautiful celebration from the Canal Parade over various cultural programmes to creative workshops. As an Official Sponsor of the event, Levi’s® partnered up with Youth Pride to create a Canal Parade boat inspired by Amsterdam’s cycling culture and the idea of moving forward together, with queer youth and creatives taking the spotlight.  Other collaborations included iconic Athenaeum Boekhandel and Creatives from the city.

Beyond the parade, Levi’s® made sure to adress all different members of the community: A Pride-themed bookstore installation, the Pride Biker Salon, and the Pimp My (P)ride customization experience at Pride Village offered opportunities for people to engage with the campaign in more personal ways. Inspired by the history of queer motorcycle clubs and their role as symbols of chosen family and resilience, the Levi’s® Pride 2026 collection also continued the brand’s support for LGBTQIA+ rights through its annual donation to Outright International.

But see for yourself!

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Poetic Narratives: Franka Marlene Foth on Dance, Creation and Authorship https://www.numeroberlin.de/2026/07/the-politics-of-movement/ Tue, 21 Jul 2026 13:41:18 +0000 https://www.numeroberlin.de/?p=72044 Poetic Narratives: Franka Marlene Foth on Dance, Creation and Authorship

For Numéro Berlin’s project “POETIC NARRATIVES”, Franka Marlene Foth choreographed a conceptual, almost hypnotic dance, reflecting upon the abstraction of movement. Next to the skilful performance of eight dancers from her collective, it was also the looks that truly stood out: Chanel’s designs, ranging from the classic tweed costume over magnificent embroidery to flowy fabrics and playful bags as accessories, truly elevated the elegance of this to another level.

Hosted by Numéro Berlin, the video was first shown on July 1 at Schlachter 151, with an exclusive selection of guests including Sven Marquardt, Hannah Herzsprung, Noah Becker, Solange Smith and many more. Next to the video, there were also high-quality print stills on display, enabling a more steady look at the beautiful designs.

Scroll below to read more about director Franka Marlene Foth and her choreography.

 

Director and Choreographer: Franka Marlene Foth @frankamarlenefoth
Cinematographer: Fynn Stoldt @fynnstoldt
Photographer: Frangipani Beatt @frangipanibeatt
Styling: Götz Offergeld
Hair: Samir Krdndic @samirs.jpg

Make-up: Olivia Nwachukwu @liv_gate
Make-up Assistant: Jesse Strikwerda, Niccolo Brumat
Production: Elvin Ayanoglu
Director’s Assistant: Katharina Spatz @spatzlova
Styling Assistant: Rosa Lobe, Andrea Gombalova
Set Assistant: Gabriel Pal Singh Chohan
Gaffer: Liam Mulligan @liammulliganphoto
Sound Design: Oleg Solovey @fire_of_your_loins
First AC: Justin Konetzke

All Looks Chanel Métiers d’art 2026

 

Performers:
FMKF Studio @fmkfco
Yi-Wei Tien @yi_wei_tien
Janan Laubscher @janman_
Franka Marlene Foth @frankamarlenefoth
Camille Jackson @frau.jackson
Meyron @meyron_
Viktoria Yerchyk @viktoriayerchyk
Marharyta Pasliadovich @margerryyy
Masha Yakobchuk @maaakobchuk
Ekaterina Privalova @privalovka

Poetic Narratives: Franka Marlene Foth on Dance, Creation and Authorship
INTERVIEW AND WORDS BY ANTONIA SCHMIDT

Franka Marlene Foth didn’t really decide to become a dancer. She started training young, got her first job at 16, and by the time a conscious decision would have been required, it was already happening. Today she works across choreography, directing and photography. For this issue, she created an exclusive project with Numéro Berlin – bringing together the dancers of her collective FMKF for a shoot that creates an expressive, gestural dialogue with Chanel’s latest Métiers d’Art collection. Intense choreography, untamed women, moved by raw, dreamlike emotion.

Her creative practice is built on contrasts and driven by sound. When given a brief, she looks first at what the obvious response would be and then deliberately heads the other way. Music precedes everything that is staged. From there ,inspiration comes less from dance itself than from film, surrealist poetry, scent, and psychology, anything that generates an interior state rather than an aesthetic surface.

In conversation with Numéro Berlin, she talks about the moment she stopped making work under other people’s names, what it actually means to collaborate without hierarchy, and why the way people are treated in a room shapes everything that comes out of it.

ANTONIA SCHMIDT: When did you decide on dance, and why dance rather than another medium?

FRANKA MARLENE FOTH:

I have to dig really deep for that, because I started so early. I’m not loyal to one specific medium and I never had that thought in my head: “I want to become a dancer.” It just happened. It was always a very effortless ambition. I trained incredibly hard from a very young age, simply following my passion, and then quite early on, I got my first jobs as a dancer at 16, alongside school.

