Fashion Metropolis Berlin 1836-1939: The Story of the Rise and Destruction of the Jewish Fashion Industry

Westphal, Uwe: Fashion Metropolis Berlin 1836-1939: The Story of the Rise and Destruction of the Jewish Fashion Industry. Leipzig: Seemann Henschel, 2019.
ISBN 978-3894878061

Old mistakes newly laid out – after thirty years, the journalist Uwe Westphal has reissued his book Berliner Konfektion und Mode 1836-1939: Die Zerstörung einer Tradition (Berlin Confection and Fashion 1836-1939: The Destruction of a Tradition), which first appeared in 1986 as one of the first publications on “Aryanization” in the Berlin textile industry, under a new title and with another publishing house. The history of the Berlin ready-made clothing industry remains an important topic that needs to be engaged with today, and to which various scholars and researchers have been devoting themselves for years. It is regrettable that Westphal, after all these years, does not introduce any new findings into his research, only slightly reformulates the text, republishes incorrect information without checking it, ignores the current state of research, and does not cross-check and critically question the eyewitness interviews he often uses.
In his foreword Westphal says that for decades there has been no memory in Berlin and Germany of “the great style icons of fashion that made history,” namely “the Jewish designers.” In Berlin, “the city of crime,” one knows “almost nothing about it,” and his book represents “maybe one last chance to remember” (pp. 10-11). But he does not use this opportunity. Continue reading... Download

Text: © Gesa Kessemeier and Christine Waidenschlager
Gesa Kessemeier and Christine Waidenschlager for netzwerk mode textil e.V. (in German online since 16 May 2019)