Proof of Concept: Q.E.D.

Giving credence to Berlin's continued influence in matters of style is Q.E.D., a locally-based menswear label and this year's winner of the Fashion Week Berlin/Karstadt New Generation award. Founded in 2006 by three women who "discovered their common love of black" while studying fashion, Q.E.D. offers minimal yet quality menswear tailoring with just the right amount of playful detailing.

Fall's award-winning collection is a well-crafted exercise in cutting and layering with matte and shiny fabrics in gradient shades of the professed favorite color. On an oversized car coat, the fabric is loosely gathered underneath an attached back panel to create extra volume, while another jacket combines gleaming strips of leather to create a look that resembles a slick update of a vintage soccer ball.

Influential retailers such as Paris' Surface to Air and Berlin's Apartment have already cottoned on to Q.E.D., which takes its name from the Latin "quod erat demonstrandum", a phrase that's generally used at the end of mathematical proofs or philosophical arguments to signify that the last statement was demonstrated to prove the whole. Given Q.E.D.'s success thus far, we're definitely going to consider this concept proved.

www.qed-homme.com

—Roger Joseph