Everyone is suddenly counting the days because February 17th marks a real energetic shift. Chinese New Year arrives and with it the official goodbye to the Year of the Snake. A cycle defined by control, survival, patience and power dynamics finally closes.

Valentine’s Day is loud. But love didn’t suddenly appear on the 14th. When was the last time you celebrated your friends as intentionally as you celebrate romance?

AFFECT caught up with Ruben, the creative force behind Nowrubi, in his Berlin atelier. Ahead of his first Fashion Week show, he spoke about bold silhouettes, discipline, childhood influences, and the one-second wow moment that defines when a look is truly finished.

Bad Bunny’s GRAMMY moment wasn’t about triumph, but about direction. One sentence reframed a decade shaped by fear and division, asking what happens if love becomes a collective choice again.

AFFECT selects every runway that you don't want to miss in the hustle and bustle of fashion week.

Berlin Fashion Week FW26 starts here. With NEXT GEN, PLATTE returns as the city’s kick-off platform, presenting an immersive pop-up and exhibition curated by Sven Marquardt. Six emerging designers explore fashion beyond trend rooted in identity, craft, and Berlin’s raw creative energy.

January 24th: International Education Day. Education is a right, not a privilege. While some of us stress over exams, millions worldwide can’t even step into a classroom. From Malala Yousafzai to Kailash Satyarthi, people have fought to break these barriers. It’s time to challenge inequality, speak up, and make learning accessible for everyone.

As the new year begins, it’s easy to feel pressure to transform overnight. But growth doesn’t always announce itself with big changes. Sometimes it’s quiet, steady, and invisible, the subtle shifts in how we cope, how we stay grounded, or how we simply keep going. This piece is a reminder that being the “same me” can be progress, too.

Winter sharpens personal style. From statement coats and textured layers to bold colors and effortless denim, Affect’s Winter Edit breaks down the key trends shaping how we dress for the cold without looking like it.

For many vegans, telling someone they don’t eat animals now sometimes draws a strange look, a raised eyebrow, as if they’ve committed a social faux pas. Why? Because your favorite influencer is suddenly posting meat like a Birkin bag. Raw beef tartare, Wagyu steak, even bacon casually posed as an accessory in Instagram posts all carefully staged to signal status and expense.

“New Year, New Me” is one of those phrases that resurfaces every December. It’s that calendar quote found in social media captions and conversations about fresh starts. It reflects a widely shared belief: that the turn of the year offers a natural opportunity for reinvention

It is surreal how a place can freeze time and still chase the clock. You are older now, sharper in some places, softer in others yet home receives you like the person you used to be and the person you are becoming at the same time.

And suddenly the holidays are over again. One is waiting for them for so long and within two to three days, all the carefully built magic is gone.

December has a strange personality. Some hate it, some love it. It is the last month of the year and really acts like a therapist asking all the hard questions.

The Big City Dream is more than a change of address. Every cool girl who packs her bags for a bigger skyline is chasing a version of herself that only appears under certain city lights.

Caro Schaeffler has moved through two worlds that are as seductive as they are unforgiving: the fashion industry that taught her to embody others’ visions, and the music scene that finally gave her space for her own.

As the holiday roast approaches and kitchens fill with warmth, one question slices through all the familiar cheer: how do we keep celebrating and keep eating, what we can’t bear to truly see?

AFFECT is delighted to present Heimathafen a tribute to Karl Lagerfeld. During her time at CHANEL, Hamburg-born designer and art director Anna Marleen Kutsch began shaping the first ideas for a tribute collection in the fall of 2024.

AFFECT caught up with actress Sonja Weißer, known from Maxton Hall. We spoke about growing up with a lifelong love for acting, her intuitive approach to embodying complex characters, and the freedom she finds in transformation.

For some of us, our parents split so early that we never even saw them happy together. The Split Parents Syndrome : It lives in the background of your relationships whether you want it or not.