Once a fashion backwater, Berlin is rapidly becoming Germany’s home for designers and trendsetters. The prevailing look is eclectic; usually a combination of vintage gear with the latest piece from a hot local label. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of fashion disasters – the city’s laissez-faire ethos extends to clothing and people pretty much wear whatever they please.

Berlin has nothing that could be considered traditional dress – not even anything like London’s Beefeater guards. Don’t expect to see people wearing Lederhosen, which would be the equivalent of donning cowboy boots and a Stetson in downtown Manhattan. Berliners, and most northern Germans for that matter, dislike the fact that the traditional regional garb (Lederhosen for men and Dirndls for women) is what most foreigners associate with Germany, and consider such outfits appropriate only for rustic Bavarian yokels. The only leather trousers you’re likely to see in Berlin will be on a well-muscled man riding a float during the Christopher Street Day Parade.