For her spring 2027 collection, “Lost to Virtue,” Laura Gerte explored the deconstruction of femininity’s moral ideals. Her starting point was research into Dadaism and the work of artist and poet Mina Loy, whose feminist manifesto, written in 1914, framed female “virtue”—or rather virginity—as a patriarchal tool of control. Published only decades later, the text still felt radical enough to hint at just how provocative it must have been in its own time.
“One of the manifesto’s central ideas is the destruction of virtue. For generations, the idea of female morality has been used to keep girls and women small, forcing us into predefined roles. And we don’t want that anymore,” Gerte said after the show. With “Lost to Virtue,” Gerte completes her own trilogy: vulnerability gives way to darkness, and darkness to liberation. “The first collection was very vulnerable, the second was really very dark and dedicated to the Female Villain, and now it’s free—free from the expectations of society.”
The show opened with white looks built from Gerte’s signature deconstructed vintage T-shirts. Cut apart and heat-bonded back together, they cling closely to the body before gradually slipping away from it, transforming into halter dresses with cut-outs—virtue rendered as fabric that falls, shifts, and slowly comes undone. The body has always been Gerte’s primary construction site. Here, close-fitting mesh pieces layered with sculptural draping hugged, suspended, and framed it rather than simply exposing it. “Many of the garments were made without traditional pattern cutting. For me, that’s a rejection of classical design—of virtuous design and virtuous ways of working.” New this season were secondhand scarves, pleated in an old West Berlin workshop before being draped modularly around the body in vibrant summer colors. Tongue-in-cheek Bavaria graphics from upcycled brewery T-shirts—only recognisable on close inspection—added a welcome dose of humor without overexplaining themselves. “Why not? I’m from Bavaria.”
Then there’s Berlin in the summer. “You’re either wearing a winter coat or almost nothing,” Gerte joked. That reality translated into micro bras, string details, low-rise skirts, and fluffy upcycled boleros. These aren’t everyday clothes but pieces for weddings, exhibition openings, clubs, and the fleeting occasions in between—moments when being seen is precisely the point. Free, feral, unruly, amused. Gerte’s manifesto for 2027 already feels definitive.
