Ritual Unions "AWAKENING" [2025]
press materials
The Brief
For the brand's SS26 collection "AWAKENING," show notes were printed and distributed to all event attendees. The process involved interviewing the lead designer to synthesize the show's inspiration and references into a concise narrative.
The Strategy
For Karin Brettmeister, designer and owner of the label, the debut collection held a special significance as it marked the realization of a childhood dream. After nearly eight years specializing in bridal wear, AWAKENING became a turning point for Ritual Unions, signaling the brand's transition to couture and expanding its universe beyond the conventions of bridal fashion.
The challenge was translating the collection's emotional and visual tensions into language that felt cinematic yet concise. Through conversations with Brettmeister, the writing process focused on recurring contrasts within the work: concealment and exposure, rigidity and softness, intoxication and clarity. The text sought to construct an atmosphere around the garments that emotionally prepared the audience before the presentation began.
Because the show notes would be physically held and read by attendees during Berlin Fashion Week, the writing and graphic treatment needed to function as an extension of the collection itself. Stark contrasts in tone, pacing, and layout echoed the emotional friction at the center of AWAKENING, mirroring a collection suspended between restraint and release.
The Work
Collection Text:
Enlightenment is an elusive moment. Awakening imagines it not as a final destination, but as something revealed through the embrace of extremes. The pursuit of revelation demands endurance, through highs and lows, which Karin evokes through stark contrasts. Concealed and exposed, hard and soft, black and white, the designs reflect a holistic acceptance of the opposing states we navigate in our search for clarity.
Intoxicated by the highs and lows of our emotions, we are sobered by the realization that each defines the other. In the perpetual shift between these extremes, we embark on the process of becoming. Perhaps only in the presence of both can we truly awaken.
After eight years specializing in bridal couture, Awakening marks a turning point for Karin. Each look was handmade in her Berlin atelier, merging pieces from her archive with newly envisioned forms, resulting in a dialogue between past and future. Rooted in the tension of opposites, the collection presents a long-imagined vision as a moment of personal catharsis.
