Retail

Andreas Murkudis got into fashion retail in 2003 through the opening of his eponymous shop in Mitte. Over time the growing range of products – from clothing and cosmetics to home accessories – outgrew the space available and in 2011 the multi-brand shop moved to its current location in Tiergarten. Hidden in a quiet courtyard, the former printing facility was redesigned as a shop by architecture firm Gonzalez Haase AAS. It stocks Loewe, Aspesi and Mykita, as well as Susanne Kaufmann skincare, Werkstatt Münchenn jewellery and Hohgant baby clothes. “We work with about 200 brands; some sell really well, some sell moderately, some barely sell at all,” says Murkudis. “It doesn’t matter; we love them.”

Evelyn Lang and her partner Malte Henkel have been running this vintage-furniture shop for more than a decade now. The pair traverse the fairs, flea markets and dusty storerooms of Europe to find original art deco, Bauhaus and mid-century pieces from such designers as Charles Eames, Hans J Wegner and Wilhelm Wagenfeld. The lamps, desks, chairs and tables only enter the Kreuzberg showroom after careful restoration – and if there’s a certain something you’re after, Lang or Henkel will enjoy the challenge of finding it.

The two outposts of stationer RSVP sit opposite each other on Mitte’s Mulackstrasse. The original 2001 space stocks everything from Italian leather-bound notebooks and Kaweco and Caran d’Ache pens to greeting cards from Berlin’s Martin Z Schröder. “Most of our products are from small companies or one-person-workshops, designers and artists,” says founder Meike Wander. The newer shop, designed by Greek architect Manolis Iliakis, has a wall dedicated to delightful wrapping paper and ribbons.

This concept store can be found on one of Mitte’s more vibrant fashion streets, known colloquially as La Mu. Its owners, Ania Bauer and Jacob Brinck, have assembled a modish mix of internationally renowned labels including J’ai mal à la tête and Won Hundred, as well as Berlin-based brands such as Vladimir Karaleev and Goetze. “We try to surprise our customers with the selection,” says Brinck. The space also serves as a showroom for the duo’s homeware brand Llot Llov, which produces lighting fixtures, hanging planters and vases.

“Our aim is to produce high-quality garments and products,” says Yasar Ceviker, co-owner and creative director of Munich-based brand A Kind of Guise, founded in 2009. The Berlin flagship of the formidable fashion label opened in 2015. Its light-filled space on Mulackstrasse – designed in-house and fitted with furniture by Stattmann Neue Moebel – sells the full range of menswear and womenswear. Most of its pieces, from knitwear to bags and shoes, are made in Deutschland, with a few items crafted in northern Italy; fabrics are sourced from Japan and Western Europe. “The design aesthetic is more or less timeless,” says Ceviker.