Since 15 September, the Vestitheque in the Helene-Nathan library has been offering a spectacular selection of clothes from the streets of Neukölln for three months: STREETWARE at its purest!In our store, people can marvel at, try on and borrow genuine streetwear.

Why borrowing clothes is fun and trendy? The saved items not only shine with an aestethic of diversity that meets the boldest demands for style people of all stripes will find it here - our clothes contain curiosities mesh wise. The textiles also tell a story: the faded jeans with a used look by Levi's, the leather skirt by Gianni Versace, the knitted jumper by Kickers or the little black dress by Dior take us to China, Bangladesh, Turkey. They recount transcontinental journeys of the people who made the clothes and the bodies that wore them. But they also remind us of the dark side of the fashion industry: low wages, poor working conditions in the Global South, the environmental impact of unsustainable raw material extraction and toxic dyes.

STREETWARE saved item searches for these stories along the streets of Berlin, aims to preserve, archive and publish them so that people can come into contact with them as they would with the heroines of their favourite novels.

 At Helene-Nathan Library stories inform and inspire. This is where we tie in: Trough the narrative of textiles STREETWARE saved item explores the culture of 'discarded clothing' regarding its social significances: the garments shed lights on production methods, consumption and identity.