Serhat Isik and Benjamin Alexander Huseby are the duo behind GmbH, which has won critical acclaim for its streetwear aesthetic that offers an alternative to today’s overconsumption, with stockists that include Barneys New York , SSense and Dover Street Market .
Isik and Huseby met on a Berlin dance floor in 2015. Isik had just left a Berlin-based collective Bless, where he was in charge of menswear design, and Huseby was working as a freelance fashion photographer, shooting for Fantastic Man, i-D, Vogue, Acne Paper and Harper’s Bazaar.
They started GmbH — a Berlin-based collective — in 2016, its designs representing the multiculturalism of their own backgrounds and surroundings. The german acronym GmbH translates into “financial limited liability”, the duo chose as a means to distance themselves from their work instead of branding their own names. Isik is Turkish and German, while Huseby is Norwegian and Pakistani, and their origins are frequently referenced in their environmentally conscious clothes. What started with a motive to cut costs on fabric use evolved into the incorporation of a clothing cycle that reflects the duo’s sensitivity for backstories: each piece of deadstock fabric comes from factories located in fashion capitals such as Milan, revived as a luxury wardrobe essential. PVC pants, velvet and technical fabrics are common denominators of their collections, with pieces often named after friends. Berlin nightlife and its reputation as a cultural melting point informs the visual identity of GmbH. Their first collection in 2016, named after a treasured techno song was quickly up by Opening Ceremony By the second collection, the designers were nominated for the LVMH Prize and included in Dazed's annual list of 100 people shaping the future of youth culture.
Huseby graduated from Chelsea College of Art in London in 1997 and has worked as a freelance photographer for various international publications, including Dazed and Another Man. Since then his works have been exhibited at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London and at various other institutes, including locations in Germany and Australia. Isik studied fashion design at Weissensee Academy of Art in Berlin, completing his MA in menswear design. Both are equally involved in the design and execution of their label, and their creations offer an alternative to today’s overconsumption of clothes. Increasingly grappling with social issues via design, their Spring/Summer 2018 campaign solely featured second-generation immigrants, while their Autumn/Winter 2019 show had climate change as its focal point.
The company is stocked by Barneys New York, SSense in Montreal and Dover Street Market in London, among others. In 2018, GmbH showed during the official Paris Fashion Week schedule. Increasingly grappling with social issues via design, their Spring/Summer 2018 campaign solely featured second-generation immigrants, while their Autumn/Winter 2019 show had climate change as its focal point. Gmbh is also part of a wider Berlin network, providing a platform for collaboration among artists, musicians, writers and DJs.
