From Kierkegaard to Mrs. Knowles With 032c FW23

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Berlin-based magazine and ready-to-wear label 032c is in its comfort zone for Fall/Winter 2023, epitomizing the high-low balance that’s designed its output since the 032c apparel collection debuted in 2017.

The ensuing garments have always been very much of the moment, filtering a mix of contemporary streetwear through a culturally-conscious lens.

032c’s FW23 collection delivers a lot of the stuff you’d expect: worn ‘n washed midlayers made of beefy cotton jersey, distressed knitwear, thick leather.

But the shapes are surprising: there’s the inimitable volume one expects from 032c wearables but also snug, form-fitting performance gear and slinky eveningwear. Two forms of velvet — one delicate and sheer, the other scarred by paint — epitomizes the dichotomy.

Dubbed “Destiny’s Child,” 032c’s FW23 collection isn’t an homage to Beyoncé, necessarily, though its enormous hoodies, football scarves, and voluminous suiting does offer a whiff of that Y2K flavor. But the collection is more indebted to Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, according to 032c Readytowear creative director Maria Koch.

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“When my mother told me she had gotten her first tattoo, I thought it was amazing,” Koch said in a statement. “Doing a teenaged thing at 80 years old just says, ‘Do what you want, always.’”

The tattoo that Koch’s mother received vertically arranges a circle, square, triangle in homage to a famous Kierkegaard quote.

“What is to come? What does the future hold? I don’t know, I have no idea,” the philosopher pondered in his Either/Or. “When from a fixed point a spider plunges down as is its nature, it sees always before it an empty space in which it cannot find a footing however much it flounders.”

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In that future fluidity, 032c seeks stability in versatile, neutral-toned clothing influenced by the go-to uniforms of generations prior. Fashion, trend, taste, that all comes later. The most important thing is just getting dressed.