How the GDR apron became Italian luxury

Wie die DDR-Schürze zum Italo-Luxus wurde

Italian luxury label Miu Miu has released dresses for summer 2026 that resemble 1980s East German kitchen aprons, with prices reaching up to €12,000 for crystal-embroidered versions. The collection debuted on the Paris runway in October, where actress Sandra Hüller opened the show in robust workwear, evoking factory workers from the former GDR. Designer Miuccia Prada, a former member of the Italian Communist Party, drew inspiration from Helga Paris's 1984 photo series "Frauen bei der Arbeit" (Women at Work), which documented female laborers in East Berlin's VEB Treffmodelle textile factory.

luxury shoe archive collection jeremyn lee

Jeremyn Lee, Senior Footwear Designer at Thom Browne, opens his personal archive of luxury shoes to CULTURED magazine. His collection, housed in his Fort Greene home, includes rare runway samples and discontinued styles from brands like Prada, Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Maison Margiela. Lee began collecting after an internship at Marc Jacobs, focusing on nostalgia-driven pieces he first admired on Tumblr as a teen. The archive is meticulously catalogued with photography organized by size, brand, and season, featuring items like the Maison Margiela Spring 2009 'oversized sandals' sold as display objects.