THINGS THAT BLOOM: IN CONVERSATION WITH NAOMI TARAZI

Mushrooms, tulips, jellyfish. These are some of the words designer Naomi Tarazi has heard used to describe her new collection.

Looking at the pieces, it’s clear why.

Close-fitting dresses, tops and pants are brought to life by spiral shapes worked in at hems, necklines and waistbands, making them bloom and bounce around the wearer. They ripple like waves or petals, fresh from ocean or forest. 

“There’s always a natural feeling to my work, always these associations with flowers and fruit and organic shapes,” says Naomi, speaking over coffee at the kitchen table of her apartment in Schöneberg. It’s a warm day in Berlin, surprisingly warm for this early in spring, and it feels like an appropriate time to be discussing a collection rooted in reawakening and resurgence.

It’s been a busy few months – and years – for the Berlin-born designer. Since launching her eponymous brand in 2022, Naomi has made her mark on the city’s independent fashion scene with sensual, ethereal looks designed to be worn to the nightclub or the beach. She creates translucent pants and halterneck tops in light, chiffon fabric, which can be laced around the silhouette of the wearer, as well as stronger, more structured pieces defined by ruffles and gathered detailing.

“I like to work with materials that will bring out your body type in the best possible way, in the way you want it to,” she explains. “That’s the journey I’m on.”

Naomi’s route into fashion design can be traced back to her late teens, when she began exploring Berlin’s clubbing scene. To prepare for a night out, she’d spend hours hand-making her own outfits. The year was 2013 and the vibe was black neoprene two pieces, high-waisted mini skirts, and crop tops with hoods. “I’d never, ever wear these pieces now,” she laughs. “But it was actually really cute. I had no idea how to do anything, I was just going with the flow, trying stuff out. I got so good at making little looks for myself that my friends started asking me to make looks for them.”

Encouraged by her family to turn her hobby into a more “serious” venture, she went on to study Art and Fashion Design at HTW, including an exchange semester in Amsterdam. She spent her final year in Berlin designing costumes for films such as In einem Land, das es nicht mehr gibt (2022), about the underground fashion world of the GDR, before graduating in 2021. A year later, she set up her own label and webshop. 

Naomi describes herself as “an obsessive person”, and there’s a recurring motif in her work that speaks to this – oysters. They serve as the throughline of her debut collection, and even work their way into her more recent creations. Initial inspiration came during a tasting evening at a friend’s place, which she remembers vividly. 

“We had the oysters laid out on the plate in front of us and they had this really wet, marbly texture. I thought, wow, this would look amazing as a print,” she recalls.

“I bought some from KaDeWe, took photos, and started to print it on fabric. It just went from there.” She began by staying true to natural oyster hues – pearly whites and inky blues – but as her collection progressed, she started to abstract the print more and more, rendering it in green for her ‘Fairy’ series.

What is it about oysters? “So many things!” she says.

“They’re sexy, they’re feminine. They’ve got this fleshy, organic look and texture. I’m making the print less obvious with each new design, but it’s always there, like a handwriting.” 

As with her early neoprene experiments all those years ago, her first collection was designed with partying in mind – but this time with the intention of breathing life into dark dancefloors, rather than blending in with them. “We all know how it is when you get ready for a night and your outfit gives you a little extra sparkle, that sense of, ok, I look extra cute today,” she smiles. “It’s the feeling I want people to have when they put on my clothes. I want you to feel special in them. I want you to have a little moment.” 

Her new collection, launching early May, pivots towards everyday wear. “I wanted to go in a different direction with it, working more with this soft jersey fabric to make it super comfortable,” she explains. “You can wear these garments to a nice dinner or even on the daily if you style it right. But the spiral finish still gives it that extra something, that extra flourish.” 

Naomi is also working to expand her brand to new audiences. She recently began selling in Stockholm and Tokyo, and has her sights set on New York and LA. How does she feel about building her career in Berlin, with its comparatively small fashion scene? “Honestly, I feel like everybody always looked at Berlin as a bit of a joke when it came to fashion,” she says. “But I’ve felt things shift over the last few years.”

She points to the city’s most recent fashion week, which took place in February. “I saw a few shows where they moved away from the serious back-and-forth catwalk and made it more fun with performances and storytelling. I really enjoyed that,” she says. “It’s like, ok, we’re not Paris, we’re not New York, we’re not London, and we’re never gonna be, so let’s do our own thing and add a different touch.” 

Among the designers that most inspire her (namely Turkish-British designer Dilara Findikoglu and Creative Director of ALAÏA, Pieter Mulier), she also counts her Berlin peers: Olivia Ballard, MADOMORPHO, clara colette miramon. “It’s exciting and motivating to know that there are other designers in this city doing amazing work. I love watching them.” 

Even so, does she ever get the itch to leave? “I’ve had a difficult relationship with Berlin. I mean I was born here, and there’s always this urge to leave your hometown,” she muses. “But I don’t think I could have the life I’m living here now in any other city.

I’m grateful there’s a place like Berlin where it’s still possible for emerging artists and creatives to practise their craft and not have to work five side jobs or hustle constantly.”

Naomi describes her studio in Moabit as her “happy place”. She works best in solitude, early in the morning or late at night, often to “melancholic music” – Lana del Rey, Stevie Nicks, or the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides (1999). “My favourite part of the creative process is the moment when you realise where to take an idea and you just get into this flow, and it’s like you could keep going forever,” she says.

Those in awe of her work will hope that she does.

 

*Naomi wears Wells from SS24 Collection in brown