Straight hair throwing shadows on her face, a woman stands in a hay shed, her voluminous fringed black skirt sweeping down the floor. A few ropes of knotted jute run across her breast, fashioning themselves into a bra, as her strong arms circled with hand-worked brass cuffs, hold aloft an enormous bull horn. This is The Bull. A woman in a quilted silk corset stumbles in a tent, overpowered by Cupid’s arrow of love, which had pierced a dartboard attached to her haunches. Madomorpho’s Spring/Summer 2025 collection titled In the Shadow of the Moon takes us to the night circus, filled with its curious entertainers submerged in worlds of their own.
Extremely inspired by the early 20th century, many of Madomorpho’s previous collections and lookbooks like the Electric Riders collection have derived from the colours of vintage illustrations and stereotypically pin-up poses, while transforming its performance of sexuality to modern interpretations. In their circus collection, they’ve picked up certain character archetypes of a vintage travelling circus, like the illusionist, aerialist or the late-night hooded dancer probably from a so-called oriental land — and bought them to the twenty-first century. Their preoccupation with characters is evident through their continued experimentation with period-typical uniforms, like the red wool jacket of the circus ringleader or the sailor in their white silk night suit with dreamy draping, waiting in vain for their lover.
Transformation or morphing is embedded in the very name Madomorpho, which is something both Emma Postma and Saga Peterson, the founders of the brand, are into. This metamorphosis is seen in the woman transforming into a bull, or a figure performing as a shooting star with a full-length star-shaped pillow costume around their head, with beaded tassels — both Postma and Peterson resort to the humorous and radical potentials of camp and exaggeration in most of their collections, like their Marionette dress from Electric Riders which treats the dress like a puppet, whose movement is manipulated through wooden crosses.
Their inspiration from vintage also takes another shape in their designs through the insertion of vintage items, like second-hand leather and antique door handles. This preference for sustainability was also extended to creating their much-loved array of ballet boots and pumps, from used ballet shoes sourced from theatre companies like the Royal Opera House and performers. These re-imagined ballet pumps were recently seen on Lady Gaga. Metal sat down with Postma and Peterson, delving into building their brand in Berlin, and everything that inspires them today.
Tell us about yourselves! Where did you study and what made you want to get into design?
Emma: We met each other during a period when we were both studying fashion design in Amsterdam. Saga moved to Berlin shortly after that to continue her studies. I moved a year or so after that as well, and we spent all our free time in Saga’s studio, sewing all day. Many late nights working on new party outfits! We noticed that we always shared a business drive and we decided to start something very innocent together.
So, we sold some self-made pieces on Depop, under Madomorpho, with two separate labels — Emma Postma and Saga Peterson. Then, over the years we grew closer and closer, especially when it came to our creative visions. We dropped our names off the labels and just designed under Madomorpho. In 2021, we decided to make our first collection together, which was the Marionette Collection.
So, we sold some self-made pieces on Depop, under Madomorpho, with two separate labels — Emma Postma and Saga Peterson. Then, over the years we grew closer and closer, especially when it came to our creative visions. We dropped our names off the labels and just designed under Madomorpho. In 2021, we decided to make our first collection together, which was the Marionette Collection.
What’s it like being an emerging designer in Berlin? It’s not a European fashion capital like Paris or London, but that can be a big plus when it comes to going your own way and innovating.
Emma: I think we both moved here initially because of community and friends, and to live in a big city which is not as expensive as Paris or London. We’re both not very inspired by the city as it’s very grey and masculine in our opinion. We have our bubble where we have our studio, friends and work, with not too many distractions. We have yet to connect with the city, but we would love to plan an event sometime and connect more face-to-face with people.
For many designers, like Guram Gvasalia, they start with proportions as the first step to create their collections. What is your design process?
Saga: A few elements together, I would say. We mostly start off with a strong scenario or setting, something that inspires us. In the most recent case, the circus shows of the 1920s. We go from there — we find fabrics, trinkets and we do a lot of drawings. We both find it easier to visualise things when we draw. We spend so much time together, almost ten hours a day, so most of the time we understand each other within a second! While drawing, it’s funny to see how I always manage to draw what Emma is explaining to me without giving much detail! We try to not overthink too much, and always say it’s better to remove a few looks than having to desperately add in the end. Then we try and sew as much as possible to build a strong concept and character for our collection.
Is there a wanting to escape the contemporary reality when imagining retro-leaning designs? What historical era are you inspired by, as your garments have references to particular periods of history.
Emma: I don’t know if we’re trying to escape something. Maybe we are? I just think we really love deep diving into a topic or theme and creating a new contemporary world from there.
Saga: We do have a strong preference for how clothing and shoes used to be made, with much better craftsmanship, materials and sewing with much more attention to detail, and this is something that we like to be inspired by and recreate — and escape all the cheap crappy fast fashion out there!
Saga: We do have a strong preference for how clothing and shoes used to be made, with much better craftsmanship, materials and sewing with much more attention to detail, and this is something that we like to be inspired by and recreate — and escape all the cheap crappy fast fashion out there!
What role does camp play in your work, considering the Shooting Star garment from your recent collection, or the Pull Up and Serve piece where one garment had a serving tray of glasses attached to the skirt.
Saga: I think we also see the historical references in our garments through a very contemporary lens, which gives us the impression that our work is more camp than historical. It’s so much fun to create these very strong, expressive characters that should not be taken too seriously, and we love the fact that people will probably smile and gasp a little when they see them!
In your first collection, you named all your characters and created narratives around them, and it also comes into play in your recent collection, how do you view storytelling in fashion?
