With Slashed Jerseys and Curved Seams Designer Sia Arnika Is Pursuing “Experimental Normality” in Berlin

By all accounts Berlin is where the action is in Europe. One of the people contributing to the city’s creative energy is Ottolinger alum Sia Arnika. With her fifth collection for spring 2023, Arnika, a Dane born on the island of Mors, aka “Cold Hawaii,” has finally caught a wave that she can ride for a while.

Like Berlin, which the designer describes as having entered its “teenage” phase, Arnika is maturing. For spring she consciously refined her vision and applied her craft techniques and patternmaking in a more grown-up way, breaking with the clubby look stereotypically associated with Berlin. “Right now there’s so much of this Y2K fashion happening, and I didn’t wanna be one of those guys. I also grew up in the early 2000s…and of course I’m also influenced by it, but that’s not who I am as a person,” she said on a call.

Arnika’s vision vibes with larger themes that emerged during the spring season, one of which is draping. The first look is a “goddess” dress that spirals sexily around the body, the result of what she calls her intuitive pattern making. “I draw a shape on a piece of paper, cut it out, put it on the body, and more or less see where it takes me,” she said. “I don’t want to show off the female body just for the sake of it; I use it more as a template or as a canvas. I use it as a means to show my creative pattern-making skills in a way.” The designer and her interns also serve as fit models.