vakuum asked Alan Balletshofer on how to "Dress like You Mean Departure"
- Photography:
- James Cochrane & Jeremy Moeller
On July 1st, Berlin Fashion Week leaves the runway behind and checks into Flughafen Tempelhof, where Balletshofer stages one of the seasonâs most quietly resonant shows. No theatrical lighting. No choreographed strut. Just boarding announcements, distant echoes, and an entire collection shaped around a question: What if dressing for travel wasnât about comfort, but about care?
Between Check-in and Character Study
Titled Dress like You Mean Departure, the Spring/Summer 2026 collection doesnât mourn the past. It doesnât replicate vintage airport aesthetics. It builds something else â a ritual of dressing that invites intention back into motion. Balletshofer offers us a character, a traveler, who chooses to arrive fully even before departure.
The setting reinforces that weight. Tempelhof is a stage thick with history. Its mid-century steel bones and cinematic scale offer a rare kind of stillness. Instead of a runway, thereâs a boarding sequence. Models pace, pause, and form a line. Staff in archival Pan Am uniforms usher them toward a gate. It all unfolds with quiet logic, familiar yet stylized.
What does the airport mean to you â not as a place of transit, but as a stage? Why Tempelhof?
ALAN BALLETSHOFER: Airports are a kind of theatre. Everyone is performing in some way: nervous, slightly dressed up, pretending to be more confident or composed than they are. Tempelhof carries that same energy but with an added layer. It feels cinematic, almost surreal. Its history and scale give it a haunting presence, and that made it the perfect frame for our travelers.
This is fashion without overstatementâless a show than a soft reenactment of a shared rhythm: waiting, preparing, boarding. It’s not nostalgic. It’s intentional.
Youâve created a character this season: the stylish traveler. Who are they to you? What do they leave behind, and what do they pack?
AB: The stylish traveler is someone who treats the airport as an occasion. They leave behind the culture of convenienceâthe rushed check-in mindsetâand pack intention. A jacket that moves with ease. Polished shoes. Garments that speak to where theyâre going and where theyâve been. They carry memories and ambitions in equal measure.
Balletshofer Creates a Wardrobe of Dual Intentions
Across 33 looks, Balletshofer presents a travel wardrobe composed of contrasts: softness meets structure, elegance intersects with function. The color story is muted but exactingâdusty taupe, crisp white, indigo, navy, slate, and Balletshoferâs signature pop of electric blue. These shades carry through soft poplin shirts, bonded wool jackets, and sleek silk blends, finished with technical nylons that mimic the flow of parachutes.
Silhouettes hold space. Wide-leg trousers stop just above the ankle. Sleeveless outerwear wraps around the body without overwhelming it. A long blazer with an extended lapel is worn open over roomy utility pants, while tailored coats come lightly belted to allow motion. Nothing clings. Everything moves.
Fabric contrasts are where the collection sharpens its edge. One tracksuit, remade in black bonded wool and sheer white lace, becomes a quietly subversive response to comfort-wear. These arenât garments designed to impress from a distance. Theyâre meant to be worn closely, shaped by use and movement.
Tracksuits in lace and bonded wool feel both surprising and grounded. What were you trying to express with that clash of materials?
AB: The combination was about duality. Lace is fragile, delicate. Wool is structured, solid. Together, they show that you can be tender and tough at the same time. We wanted to challenge the idea of comfort, without sacrificing elegance.
What Balletshofer avoids is as telling as what he includes. Thereâs no flash. No unnecessary hardware. Stitching is precise, often concealed. Tonal layering invites discovery only when the body shifts. This is elegance practiced in the mirror, not the feed.
In a world of âover-sharing but under-dressing,â how do you define elegance now?
AB: Elegance is about intention. Itâs not about being polished for appearances, but about showing you care. It’s in the way something is worn, in details only the wearer might notice. For me, true elegance symbolizes a deeper care for yourself. A private meaning â not focused on how you’re perceived, but how you carry your story.
The footwear echoes this ethos. Balletshoferâs continued collaboration with Timberland brings forth a new black leather muleâstripped down, practical, edged with a signature blue tongue. These are shoes meant for movement. For going places.
The Final Boarding Call for Berlin Fashion Week
The show builds slowly, like an actual gate call. The cast gathers near Gate A14, shifting their weight, standing with a kind of practiced patience. Thereâs no flashbulb finish. Just the last quiet motion: Alan Balletshofer stepping out hand in hand with his grandfather.
The models didnât just walk, they moved like travelers. How involved were you in shaping the choreography?
AB: We wanted to reenact the airport experienceâboarding, waiting, checking in. The choreography was essential. It all built up to the final call, where the models formed a line to âboard,â ending with me walking with my grandfather. That moment brought everything full circle.
Itâs a gesture that ties everything together: the emotional heart of the show, the personal heritage behind the tailoring, and the invitation to move through the worldâgracefully, thoughtfully, dressed like it matters. Memory. Movement. And what it means to depart with dignity.
Dress like You Mean Departure doesnât propose spectacle. It proposes presence. It asks us to move with care, pack with memory, and board the day like we mean it.
