Designer, Educator, Creative Entrepreneurship Advisor
Verena Michels develops products, teaching formats and collaborative projects in fashion and design. She works with new materials and helps creative teams turn ideas into products, public projects and viable ways of working.
She founded Weather Underground, a rainwear label using plant-based film, and co-founded SORRY WE ARE TRYING, a platform for designers working with emerging materials. At Universität der Künste Berlin, she advised artistic startups on their creative vision, product development, production, funding and public presentation (Creative Prototyping x Sustainability, Exist Women).
Verena teaches students how to research, test and develop ideas. Her courses cover materials, sustainability, entrepreneurship and the working conditions of designers. She has taught and led workshops at Universität der Künste Berlin, Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin, Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach, AMD Berlin/Hamburg and Gerrit Rietveld Academie Amsterdam.
Her knowledge of production comes from hands-on work. As Production Manager at BLESS (Berlin/Paris), she coordinated projects with manufacturers and workshops across different countries. She continues to collaborate with BLESS on freelance projects, including print design and the BLESSadvanced Applebag.
Verena studied at Gerrit Rietveld Academie Amsterdam after attending AMFI. Her collection Women of Shreds was shown at Amsterdam Fashion Week in 2014.
Selected Work / Teaching:
Weather Underground · Founder and designer
A rainwear label built around CAPEBAG, a reusable cape made from plant-based film. Verena developed the product, worked with a German manufacturer and brought it to market. Explore the archive
SORRY WE ARE TRYING – Biomaterials in Practice · Co-founder
A platform for designers working with emerging materials. Its exhibitions and events connect independent practices and open up conversations about the possibilities and challenges of material change. Explore the project
Creative Prototyping × Sustainability, Exist Women at Universität der Künste Berlin · Artistic startup advisor
De/Posium Residency · Research and collaborative practice
An international residency connecting design with local issues and communities. The 2025 edition, Mining & Dining, explored work, skills and the future of the Upper Nitra region as it moves away from coal. What can designers and educators across Europe learn from this about shaping Curricula that not only open eyes, but doors?
Exit through the Flagship · Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle · Teaching
Politics of Fit · Akademie Mode & Design Berlin · Teaching
Spring Academy with Gigi Spelsberg, Spring 2026 Exploring Gernreich’s films, designs and cultural legacy alongside contemporary references like Vaquera, students developed their own provocative responses to fashion, body politics and representation. With Verena Michels and Gigi Spelsberg as creative sparring partners, ideas evolved into speculative campaigns, performances and experimental concepts, from the cheeky Olympic campaign So Rudy! to an unconventional collection launch and a daring beauty ad featuring Julia Fox.
Synthetics Anonymous · Akademie Mode & Design Berlin · Teaching
Spring Academy with Enver Hadzijaj, Spring 2023Inspired by the Changing Markets Foundation’s Synthetics Anonymous report, the workshop explored fashion’s reliance on cheap polyester, greenwashing, and the power of branding. Enver Hadzijaj traced the evolution of fashion house logos, while Verena Michels unpacked the industry's marketing machinery and the gap between environmental claims and business practices.
Students turned these insights into bold creative interventions, from XXL anti-greenwashing posters targeting H&M and an interactive Vinted campaign to a hands-on leather upcycling workshop concept.
Bitch Better Have My Money: Design, Class & Community · Currents Berlin · Moderation
Panel Discussion hosted by Designgewerkschaft (ver.di), September 2026Who gets to participate in design culture, who gets paid, and what does it take to build a more equitable creative community?
Hosted by Designgewerkschaft (ver.di) and moderated by Verena Michels, the panel brought together Prof. Antje Engelmann (UdK Berlin, REAL TALKS), Laura Ewert (Co-Founder at Currents), Niklas Jeroch (designer and founder at Radical Softness, active member Designgewerkschaft) and Zhiyuan Peng (Co-Founder, VLOOW, participant at Currents). Drawing on perspectives from design practice, cultural production, festival organising and collective advocacy, the conversation explored fair pay, barriers to participation, the economics of creative visibility and the potential of solidarity to reshape working conditions in design.
Explore the program