Biography
I was raised in a German small town near the Netherlandish border where rural Flemish landscapes clash with the derelict industrial aesthetics of coalmining area Ruhr. After brief flirts with law and English and German studies I became a tailor apprentice and gained experience in made to measure tailoring of ladies' outerwear. I then headed for Berlin to study fashion design.
During the course of my studies I volunteered as PR representative for the fashion design department of Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee. In cooperation with IMG I was responsible for the overall organization of Weißensee's fashion shows and an exhibition during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin. My tasks comprised communication and team coordination as well as press contact, guestlist management and sponsoring relations.
As a designer I enjoy interdisciplinary inspiration and collaborated with product designer and artist Bjoern Bernt on a crochet and ceramics project. I interned at Van Laack in Germany and Alexander McQueen in London, including a show preparation period in Paris. I deliberately chose to experience very different fields of fashion design. My focus is women's wear, my inspiration often drawn from traditional handcrafting techniques and organic and historic shapes. My style combines constructed patterns and free drapes, creating aesthetical paradoxes and seeking to transcend tradition to a contemporary context.
In my final year I decided to write my thesis about slow fashion, a field I wanted to research in order to figure a few things out for myself, to find my way within the fashion business. I was awarded the Wilhelm Braun-Feldweg Sponsorship Award 2009, Europe's only competition for critical essays on design. My text "Slow Fashion" will be published by Swiss publishing house Niggli in November 2009 and include an English translation and a preface by Swiss designer and professor Ruedi Baur.
I am working on my graduate collection and expect to be awarded my diploma in late 2009. I am currently based in Berlin as a designer and author.
Professional Profile
Design
Made to order garments for special occasions with a focus on evening and bridal wearWriting & Editing
Fashion concepts, designer's statements, press releases, reports, portraits, fiction, in German & Englishpress & PR Coordination councelling
Communication concepts, identity strategies, guestlist management, fashion show managementLanguages & Additional Skills
German (native language), English (fluent), French (basic)
Pattern construction of ladies‘ outerwear (construction method: Müller & Sohn), draping, industrial & couture tailoring, ideation for finishing & textile details (traditional crafting, silk screen print, machine embroidery) InDesign, Photoshop, Word/Office, CorelDraw/Illustrator
Education
Fashion Design Studies
Weißensee School of Art, Berlin (2004- expectedly 2009: Diploma, equivalent to Master Degree)Erasmus Exchange Semester
FHNW/HGK Basel, Switzerland (Summer 2007)Certificate of Apprenticeship
Made to measure tailoring of ladies‘ outerwear (2001-04)English+German Studies (Summer 2001) Law (German and Common Law) +English Studies (Winter 2000/01)
Abitur
2000 (general qualification for university entrance)Work Experience
Design
AlexanderMcQueen (Internship Women's Wear Studio, London, show preparation period, Paris, autumn 2008)Van Laack GmbH (Internship in design/product management/marketing, summer 2006)
Press & PR
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin/ Weißensee School of Art Berlin:Head of PR team, overall- organisation of fashion show and showroom in cooperation with IMG (January and July 2008)
PR for Weißensee‘s annual fashion show (July 2006)
FHNW/HGK Basel, Switzerland: PR for the annual graduate fashion show (March 2007)
Links
Graphic Design & Photography
Anja ItterKurt Riedi
Photography
Joel SheakoskiFritz Jaenecke
Art
Erin Elyse BurnsMarco Reichert
Fashion
VonweerthDesign Critique
Wilhelm Braun-Feldweg Sponsorship Awardfor design critical texts
Designkritik.dk
Industrial & Interaction Design:
Juliane AufdembrinkeBjörn Bernt