During Berlin Fashion Week, tHERAPY Recycle & Exorcise transformed the runway into a dystopian arena. The Berlin and Argentina-based upcycling label presented Dystopian Games. Deconstructing the armour, a collection that questions society’s obsession with performance, perfection and control.
Founded by Argentine sisters Angie and Poli Aguirre, tHERAPY presented the show at MAAYA Berlin as part of the multidisciplinary event PassePar2. Seventeen models became “players” in a fictional game where extreme productivity and human optimization set the rules.
Welcome to the Dystopian Games
The collection looks at the growing pressure to improve and reshape the human body. In particular, tHERAPY explores performance-enhancing and weight-loss drugs, biotechnology and corporate expectations of constant productivity.
For the designers, clothing becomes part of this system of control.
High-performance sportswear meets restrictive corsetry and shapewear throughout the collection. As a result, exaggerated silhouettes transform familiar garments into something more uncomfortable and dystopian.
The show also draws inspiration from the cyberpunk world of Blade Runner and the melancholy surrounding Roy Batty. However, tHERAPY places this reference inside a ruthless contemporary arena where bodies are expected to perform, adapt and fit external standards.
Deconstructing the Armour
Upcycling remains at the centre of tHERAPY’s approach. Instead of creating the collection from new materials, the designers worked with existing athletic uniforms and shapewear.
They stripped the garments down, reconstructed them and gave them a completely different purpose.
Therefore, the materials that once represented performance and physical control became tools of resistance. Across the runway, the 17 bodies challenged the idea that perfection should be achieved through constant optimization.
At the same time, this process reflects the label’s wider commitment to zero waste and circular fashion. Rather than feeding another cycle of mass production, tHERAPY uses what already exists and transforms it through experimentation.
Photo by: @jesus.pastor.photo
With Dystopian Games. Deconstructing the armour, the label turns fashion into both satire and protest. The runway becomes a space to question who defines the perfect body — and what happens when we refuse to play by those rules.
Credits: Dystopian Games Collection Show Designer: THERAPY Recycle and Exorcise – Angie Aguirre – @therapy_berlin Assistance: @anjanascha @adriandgn @agustina.viano Presented at @passepar2 by @ukai_ndame during @berlinfashionweek Fashion Experience Lead: @abikemariam Location: @maaya_berlin BEAUTY PRODUCER: @reemjarhum Sponsored by: @gittibeauty KEY HAIR & MAKEUP ARTIST: @maiss_up HAIR & MAKEUP ARTISTS: @almadro @zorelouislee_ @lorebianchini @yfara @sherin.mua @olhamuaoho Hair for Faravaz by Tim @ponyclubberlin Models by show order: @mica_fresh @_lolasol @saeed-sang.ab @misicharmelle @seina_k0403 @fragilexpoison @mattam.mattam @das.fraeulein.fuchs @noah6.37 @laska.josephine @saintyev @njeanmartine @zoerixdorf @__chom__ @nina_mariane @faravazmusic DJ: Walter Griot (aka Aziz Sarr) @walter.griot Host: @ginasgrace Music: Blade Runner End Titles by Vangelis – Remix by Moreno J.
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