Where Taste Lives

I went to this event in Frankfurt last week. Chic Outlet Shopping and GQ put on some kind of fashion thing about accessories. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the crowd was interesting and the food was good, so I stuck around longer than planned.

The whole night was about falling head over heels for the details: shoes, bags, scarves, belts. Models came through in different looks - dresses, jeans, leather jackets - and every conversation kept coming back to what you wore them with. How a belt changes everything. How the shoes matter more than the pants.

Shermine Shahrivar was there saying accessories are a genuine passion, something she can’t live without. Hardy Krüger Jr. made the point that accessories define character - they’re the part of your outfit that’s actually you. He likes experimenting through those choices, seeing what works.

It reminded me of something I’ve noticed doing my own work. When you’re designing anything, you spend most of your time on the skeleton - structure, proportion, the bones of it. But what people remember is the texture, the finish, one small decision in a detail. The unnecessary thing that signals someone was thinking. That’s where the care shows.

What struck me about the whole night was how obvious it became. Accessories are where taste lives. Clothes are just the base. You can play it safe with the foundation and take every risk at the wrists and ankles, or combine things in some weird way. It’s the only part of an outfit that’s truly yours. Everything else is made somewhere else.

I left thinking about how much it matters - that willingness to spend time on small choices. Not luxury or labels, though there was plenty of that. But actually caring what you look like, which is harder than it sounds.