AS: What kind of jobs were those?

FMF: As a background dancer, and I also created shows for live events. That showed me pretty directly that I can do this, I’m already earning money while still in school. It really fueled my desire to pursue it. But it was a gradual process. I just followed what I wanted to do. I was obsessed with training and was sometimes given leave from school to compete. I was completely absorbed in it. When I got my first jobs through my hard work, I realized: Oh, this is actually working. I’ll keep going. And since it was happening alongside school, I lost interest in school entirely. I just wanted to work as a dancer. So I wasn’t following some grand dream; I was following my passion, my desire.

AS: That’s actually beautiful, when something comes from within rather than from an external idea.

FMF: Exactly. I had no external idea at all. Which many people do have, and with it a false notion of what it means or how you get there. Meanwhile, I was training six hours a day.

AS: But you also danced a lot of hip-hop and house for a while, right?

FMF: That was during that period, yes. I always dabbled in everything, but I was really deep into those styles then. There have always been phases in my life where I focused on certain styles. I needed variety and got bored quickly. Ideally, I’d master everything perfectly, which obviously isn’tpossible, so I was always jumping around. That actually paid off, because it made me totally versatile. But it was never a deliberate decision; it was more like: this interests me more right now.

AS: How did things continue after school?

FMF: Straight into a dance training program. I always say it was just additional training, since I’dbeen doing it all along anyway. But I wanted a contemporary education, because up until then, I’dmainly focused on urban styles. I thought: Okay, I want to move more into theater, do more contemporary work, immerse myself in that world. So I did the program.

AS: And then, at some point, there was a shift from dancer to choreographer.

FMF: That one was more conscious. By a certain point, I’d been working as a dancer for a long time, and there was always something that bothered me, something I would have done differently. Then I realized: I can’t keep criticizing others for ideas I don’t think are good. I have to do something different myself. That was the shift. I want to show my own vision, realize my own ideas, and follow my own aesthetic affinities, not execute someone else’s.

AS: Did you also want to change how collaboration worked, compared to what you had experienced as a dancer?

FMF: Absolutely. I’d frame it more on a psychological level, the way the dance world operates. Speaking critically from my own experience and that of most dancers: What mattered to me was not wanting to be treated that way anymore, and doing it differently. Many choreographers work together with dancers, but the dancers develop a great deal themselves. I experienced giving everything I had, only for the choreographer to put his name over it at the end. I thought: Wait, that’s not my vibe. What I give, I don’t want to do under someone else’s roof. What really confirmed it was this: I created something, it was immediately taken, and I thought, wait a second, I’m doing this on my own now.

AS: Yeah, why keep creating for someone else?

FMF: Totally. It was a process where I realized I want to do this myself, because I’ve already been creating most of the repertoire and my own visual language came through. The artistic ethos and the way of working with other dancers and artists should be different on a human level, precisely because it is a collaboration.

AS: What’s your approach now when you create something together with dancers?

FMF: It’s always different. I have very strong and precise visions and I’m quite specific and perfectionistic about what I want. I know pretty clearly what I want. But the dancers, with what they’re capable of, are of course crucial. Without them, I couldn’t do what I do. It also always depends on who’s involved. If it’s dancers I’ve worked with for a long time, like the people from FMKF, my collective, then by now, it’s a kind of symbiosis, because they know me and I know them. If I say I’d like something a certain way, they’re already moving roughly how I want. And of course it’s a total interplay. I’m very specific in the choreography and instruct my movements concisely; I create the framework and the foundation of the entire piece. But every dancer also brings their own character, and I love that. I don’t want clones. I love synchronicity, but I also love the different characters and the fact that they come onto the stage individually and bring something of their own. It’s a process of give and take.

AS: On set, I noticed that you know exactly how it should be. It was your vision and you were executing it. I found that impressive.

FMF: Yes, I have a precise idea and I prep. I want everything to be executed with excellence and quality, but I’ve also trained myself not to over-prep. I used to do that, and when something didn’twork out, I’d lose it: bad perfectionism. These days, I try to be more relaxed, because keeping that window open for interpretation and spontaneity is really important. On a day like that, I’m also trying to compress five weeks of work into a single day, which only works with the right dancers. And something else that is really important to me in my work is how people are treated. Especially on set, where it’s always stressful, or in rehearsals, it matters to me that they feel seen, even when I’m telling them very precisely how something should be. I think by now, I manage that quite well, so that they feel valued as artists.

