Spring / Summer 2026 Couture
AWAKENING
Look 1 - LILITH gown
Look 2 - SWAN gown
Look 3 - PHOENIX two-piece
Look 4 - NEW MOON gown
Look 7 - BLOW gown
Look 10 - HALO gown
Look 13 - AURORA dress
Look 5 - CAGE corset
Look 8 - CANINE shirt & pants
Look 11 - CANINE dress
Look 14 - ORCHID gown
Look 6 - CAGE blazer
Look 9 - NIKEATA gown & cape
Look 12 - DAHLIA two-piece
Look 15 - OPIUM dress, gloves & veil
Look 16 - GLORIA gown
Look 19 - PORCELAIN gown
Look 22 - ONYX gown
Look 17 - AWAKENING gown
Look 20 - LURE dress
Look 23 - MUSE two-piece
Look 18 - CANINE blazer
Look 21 - SERRATED jacket & skirt
Look 23 - MUSE two-piece
Ritual Unions Couture SS26 “Awakening”
Karin Brettmeister, the Berlin-based luxury fashion designer behind Ritual Unions, has specialized in handmade wedding dresses for the past eight years. She insists that she will never be married.
The same considered detachment echoed through the first floor of the historic venue 1. OG on Französische Straße 47 in central Berlin on Saturday, as Ritual Unions debuted its first runway collection, Awakening.
Awakening proposes that self-removal from states of emotional intoxication allows for the refinement of a clearer vision.
Printed on sleek black cards, a preface to the show was placed on every seat, which read:
“Enlightenment is an elusive moment. Awakening imagines it not as a final destination, but as something revealed through the embrace of extremes. The pursuit of revelation demands endurance — through highs and lows — which Karin evokes through stark contrasts. Concealed and exposed, hard and soft, black and white, the designs reflect a holistic acceptance of the opposing states we navigate in our search for clarity.
Intoxicated by the highs and lows of our emotions, we are sobered by the realization that each defines the other. In the perpetual shift between these extremes, we embark on the process of becoming. Perhaps only in the presence of both can we truly awaken.
After eight years specializing in bridal couture, Awakening marks a turning point for Karin. Each look was handmade in her Berlin atelier, merging pieces from her archive with newly envisioned forms, resulting in a dialogue between past and future. Rooted in the tension of opposites, the collection presents a long-imagined vision as a moment of personal catharsis.”
A conversation between extremes, the presentation opened with a series of pure white dresses before oscillating between light and dark, and closing with a sequence of provocative all-black looks. Rigid skeletal corsetry, left exposed in some looks and clouded by layers of tulle in others, clashed with the movement of careful drapery.
Glistening black and white rhinestones appeared in numerous looks, with some models donning tulle masks graced by sequins and embroidery. White pearls, strung and pulled taut on a jacket and corset, looked like a defense mechanism. Each look presented its own dissonance—between form and material, detail and simplicity, tradition and innovation.
In the final look, metal hooks connect flowing tulle to the hips of an exaggerated corset frame, with the model’s hands bound behind her back with a ribbon.
It is no coincidence that, in the conclusion of a dialogue about what it takes to endure emotional extremes, the model is quite literally restrained.
Ritual Unions Lookbook SS26
Photographer: Tatsiana Tribunalova
Jewelry: Gina Melosi
Styling: Theo Vasiliou
Make Up and Hair: Hanna Scharmann-Klein, Stella Loewnich, Hanna Demodova, Lucas Oster, Natalie Paulikat, Vera Krause, Viktoria Turok
Models: Anna Hug, Daniel Klare, Edoardo Maraia, Eva Bloss, Eva Heise, Hanna Woldt, Hien Pham, Ida Cosic, Jana Heinisch, Jasmine Pringle, Jennifer Hajdu, Kira Sommer, Marq Porciuncula, Martha Gustafsson via Louisa Models, Matthias Hecht, Melanie Sittner via Inbetween Models, Melina Geishirt Eduardo, Natalie Fuebbeker, Nicole Getman, Paul Bastian Pham Opitz, Soraya Marzouh, Sümeyra Soylu, Thom Karstens
Contact Lenses Partner: Farblinsenshop / Aricona