Emma: It helps us to create a visual story. We start off with a few typical characters that are present in our genre — so, for example in our newest collection, the circus collection, we noticed we had three genres of personalities as looks. Directors, visitors and performers. The directors had something quite bossy and dominant about them and wore something more suit or uniform-like. We imagined that the visitors were working class or the bourgeoise that pulled out their most beautiful garments out of the closet, to visit their favourite annual circus show. The performers are the eccentric, dreamy and mysterious — we gave each of the performers a special talent of allure that they can pull the audience in with!
You have always been very influenced by uniforms, could you elaborate on that?
Saga: We both find there to be something very charming about matching clothing sets, it really enhances the idea of a full thought-through look. We also really like design from the point of view of a full look, including accessories. I think we both feel less inspired when we try to come up with just one garment rather than a whole persona.
What material do you prefer working with? In the circus collection, you’ve used silk very prominently.
Emma: I think silk just fit exactly to the feeling of this collection. The words dusty glamour were the two exact words that describe the feeling of the collection.
Saga: Fabric shopping in Berlin is quite limited and our favourite shop has a nice range of deadstock silks, but it’s hard to find the right colours if you don’t have many fabric options, so we created most of the looks’ colours ourselves by dying. If you dye silk or other natural materials, you get quite intense colours. Most of our looks have a hand-dyed piece to them, which is very precious to us.
Saga: Fabric shopping in Berlin is quite limited and our favourite shop has a nice range of deadstock silks, but it’s hard to find the right colours if you don’t have many fabric options, so we created most of the looks’ colours ourselves by dying. If you dye silk or other natural materials, you get quite intense colours. Most of our looks have a hand-dyed piece to them, which is very precious to us.
You also use vintage door handles in your looks — what made you start working with them?
Saga: I think it’s because we found some on the flea market on holidays, and we loved the shapes so much, that we thought to make a top out of it. We loved the idea that you could pull someone closer to you like that.
You use makeup very prominently in your shoots, to visualise the characters – what’s both of your personal relationship with makeup and how do you use it in your creative practice?
Emma: I used to go very crazy with black-drawn eyebrows and lots of eyeshadow, but as we are working more, I spend less time experimenting with my own looks! Most of our creativity and energy goes into Madomorpho instead. We always talk about wanting to dress crazy chic everyday, in our bright future with lots of makeup and very high heels.
Saga: I think it’s so important to tell your story through all layers — it is just as if you are getting dressed yourself, with a strong characterisation with a designated look or hairstyle. I find it so boring to see gorgeous clothing on runways with the safest makeup looks.
Saga: I think it’s so important to tell your story through all layers — it is just as if you are getting dressed yourself, with a strong characterisation with a designated look or hairstyle. I find it so boring to see gorgeous clothing on runways with the safest makeup looks.
You’re also very influenced by girlhood and balletcore, with an edgier angle, perhaps. Do you think you’ve managed to stand out amidst this trend, with your designs that have been worn by Julia Fox, Emma Chamberlain and Lady Gaga?
Emma: We are inspired by women, rather womanhood than girlhood. We are surrounded by women, which creates a free and inspiring workspace for us, which we value very highly. We adore our original ballet designs which we made for our graduate collection four years back, and we are happy to see they are still loved by so many people — which is partly the reason we are still experimenting with the material and decided to go into production with the pumps. Any word connected to core makes us cringe just a little and feel that our pieces were revalued because of these trends.
You’ve mentioned previously, you create for various body types and ensure fit with your extensive use of laces and strings.
Emma: It’s very difficult to think outside our school-taught ways of working with sample sizes. I think we need to learn more about how to work with someone’s shapes rather than scaling everything up and down, basing everything on how it would look like on sample size. This is still a learning process for us, but we feel we already gained so much more insight since our last collection. Also, as a queer person, all matters to do with exclusion lie close to my heart. Since we’re getting older, we have realised how very ageist the fashion industry is, and I find it ridiculous that there are so many underage models in luxury fashion, that is problematic in so many ways. The obsession with youth comes with many intentions, so for us it’s important to have grown-up people showcasing our clothing.
Emma Chamberlain was the first celebrity to wear your ballet pumps, what was the process of styling her?
Saga: It happened really quickly, Emma’s stylist Jared Ellner reached out to us and asked to borrow the ballet jacket and the ballet pumps. We had a moment because of her wearing our shoes, and we are still very thankful for that moment that motivated us to get our pumps into production in Italy, this is how we got our very first piece produced.
Lady Gaga just wore your pink ballet pumps, promoting her Joker: Folie à Deux album and performance, which was pretty exciting! How did that collaboration happen?
Emma: We were so excited about that! As a teenager, I was a huge Lady Gaga fan — I was always trying to do little photoshoots in my room, dressing up as her, non-stop listening to her music. Chloe and Chenelle, the stylist duo, reached out to us a couple of days before and we sent over a selection of pieces. She wore our pumps with a dress she designed herself — love that! We would absolutely love to dress her from head-to-toe in Madomorpho one day!
Where do you see the future of Madomorpho?
Saga: We love fantasising about future scenarios — it is also exciting, and we do it all the time. At this moment, we only produce our shoes in Italy and sew everything else ourselves in our studio in Berlin, which so far has worked for us, but at this point we are ready to produce externally. It would give us more space and time to move our brand forward. We would absolutely love to have a fashion show, something we have always been dreaming about. It would fit so much with our storytelling methods of creating collections. What holds us back from a show at this moment is money, a show is so expensive to produce. But everything will come in its own time. Of course, we have dreams to go much further than this, but we don’t want to jinx anything!
