BENJAMIN A HUSEBY and SERHAT lSIK in conversation with EMMA HOPE ALLWOOD
When the Berlin-based label GmbH showed its first collection back in 2016, the idea that its designers, Benjamin A Huseby and Serhat If ik, would take the creative reins at a heritage Italian luxury house may have seemed unlikely. Powered by the energy of their artistic community in Berlin, their work at GmbH - the term for ‘limited company' in German, chosen by the designers for its anonymous tone - has been about exploring identity: as brown, as queer, as the children of immigrants (Huseby is Norwegian-Pakistani, Isik Turkish-German).
But in 2021 the two were named creative directors of Trussardi - the Milanese brand with more than 110 years of history under its leather belt. Their appointment was a reflection of two things: the ways the industry had caught up with their vision, and of GmbH's singular design language, fuelled by deep research and an ability to explore and elevate even the most banal of fashion tropes.
Their first collection for Trussardi took to the catwalk in February 2022, the opening look setting the mood. A Milanese fashion staple - the puffy piumino jacket - was transformed in leather and cropped to show stretches of midriff, appearing alongside
