Berlin Kebab Kiosk Now Caters To Your Wardrobe
If you’ve ever been to Berlin, chances are you’ve been to Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebap. The kiosk is famous for drawing lines at any point during the day, serving up its beloved kebabs – and now also drew the attention of Diesel for a one-off collaboration uniting streetwear and street food. Diesel x Mustafa is the best thing since bread x slicing, as the fashion brand puts it.
Collaborations between fashion brands and artists are nothing new. Nike x Skepta, adidas x Pharrell, Puma x The Weeknd – we’ve all seen it. But for the occasion of this year’s Bread and Butter fashion event in Berlin, Diesel decided to do things differently. The fashion brand teamed up with an artist of a different nature: a street food artist. And for good reason. “To me, he’s the only true artist in Berlin,” a girl appearing in the teaser video states. Mustafa has been a Berlin staple for years, gaining popularity – and a cult following – as it started to sell its twist on the traditional kebab by adding roast vegetables. The kiosk’s popularity among tourists didn’t diminish local love any bit. On the contrary: queuing for Mustafa’s at Kreuzberg’s Mehringdamm can almost be considered a rite of passage for Berliners and wannabe-Berliners alike.
The limited-edition capsule collection features t-shirts, sweatshirts, a cap, and a pair of jeans, all bearing the Diesel and Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebap logos. The brand match is a clear statement in the context of the collaboration trend in today’s fashion industry, its campaign expressing irony all over. Diesel and Mustafa came up with a ‘cookbook’ instead of the customary look book, with Mustafa stating “Creativity is a super important ingredient. It comes after fresh tomatoes on my list” and Diesel describing the collection as “the new avocado on toast”. Irony was paired with a good dose of humor and amusement, however. “We were all treated as a family,” Mustafa told Dazed. “It didn’t feel like working with a brand, more like a friend. And they sure did like the kebabs!”
Although Diesel considered the collaboration a move away from ‘brands constantly trying to outdo each other for street cred’, Diesel x Mustafa can be viewed along the lines of a more general trend in fashion adopting working class aesthetics. And in this case, working class eating culture as well – something that Dutch fastfood chain FEBO picked up too. The iconic chain launched a highly popular limited edition Haute Friture collection.
