The restaurant, the holiday, the book on your nightstand, the hobby you suddenly picked up. Somewhere along the way, our desires became part of our personal branding. Would you still want it if nobody could ever know?

AFFECT caught up with actor Paul Ahrens, somewhere between returning to Tatort and getting ready for the release of his first cinema film.We talked about wanting more, getting what you once dreamed of and realizing that maybe the dreaming was the best part. About ambition, failure, progress, the things we secretly want but never say out loud and why longing might always need to feel just a little out of reach. On growing up without wanting to go back, finding meaning in a world that moves way too fast, and learning that you can love where you are while still wanting to know what’s next.

Maybe our obsession with bags started long before we knew what an It-Bag was. From the tiny purse we carried as kids to the one sitting on our wishlist today, bags have always carried more than just our things. They carry taste, status, memories and versions of who we want to be. But what actually turns a bag into the bag, and why do we care so much?

Anzeige // What happens when the same starting point is handed to different creatives? At the Nike Berlin Store, Studio Fleece became a space for personal expression, customization, individual style and the different references that shape how we make something our own. Together with Berlin’s creative community, the evening explored what happens when a collection leaves room for personality.

Forget everything you thought you knew about European summer. The new dream destination isn't another overcrowded coastline, it's higher, cooler and surprisingly chic. Cool girls aren't escaping to the coast anymore. They're chasing altitude, cold lakes and mornings that begin with fresh air instead of sunscreen. Welcome to the other side of European summer.

AFFECT caught up with Jella Haase, an actress who has never seemed interested in playing the role people expected of her. Instead, she's built a career on instinct, contradiction, and characters that linger long after the credits roll. We spoke about growing up, learning to trust uncertainty, and why becoming yourself is rarely a linear story.

A new season is not about buying a new personality. To lead you through the overload in the stores, here is Affect’s Spring Guide based on what we saw on the runways during Fashion Week.  

Summer has quietly become a deadline. A finish line for all the habits, routines and self-improvement plans we started in January. We tell ourselves we're preparing to enjoy life more, while often becoming so focused on improving ourselves that we forget to actually live it. Because maybe our bodies were never meant to be assignments. Maybe they were simply meant to carry us through the kind of summers we remember forever.

AFFECT caught up with Emil Larsen, the Berlin-based jewelry designer behind Larsen Jewelry, whose pieces exist somewhere between raw Nordic textures and the restless energy of Berlin. We spoke about growing up, sentimentality, and the strange emotional weight jewelry can carry.

Minimalism was never about owning less. Just less visible consumption. The clean girl aesthetic, quiet luxury, effortless interiors, all of it still comes with a price tag. The less it looks like you tried, the more expensive it usually is.

Being called a “Nepo Baby” once carried real cultural weight, a public naming of the hidden systems of privilege shaping Hollywood and the media industry. But somewhere between memes, magazine taxonomies, and ironic self-awareness, the accusation lost its edge.

There is a particular irony in the way Frida Kahlo exists in the world today. Her face, crowned with flowers, and her iconic brows, stares out from tote bags, T-shirts, mugs, and phone cases. But to reduce her to an icon is to misunderstand the very core of who she was. Frida Kahlo did not paint to be admired. She painted to survive.

The cool girl used to feel like something you stumbled across rather than something you could study. She existed in that slightly untouchable space where nothing looked forced, and nothing needed to be explained, because she was not looking for approval.

We all watched Gossip Girl, do not even try to act above it. We learned what desire looks like in a limousine. We learned what betrayal feels like on the steps of the Met. We learned that power couples kiss like they are about to destroy each other. And we learned a specific, dangerous question through Blair Waldorf: Security or passion.

A new season is not about buying a new personality. To lead you through the overload in the stores, here is Affect’s Spring Guide. 

We all know it. We all love it. And at some point, we’ve all had it: the Nike Air Max. The shoe everyone knows. A silhouette that’s been part of growing up. From school hallways to city streets, from first outfits you were proud of to the ones you’d rather forget. More than just a sneaker, it became part of the culture.

“Was he written by a man or a woman?” What began as a joke quickly became a lens. A way of categorizing fictional characters, then celebrities, then men encountered in real life. The question spread because it named something people already felt but had not articulated yet: the way characters are written reveals deeper assumptions about gender and power.

When Timothée Chalamet recently claimed that ballet and theater might be losing relevance, the reaction was immediate. The internet did what it does best. It got loud, defensive, emotional. But strip away the noise for a second and something more interesting appears.