Laura Gerte turns deadstock into power dressing for women who refuse to be good

We've been waiting for someone to say it out loud: female villains get the best lines, the best outfits, and the most compelling character arcs. Laura Gerte finally did, and her Fall/Winter 2026 collection "Deviant Defiant" is the thesis statement we didn't know we needed.

Showing at Berlin Fashion Week, the Berlin-based designer built an entire collection around what she calls "the cultural trope of female villains being deviant but in their deviance they are defiant and powerful." This isn't your typical cautionary tale about women who step out of line. Instead, Gerte uses high-performance tailoring and experimental fabric manipulation to reframe villainy as unyielding personal power.

What strikes us most is how Gerte has matured her aesthetic without losing the tension that made her work compelling in the first place. The collection leans into something more serious and adult while maintaining her signature push-and-pull between fragility and structural rigidity. Dark, moody hues dominate the palette, executed across sculpted wool, fluid jersey, tight satin, and mesh. These materials get cut into slim, elongated silhouettes that are occasionally disrupted by unexpected volumes and dramatic draping. The result feels both disciplined and provocative, exactly what you'd want from clothing that celebrates refusal to conform.

Central to the "Deviant Defiant" philosophy is Gerte's use of circularity as an actual design tool, not just a marketing buzzword. By sourcing deadstock and recycled textiles, she creates what she calls "textile hybrids" that retain the history of their original forms while being reborn into contemporary luxury pieces. This approach feels genuinely innovative rather than performative, which we can't say about most sustainability efforts in fashion right now.

The season also introduces a collaboration with Dr. Martens that goes far beyond typical brand partnerships. Instead of just styling the iconic boots with her clothes, Gerte deconstructs and repurposes them, integrating structural elements directly into garments and accessories. "I approached them because of what they stand for, subversiveness and quality," she explains. The result shifts the function of the boots while preserving their inherent cultural grit, creating pieces that feel like armor for the unruly.

We see this collection as part of a larger conversation happening right now about who gets to be powerful and how that power gets expressed through clothing. Gerte isn't just designing for women who want to look good, she's designing for women who refuse to be good in the first place.