AS: That also creates a strange hierarchy between choreographer and dancer, doesn’t it?
“Hierarchies are something I find really troubling. There are people who wallow in their position; that exists in every profession, but especially among artists and performers, there are a lot of egos in play. I experienced that as a dancer and realized it has to change.“
AS: Is there a dance tradition you see yourself in? Or are there choreographers or dancers who have fundamentally shaped your work?

FMF: It was always my trainers who shaped me. There were so many of them, and I switched when something no longer worked for me. But they were truly personal relationships. It wasn’t just someone somewhere in the world I admired from a distance. I also never really thought about dance theoretically or read much about it. It was always physical work. Inspiration came through colleagues, trainers, and dancers I worked with, or through people I met at workshops and training sessions around the world.

AS: That surprises me, that you didn’t really engage with theory.

FMF: A lot came through conversations among dancers, of course, but I was physically far too busy to be reading much about it. It’s competitive sport; I was focused on becoming a better athlete and just getting better in training.

AS: I have the feeling that in recent years, there’s been a hype around performance, art, dance, and choreographic work that’s spilling over into other areas, which is of course great. It seems like it’s becoming more accessible. But when trends emerge in creative circles, it often happens purely on an aesthetic level, and people don’t really engage deeply with the subject. Do you see that critically?

FMF: It depends. You can apply that to anything. First and foremost, I prioritize substance overhype. I wouldn’t ever say that engaging with dance is a problem; it’s much better than engaging with plenty of other things online. But these trends exist, absolutely, and that’s also down to online culture and social media, which is why I keep trying to do a complete detox. While I appreciate other people’s dance, of course my creative inspiration is shaped far more by influences beyond it.

These trends get boring fast. Something goes viral and everyone rushes toward it. I prefer authenticity over trends. I always think: This didn’t just appear now, I see the reference and there are a thousand other versions of it everywhere. But now, everyone piles onto this one piece, even though there are ten other great ones out there. What bothers me more is that the hype is rarely questioned. The visuals circulating online are barely analyzed or critically examined. Where does this come from, what references were used? I immediately see: Oh, this aesthetic comes from this or that context, and I think, people, do your research. That’s just the curse of social networks. I’m also not even sure if more is actually happening, or if we’re just seeing it more often. Because it’s constantly being shown, you get the impression it’s everywhere.

AS: You mentioned your inspiration comes from something completely different. Where exactly?

FMF: These days, I’m guided more by desires than by fixed ideas. These wishes and desires are very intuitive, influenced by life, by personal experiences, immediate observations and events, and sometimes by things that aren’t personal at all. Ideas can be spontaneous, irrational, but still precisely structured. Music and sound are a primary part in my creative practice and stimulate me above everything else. That’s the key mood for everything I do, creatively and especially with dance. I am more engaged with film, surrealism in all its forms, scents, poetry, surrealist poetry, psychology; all of these things influence what I want to create, not visual things I see from others.

The inner processes are shaped by all of that, which leads to new things emerging, or to me feeling stimulated. In dance, I’ve already seen so much. I understand most things immediately. But I’m also making it myself, so it became more an observation of something that exists. I’m always curious, and enjoy being in circles where people are more used to avant-garde ideas, and even though everything has existed in some form before, new impulses still emerge. At some point, inspiration shifts toward other fields. You develop other interests or a different understanding of what you’redoing. I haven’t been doing just “the one thing” for a long time now. I am operating in many fields such as directing, photography and design. I think it’s just a process you go through that can’t really be defined precisely.

AS: Let’s shift to the project. What was the conceptual starting point?

FMF: For me, it goes like this: When I’m told to create something, there’s first a storm up here. A thousand ideas in my mind, then I have to limit myself.

Inspiration came initially from the Chanel New York collection. I looked at what the aesthetic was and quickly realized I wanted to create a contrast, because the collection already implies something. You can go along with the aesthetic or set a contrast; I usually find the contrast more interesting than what’s already expected. Through that, I then realized what I actually wanted to create: an emotional atmosphere, something extreme, with a lot of expression, with wind, storm, effort, heaviness. Those were my keywords. You also shared the editorial direction for the issue, and it was quickly clear: women, strong, untamed women. I don’t need to go searching for that; all the dancers I work with already embody it. Then came the question of who to bring on, and from there, the characters I want to create emerge immediately. In parallel, I developed musical ideas, also in contrast to the collection. Everything happens first in my head before I go into the studio. I have an understanding of how things go together that’s purely sensory based, so the music I create in turn influences the visual images I want to realize. And I play with sounds and images until the two ignite each other.

AS: Total interplay.

FMF: Naturally, I have musical references that come to mind immediately, and those shape the key mood.

AS: How close is the music to what you play on set?

FMF: I actually played the snippets, I think. Those were references for the various emotions I wanted to bring in. I had a fairly broad spectrum of playlists, because each emotion I wanted to convey is carried by different tracks and genres.

