Danish silent film actress Asta Nielsen (1881-1972) became one of the first international movie stars. She made almost all of her films in Germany, where she was one of the most popular leading ladies of the silent film era. This footage shot in 1915 shows Nielsen modeling the latest women’s fashions in the lobby of Berlin’s famous luxury hotel, the Hotel Adlon. The fashions range from the elegant to the playful, and many seem quite ahead of their time: one, with swagger-stick and garrison cap, even boldly evokes a military uniform. Nielsen also wears a short pageboy haircut, which would become hugely popular in the 1920s as a symbol of the “Modern Girl.” Later scenes in the clip are shot outside, showing her crossing busy Pariser Platz, in fashions that are more elaborate than those of other pedestrians. These images serve as a reminder that the film and fashion industries and trade in other luxury items did not cease while Germany was at war. Asta Nielsen continued to make films throughout the First World War, but she relocated to her native Denmark in 1916 until the end of the war.