WHOLE Festival Returns for a Queer Utopia in the Iron City!
by Adriano Batista
From July 18 to 21, 2025, the dystopian industrial landscape of Ferropolis (Germany’s “iron city”) will transform into a queer utopia as WHOLE Festival returns for its seventh edition.
This year’s theme, WHOLE New World, launches attendees into a cosmic journey, literally. The festival’s teaser video, created by Liam Schnell, features a butt plug-shaped spaceship ferrying delirious aliens (read: ravers) to a planet where difference is celebrated. Set to SOPHIE’s Whole New World / Pretend World and a remix by SOPHIE & Doss, the video pays homage to the late producer’s enduring influence on queer soundscapes.
Across six stages (Arena, Beach, Crane, Forest, Ambient, and Performance), WHOLE crafts an immersive universe of music, art, and community. The Crane Stage extends its hours until 2 AM, while the Cruising Village returns with FLINTA-dedicated spaces and the festival’s iconic Douching Station. The TRINA Tent, a vital BIPoC hub, hosts speed dating, workshops, and DJ sets centered on diasporic joy.
Heavyweights like The Blessed Madonna, Shanti Celeste b2b Jennifer Loveless, and Lakuti b2b Tama Sumo share the decks with rising stars. The Performance Stage crowns two queens: Milan’s chaotic pop diva M¥SS KETA and Berlin’s hypnotic rave sorceress Miss Bashful. Collectives like ADIRA (celebrating Arab* queer identities) and SWEAT (trans/queer rave care) deepen the festival’s communal ethos, alongside debuts from crews like Bangkok’s NONNONNON and Bogotá’s fetish-techno party Bulto.
Brazilian funk storms the Crane Stage with live act Irmãs de Pau, while Brooklyn’s legendary QTPoC party Papi Juice brings its activist energy. The Ambient Stage offers respite with Juliana Huxtable’s intimate set and Arewà Basit’s gender-fluid R&B.
WHOLE’s commitment to accessibility shines through sold-out Community Tickets (50% for FLINTA) and an expanded Solidarity Program supporting 150 marginalized attendees. The Sober Space, now larger, fosters substance-free connection with workshops and 12-step meetings.
In Ferropolis’ rusted grandeur, WHOLE builds a galaxy where queer futures feel limitless. As the teaser asks: Who will be Miss WHOLE? The answer is everyone!
WHOLE Festival 2025
July 18-21, Ferropolis, Germany
Tickets & program: wholefestival.com
The Hunter’s Gaze
GUESS JEANS Plants Its Flag in Tokyo With a Cultural Celebration
Dominik Datko and Maciej Poplonyk photographed by Arthur Iskandarov and styled by Egor Telenchenko, in exclusive for Fucking Young! Online.
Burberry is celebrating its iconic Check scarf with a new portrait series. It features friends of the house, including Olivia Colman, Liu Wen, and Tyson Beckford.
Solomon Fox moves between worlds, Harvard and Hollywood, viral memes and soft bedroom beats, eighty acres of Virginia quiet, and the digital noise of now.
Designed with the architecture firm Sybarite, the space is called Marine Serre Hannam House.
Intodusk is a New York brand founded by Dustin Hellinger and Veska Naratama.
The arrival of Tame Impala’s new album “Deadbeat” is nothing short of a warm welcome back into the universe of creative sonic exploration that the Australian mastermind Kevin Parker has been charting since the project began.
“Ghosts” is an ambitious show that invites visitors into a world of apparitions, uncertainty, and things that linger between life and death.
Maison Margiela is entering the world of residential living. The house has launched Maison Margiela Residences, its first project dedicated to creating a living environment.
On ‘Snowdome’, Wayne Snow distills identity into sound, freezing fleeting emotions, dissolving time, and revealing raw truth beneath digital facades.
For Fall/Winter 2025, Carhartt WIP has collaborated with fashion designer Nicholas Daley on a 13-piece capsule collection.
The NEU_IN Spring/Summer 2026 collection explores how people and objects relate to one another.
Soshi Otsuki, the designer behind the Japanese brand SOSHIOTSUKI, will be the Guest Designer at the next Pitti Immagine Uomo in Florence.
Grace Wales Bonner has been appointed as the new menswear creative director at Hermès.
Robin Beekers and Yohei Ono captured by the lens of Carlos Venegas, in exclusive for Fucking Young! Online.
AURALEE and New Balance have collaborated again, this time on the T500 sneaker.
Marina Abramović’s exhibition at Saatchi Yates in London offers an intimate and fascinating glimpse into the world of one of performance art’s most iconic figures.
Photographer Ángela Ibáñez brings us a selection of the best looks photographed in the streets of Barcelona during 080 Barcelona Fashion, in exclusive for Fucking Young!
Ilyusha photographed by Carl Niklas and styled by Artem Sparrow, in exclusive for Fucking Young! Online.
The campaign explores the passage of time and the poetry found in life’s natural cycles.
If you’re up for an art visit in London these upcoming days, you won’t want to miss the latest from Haitian-born artist Manuel Mathieu.
H&M is presenting its new collaboration with the Belgian designer Glenn Martens. This collection offers a wide range of customers the chance to own his unique designs.
The streetwear brand LIBERE is launching its second collaboration with the Japanese comic NARUTO.
Simone Rocha unveiled the lookbook for its Spring/Summer 2026 collection, shot by Eimear Lynch and styled by Robbie Spencer.
Oliver Sim teams up again with Bullion (Nathan Jenkins), who was behind the previous single “Obsession,” to deliver an electro-pop track that feels both playful and deeply personal.
What connects the craft of Puglia to the design language of Copenhagen? The answer, much like a good meal, lies in the ingredients and the care put into it.
Before his installation drops at Design Miami.Paris on October 22, we sent Rohan off to Paris Men’s Fashion Week with a disposable camera and no rules.
Stüssy unveiled the lookbook for its Holiday 2025 collection, photographed by Antosh Cimoszko and styled by Landon Ebeling.
trônes 2 picks up where the 2023 edition left off, an exciting collaboration with Romain Bitton and continues our exploration of what a “throne” can mean today.
Imagine a scene of classic elegance: a garden party, silk gowns, a golden afternoon. Then, the sun becomes too bright. This is where MELLER introduces its new sunglasses, called BADU.
Y-3 and the Japanese brand NEIGHBORHOOD have launched a collaborative capsule collection.