Every genre has its own mood, which influences what’s being portrayed. Since I wanted to show a variety of emotions, I played many different pieces, which I then bring together in the final version. I experimented a little along the way: What happens here? Oh no, that doesn’t work anymore, that goes out. Or suddenly, something different is happening than I expected. I deliberately leave that window open for spontaneity and interpretation, and if necessary, I rewrite sections afterward.

AS: You said you wanted to incorporate different emotions. Which ones exactly?

FMF: They can be quite varied, to generate different qualities and characters. I write down keywords I give to the dancers. Unapologetic, chaos, dreamlike, self-possession were a few in this case. In group work, which I love to do, I can use that to create compelling images with the bodies. When the dancers bring a variety of emotions into it, I find that especially interesting. So I give everyone different keywords on the day, exactly as I did this time.

AS: Do the keywords depend on the characters you’ve previously developed with the dancers?

FMF: Sometimes I also do it contrarily. If I see that something is happening on the left, I need exactly that from her at the top right. I react spontaneously on set, adjust things quickly, and change instructions at short notice. That’s why I need ultra-professional dancers who can respond immediately. I can say: “Forget what I told you two days ago, I need exactly this now.” Or I switch roles: “You’re playing this role now.” It’s very dynamic.

AS: What was the storyline of our project for you?

FMF: I work with poetic narratives rather than with classic stories because for me, it’s primarily about expression. I’m reluctant to prescribe a fixed meaning because that often limits the viewer’simagination. Even I sometimes see something different depending on my mood on a given day. That’s why it’s important to me not to give concrete guidelines, and even when I have them, I’m hesitant to voice them.

“Every viewer, whether at a live performance, looking at images, or watching film, brings their own experiences and interprets individually. That’s exactly what I find compelling, because it makes the final statement unique for each person.“
AS: This issue is about thinking of sexiness less through the body and more as an attitude, as an authentic presence, not as an image but as an energy. I feel that idea overlaps strongly with dance. How do you see that relationship?

FMF: I agree. When it comes to dance though, I’m here for it all. Everything has its place. It’sexpression, and it should also be fun. If you want to let yourself go and throw yourself onto the floor, naked or half-naked, and perform classic forms of sexy-coded movement, go for it. But this alone does not do it for me. It, again, is more about finding interesting contrasts. I, for example, always wanted to move like my male colleagues, also in a sexual way. In the end, it’s all about poise, charisma, and remaining authentic.

AS: As in dance, sexiness is conveyed through attitude. What role did that play in our project, and how do you understand the term?

FMF: The women I work with are sexy just by being themselves; they don’t even need to express it. When they then consciously do so, it’s often a tick too much, because sexiness for me doesn’tautomatically mean moving in a certain expected way. It’s not about delivering what people already associate with sexiness, but creating a contrast instead. And that’s exactly what I find especially compelling. A rupture. I also like the word “attractiveness” better than “sexy,” and I think it’s much more powerful. Attractiveness is presence: charm, facial expression, body language, walking upright. That alone is enough to seem sexy, and you can go into a lot of detail there. In dance,especially, I pay close attention to moving away from clichés. Even though I find classically clichéd dances totally admirable, in my own work, I always try to set a contrast, to move away from the first association. That’s really my main creative process: thinking about what the obvious association would be, and doing exactly the opposite.

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HOSTED BY NUMÉRO BERLIN AT TYLKO SPACE: TYLA’S A*POP LISTENING SESSION https://www.numeroberlin.de/2026/07/hosted-by-numero-berlin-tylas-apop-listening-session/ Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:03:35 +0000 https://www.numeroberlin.de/?p=72400
HOSTED BY NUMÉRO BERLIN: TYLA’S A*POP LISTENING SESSION

Tyla’s new album A*POP is set for release, and Numéro Berlin invited guests to an intimate private listening session ahead of its official release on 24 July. After hits like “Water“ reaching billions of streams, the upcoming album playfully blends amapiano, pop and R&B, becoming a vibrant love letter to African pop music. Hosted at Tylko Space Berlin, the evening’s intimate setting provided the perfect backdrop to experience the new tracks. 

Among the guests getting a first taste of A*POP were Luke Raine, The Mik Brothers, Jacob Rott, Luis Freitag, Ting Ting, Tim Schäker, Nic Kaufmann, Clara and many more. Tyla also stars as one of the cover personalities of Numéro Berlin’s latest issue, SEXY, photographed by none other than Aus Taylor, who was also present at the event.

After listening to the full album, Jenny Augusta moderated a conversation with Tyla where the Grammy-winning artist described A*POP as „the kind of pop album I always wanted to create.“. 

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