ROUGH IT UP! Issue

I wanted to wear it all the time over
years (no worries, I don’t remember
that, but I was told). I still have this
piece in my closet. It is somehow
very important to me. When I
look at it, I can still understand
why I loved it so much. Maybe it
is important to me because it was
a first sign. We played with this
box for a very long time, even as
teenagers. I realized that I like to
play with identities. And apparently
I kept on doing that.
Do you remember the first piece
you ever did? And what was it for?
Yes, I made trousers out of an old
millefleur printed cotton. But I
couldn’t wear it, because I ignored
the necessary pattern cut of the
crotch. I was very frustrated. I think
I was 9 or 10 years old.
From that point on, how did your
passion for fashion became an
option for a lifetime job? How
did you learn the basic skills like
sewing etc? Were you self taught?
I kept on trying things myself. And
yes, I did garments for my Barbie
dolls When I was about 12 years
old I had two ideas of a profession:
architect or costume designer. For
becoming an architect I was told
that I am too bad in mathematics,
so I did a school internship with the
costume designer at the Schaubühne
am Lehniner Platz. I couldn’t even
finish it because I became so ill as
I was so shocked at how much a
costume designer needs to work!
I saw my life dream melting away.
But then I decided to switch from
costume to fashion (which was of
course was a much better idea).
During school I started doing
classes in fashion illustration in my
free time, and somehow tha’ts the
story. The rest is known!
You completed a European
Master’s degree in Fashion and
Textile Design and Post-Graduate
study at the IFM – Institut
Francais de la Mode in Paris, why
Paris and not London or New
York or Berlin? How was your
time in France? I can only guess
that it must have been an amazing
time!
To be honest, I think I was
somehow guided. I don’t remember
the moment, where I asked myself,
“Hey Esther, where do you wanna
go?”. The option was there and I
took it. But I do get your point.
If you see my work today you
might think that this fits much
better to New York or London. I
remember that I wrote a message to
my boyfriend who I left behind in
Berlin, the moment when I arrived
in Paris, “I love it, everywhere
is music, the city, the subway
and everybody looks so elegant.”
Paris and France was definitely
the finishing of the raw diamond
concerning style, elegance and
femininity. I did learn so much in
France, the beautiful language of
course, moreover a lot about myself.
But I would not call it amazing all
of the time! They have been very
tough years, the school in Paris has
a very high level and demand, the
apartment was a shithole, I had
no money for going out. I stressed
myself so much that I got very
ill and more and more I lost the
capability of seeing colours and
straight lines.
After your studies you worked
in the design team at Chacok in
the South of France, how did this
happen? And how important was
that time for you to grow as a
designer?
After I finished IFM I had some
job interviews in Paris. One was at
Kenzo, I think it went well, but
before they came back to me I had
the offer from a designer friend to
join him as a design assistant for
Chacok. He also did IFM, but a
year before me, and got hired as
Head of Design. The third new
hired person was a product manager
from Kenzo. Chacok back then
wanted to renovate the image of
the brand which got old with their
customers and we were chosen to
fly down there and rock da house.
It was a 24/7 job. Difficult to enter,
like a virus a company which has
been guided by somehow family
and friends since the 70s. My friend
got fired after one season, there was
no new Head of Design, so I had all
of the sudden the full responsibility
over the design for one season. But
the company didn’t communicate
that and didn’t allow me to go on
the catwalk after the show in Paris.
Still I am doubting if I would have
the balls to do my own business
without that experience.
Cote d’Azur is not a place for young
people. Only work, no friends, no
family, but a high cellphone invoice
caused by my homesickness. I
would still and always say, “Je ne
regrete rien!”
You founded your own fashion
label back in Berlin during 2004,
what made you come back?
Why did you not start your own
business in France?
After my time in France I definitely
needed some time to recover and
came back to Berlin to recharge my
batteries. My plan was actually to
go back to Paris and apply for jobs
over there, I never had in mind to
start my own business. That was
in spring 2003. Running around
Berlin I felt the dynamic in the
fashion scene which got bigger
during that time: It was the first