Two days ago on the internet: While scrolling down the pages of "The Sartorialist" as usual, something suddenly caught my eye -had I just read the words "Berlin" and "press event"? I scrolled backwards. Yes! It was true: Scott Schuman, the guy who practically invented the whole Fashion blog-Mania was here in Berlin, on the occasion of a promotional project for Nespresso. He would give an interview, "a moderated discussion on blogging and fashion". This was nothing I could miss! His blog was the first I had read and followed since I knew about fashion blogs! There was NO choice, I had to get there somehow.
I'm not actually from Berlin, but I do have some friends there I'm meeting from time to time. Obviously, I had picked the right moment for my visit! I asked two of my friends if they'd like to come with me, to see if we could manage to get in. Sure they wanted to and soon we were already on our way to the "Michelberger Hotel" in Kreuzberg. Since we were way too early (but I just didn't know what to expect, you understand) we had to wait for another hour for the arriving of Mr. Schuman...
The interview then took about an hour. The first topic he is asked about is Berlin: Could this city, with its incontestable important history, become one of the big fashion capitals? Is it ready to be named with Paris, London, Milan and New York in one row? Scott negates that. "Not yet" he says. "Berlin reminds me a lot of New York in the 80's: It is a place where you can be creative without spending a lot of money. You don't have to be expensively dressed up to be stylish." He refers to India in a similar way: "The people there create a lot of style under almost unbearable hot circumstances and even without money! The whole thing is about celebrating people who do something in a creative, special way." On the opposite is Milan, "a comparatively small city, where everyone is kind of 'design-driven' and sensitive to style". Coming back to the question of the next fashion capital, Mr. Schuman points towards Istanbul, a city that has a great potential in his opinion. "What both Istanbul and Berlin need is more talented designers who are on top continually."
The moderator now wants to know if blogs are possibly creating some sort of a "global style"? "Well, yeah I would say so", Scott Schuman answers, "if you see a photo of someone you can't really tell where he comes from just by his style. However, you can notice some differences between the countries in general: For me, Berlin is part of the northern, European style, similar to the people in Stockholm. There is a lot of grey and black, supplied by little details. People dress down here. That's a shame I think, because you guys have potentially very beautiful people out there!" The little crowd in front of him laughs. He continues. "In New York and London the people tend to be more confident with their styling, Paris is like the smoky, sexy kind of girl and Milan seems to be, as i said before, its own 'creature'." The moderator is smiling.
A young woman in the audience raises her fist: "What is the most important part of an outfit, Mr. Schuman?" Scott Schuman has to grin. "The shoes,of course! If you have the right shoes, you can build up the whole outfit. The shoes are the most important thing." At that moment I have to look down to my feet, feeling the urge to change my brown leather brogues against some exclusive high heels. But Scott does not care about my shoes; he goes on talking about his blog now. "The idea was to talk about women's and men's wear in the same way of fashion. When I take pictures, I am very picky. To me, it doesn't matter, if people are wearing ZARA or a piece from last season. I want to see a smile on their faces. You cannot buy a certain amount of humidity." It is these words that make Scott Schuman very likeable to me. Who would have thought that this tiny man and I (and he really is very short), define beauty in the same way? In the end of the discussion "The Sartorialist" himself advises not to take the blog too literally, "but to take the inspiration of it". And finally, the interview is over.
Now Scott Schuman is in fact coming off stage. I see his back right in front of me. I can see myself raising my hand and seriously tapping on his left shoulder! He turns around, watching me. "Yes?" This is it, I'm pushing myself. Talk, Nica! And I open my mouth, hearing myself asking what he thinks is the most important thing to be successful as a fashion journalist? He answers quickly, talks about Suzy Menkes, the 14-year old Tavi Gevinson and the power of having your own opinion. I am holding pen and paper in my hand but don't feel able to do anything else than listen. He comes to an end, I smile and thank him, not without asking if I could take a picture with him. He agrees and even puts his hand on my waist! Scott is very nice.
The rest of the evening passes with loads of free food and drinks (definitely good decision to come here) and me, trying to take pictures of Scott without him thinking I was a stalker (I think he noticed anyway).
He probably won't remember our little conversation. But this evening is one of the reasons why I started this blog.
Thank you, Scott. You really inspired me.
