The night before Away’s holiday party in Berlin in December, which capped off a successful three-week pop up store, a truck was deliberately driven into a Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz, the deadliest terrorist attack against the German city in nearly 30 years.

“Is it a good idea to do the event or just cancel?” wondered Ava Carstens, Away’s store associate. “But it made sense to celebrate and be together, the good things, the positive vibes.”

So the dinner party commenced, with 20 people gathering in Away’s Mitte store around one long table. The chef Laura Iriondo – who works with fashion clients including H&M and Adidas – prepared Christmas-inspired vegetarian dishes such as pumpkin-carpaccio with grilled cheese, Brussels sprout “nests” with king oyster mushrooms and quail eggs, and dark chocolate ganache with red wine and pear sauce.

It felt, necessarily so, like a family gathering, with guests including blogger Michael André Ankermüller, photographer Sergej Derbin, and writer Katja Schweitzberger sharing plates and pouring wine. When they had finished eating, the entire group helped carry their dirty dishes to the back, and moved the table to make room for music and dancing.

Electro-rap vocalist Isis Salam, a recent Berlin transplant, led the group in taking over the space, weaving through the crowd as she sang. Soon, everyone had joined in. “It was almost as if you were dancing in the kitchen with your friends after a dinner,” said Ava.

The party doubled in size as passersby joined the small groups smoking outside, and then were coaxed into the space by the late-night sounds of DJ Ester Silex. Around 1 a.m., the neighbors came down to say hello—and ask that the music come to an end. But by that time, people were ready to head home, having danced off the previous day’s feeling of fear.

“If you give the terror space, then it attacks you,” said Ava. “Instead, we all hugged each other.”