A who’s who of models, German celebrities, fashionistas, influencers and many others dutifully put on lederhosen, dirndls and wool socks in Munich on Thursday night for a collective reason: because Heidi Klum had invited them to.
“I would never do that,” said Kilian Kerner, a German designer, about wearing the traditional German garb that, for men, includes short leather pants, wool socks and a vest. “Only for Heidi.”
That was the feeling among many of the roughly 800 guests on Thursday night at the Hofbräuhaus München, one of the city’s oldest breweries, as Ms. Klum hosted her first Heidi Fest. (A name that rolls off the tongue so naturally, you may think you’ve been saying it for years.) The festivities were her interpretation of the longstanding German tradition of drinking large quantities of beer, getting together and singing sentimental German songs.
Oktoberfest begins this weekend, held in large beer tents across Munich and all over Germany. The night had the traditional elements of the annual event as well as — in true Heidi fashion — a little more.
Servers in traditional outfits walked around with large platters of pretzels, while others carried as many beer steins as two human hands could hold. The dinner menu included heavy German fare like schnitzel and sausages that came with sides of spaetzle and mashed potatoes doused in gravy. Scattered among the plates were pride flags and napkins with an illustration of a smiling Ms. Klum in a dirndl, which consists of a tight bodice, a skirt that reaches below the knees and an apron.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post At Heidi Klum’s Oktoberfest, Free-Flowing Beer and Lederhosen appeared first on New York Times.
