Sanjana Tewari makes getting into Berghain look easy

Twenty-four hours. That’s exactly how long fashion creator Sanjana Tewari took to decide she was leaving Milan for Berlin. Back in 2023, fresh off completing her PhD in how dance shapes culture, she hopped on a train to Germany to catch a break. One club night later, the decision was sealed. “I love that parties in Berlin aren’t performative; you’re not even allowed your phone inside,” the 29-year-old tells me on a phone call. “For them, rave culture is a lifestyle. The clubs have parents who’ve taken the night off without any judgement.”

Born in Kanpur, the creative performance strategist by day, creator by night has moved across five countries in the last decade, and each has influenced her wardrobe. The abundance of electric blue, animal print and charcoal faux fur coats are all remnants of her time as a student in Russia. Stints in Milan and London taught her how effortless fashion can look when you embody it in your spirit.

But it was the freedom that Berlin allows that helped Tewari truly discover her personal style. Here she can pair her Rajasthani jewellery with lace pants and absolutely no one will bat an eye. “I started dressing more intuitively, mixing heritage and play without worrying about being perceived,” the creator says. Scroll through Instagram, where Tewari has over 170k followers, and you see there are plenty of fans who appreciate her carefree approach to style.

For a fun grocery run, a pair of Desigual butterfly jeans is matched with a blush-pink satin slip, leopard-print bag, stack of silver bangles, blue jhumkas, and a peacock bindi reminiscent of Miss Komolika Basu (Kasauti Zindagi Kii fans will know what I’m talking about). Last year, at Paris Fashion Week, Tewari styled a brown cotton sari over tiger-print pants and a beaded velvet corset, finishing it all with a vintage Prada bag. Most pieces from the look were thrifted from Joo Store in Berlin.

This formula gets further zhuzhed up for club nights. Picture a sheer top layered with chain-mail jewellery from Berlin-based label Kettme, free-flowing lace pants, and a sparkly burgundy dupatta draped like a half sari. “I’ll let my hair run wild, add a nose ring and big glasses, but that’s typically what I would wear on a night to Berghain,” Tewari says. “I love the softness of the drape against the raw industrial tension of the rave. The duality feels personal and honest to me.”

The creator is, in fact, talking about the same notoriously hard-to-get-inside club that famously rejected Elon Musk. Tewari, on the other hand, has now been to Berghain more times than she can count. She mentions how fellow hedonism-seekers often stop to ask her about her XL jhumkas and shimmery face jewels. She recently discovered a childhood photo where she was dressed in a glitter minidress with a maang tikka. “It seems I’ve been perfecting my Berghain outfit since I was seven,” she laughs.

Does that mean that a Scandi scarf draped dramatically and paired with junk Colaba Causeway jewellery is the secret passcode to enter Berghain? Sadly, not really. The creator insists there’s no science to the ridiculously moody dress code, calling it all a myth. “You have to show up fully embodied and be ready for the energy. If you’re nervous the bouncers can tell.” Tewari has also been turned away a fair few times but believes the club doubles as healthy rejection therapy. 

However, when you do make it inside, it’s nothing less than ‘a church for techno’. As a creator who films herself for a living, the club becomes the no-eyes dead zone where she can dance without being seen. “You can’t explain Berghain—the experience of melting into space, the ritualistic rebellion, and beauty of the music have to be felt,” she says. Over the last year, Tewari is spilling this ‘you do you’ energy from the club into her everyday wardrobe as well.

The rigid rules of dress as per the occasion and venue are out the window. It’s all feeling here; she wakes up and decides if she’s feeling more “cunty, modest, androgynous or elegant”, and the outfit follows. At the time of our call, the creator is lounging at home in sweatpants, a leopard-print shirt and a faux fur waistcoat. “I would just add my yellow Adidas bag and chunky glasses if I was grabbing coffee,” she says.

Besides mixing cultures, Tewari’s style is built on textures and proportions. You’d hardly ever spot her in just a dress—it has to be layered over a white shirt, a little lace bralette playing peek-a-boo. Her wardrobe is a balanced mix of high-street picks and small Berlin finds from stores like Eramla, Amike Studio, and second-hand shops like Plush. Most of her Indian drapes and jewels come from her mum’s wardrobe or quick street-side buys on her visits back home to India.

Tewari’s moodboard is more aspirational. Pieces from Etro, Namilia, Gaurav Gupta, Rahul Mishra, Roberto Cavalli, and Rick Owens sit next to each other, all bound by the creator’s affinity for blending different worlds in one outfit. Having spent nearly two decades in India, she grew up seeing the West as reverential.

“When you actually get there, you see home with a deeper sense of appreciation,” Tewari says. “You realise Indian elements aren’t just aesthetic; they carry emotion and choice. I love that I can place the bindi in new contexts and wear it with a harness if I want to. Living across cultures gives me the freedom to build my own identity.”