In conversation with .. 1!

In conversation with Olaf Hajek, Dimitris Papaioannou, Dream Wife, Tove Styrke, Gaddafi Gals, Henkjenz and more

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Meet The Team

Editor-in-Chief

Fashion Editor

Art Director

Art Editor

Art Editors

Marcel Schlutt

mschlutt@kaltblut-magazine.com

Nicolas Simoneau

nsimoneau@kaltblut-magazine.com

Amanda M. Jansson

ajansson@kaltblut-magazine.com

Emma E.K. Jones

ejones@kaltblut-magazine.com

Music Editor

Nicola Phillips

nphillips@kaltblut-magazine.com

Fashion Editors

Contributors

Yu-liang Liu, Asha Hussain, Alexandra Howard, Colette Pomerleau, Manuel Moncayo,

Sebastian Pielles, Sebastian Pollin, Sebastián Delgado, Kiko Dionisio, Sem Shayne & Anton Fayle

Special Thanks to Amy Heaton

On The Cover

Olaf Hajek > p.14

Nico Sutor

nsutor@kaltblut-magazine.com

Karl Slater

kslater@kaltblut-magazine.com

Note From the Editors

Here of joy rich striving,

There of sorrow night,

This is Berlin life,

How it cries and laughs!

*David Kalisch 1848

Happy new year from us!

And, welcome to our new print issue.

Marcel & Nicolas

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Dimitris Papaioannou > p.6

Tove Styrke > p.56

Amanda Lepore > p.42

YAR > p.72

Gaddafi Gals > p.46

Dream Wife > p.14

pinqponq > p.48

HENKJENZ > p.78

BLVTH & Ben Esser > p.28

5

In conversation with Dimitris Papaioannou

“I want to be

reminded of how much

I need for my life to be

creative.”

On rare occasions, experimental theatre breaks through to the

mainstream. Dimitris Papaioannou is one of the few names that

has filtered from the art scene into pop culture. His name first

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appeared in 2004 as the Creative Director of the opening and closing

ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Athens as well as being the first

artist to create a full-length work for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina

Bausch. He has been touring since 2017 with his latest piece The

Great Tamer and we had the chance to sit down and discuss a few

aspects of his creative process and work after the German premiere in

Dresden.

The Great Tamer is a production that definitely speaks Dimitris’

unique language. He takes the role of director and controls

every aspect of it both on and offstage, including the recording

and documentation. He sees the finished product as a result of a

collaboration with the performers and actors involved. His mosaic

of ideas shape the show and come to life as a cohesive piece after the

rehearsal process.

Photos by Julian Mommert

Interview by Manuel Moncayo and Nicolas Simoneau

When do you decide that a piece is ready to be shown

to the public?

Within the format and time limitations that each piece

has I identify what is trying to be created and my role

is to help it manifest its best version. It is a game I play,

trying to sense what is being created and serve it.

The stage plays an important role. When did this

appear as a premise to build The Great Tamer?

From the beginning of this play I had the desire to create

a show that explores digging things from underground,

conceptually speaking: the archeology of humanity, the

search of a hidden pleasure and an excavation of our

own personal and collective memory. Which graphically

meant you need to search something that is “under”

an elevated stage. There are solid factors that define

what you have to do, and I realised that what I would

construct will need to come from already-made parts.

So we took the standard parts of theatrical floors and

we created a set in the form of a wave by changing the

heights of four points. I am explaining this because the

parameters are not very artistic. Artistry is how to tame

all these parameters and to create some kind of poetry

if possible. I wanted something under, so we needed to

elevate the surface. I wanted people to see, so it needed to

incline. I wanted something that looked twisted but I had

to work with already-made parts, so these factors define

the aesthetic morality of the result.

How many people were involved in the creation of The

Great Tamer?

I designed the set, an architect analysed my requirements

and worked out how achieve it. Other than her, I had

several collaborators for set, costume, props, lights, sound

design, and of course the performers and actors.

Are these people your permanent team?

They are not a permanent team: I tend to be faithful

and some collaborations last for years. So if I am happy

with the collaboration, I take it to another level, until

we feel like we do not evolve together or until the time

comes to get some air. My basic team is a producer, stage

manager, tour manager, technical director, and three or

four performers that I work with. These are the people

that will go with me from one project to another, and we

attract different artists to complete each work. We are a

house production, we started from various backgrounds

and we have learned by doing.

Is the size of the team for a new work influenced by

your previous work?

There is a direct relationship between the way each work

is built and how it evolves into the next one. Right now

The Great Tamer is an extensive tour with a large group

of collaborators, and therefore I am craving a smaller

production for the next time, but I don’t know if this

craving will prevail. When I did Inside which is one of

my favourite pieces, it was this big theatrical installation

that needed 30 performers, it lasted 6 hours per day, and

it happened in the middle of the Greek financial crisis so

it was my biggest financial flop. Up to then, I had been

blessed with years of being financially successful and

selling tickets, considering that what I do is a bit

weird for me. I believe part of this success or interest

from the audience came because I did the opening and

closing ceremony for the Summer Olympic Games in

2004 so I became a kind of local star and people came to

see my work even when they would not understand or

prefer it to something else. But then Inside came and it

was a big financial flop and the producers forgot about

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me because I was not the money maker anymore. I

took a break for a year. At this time art had become

political because of the crisis. I hated that because I

found it narrow. On the other hand, I felt that what

was happening around me was too intense not to

take it into consideration. I tried to think of what my

contribution would be and I made a bet with myself to

create the next piece out of nothing: no resources, no

money. So this meant no music, no lights, just recycled

sets, the minimum props possible, to use nobody was

not possible, so I used myself, because I could afford

to not get paid. But I could not do it alone, so I did

a duet: a low budget duet. And my statement would

be that even though I had been blessed with all the

resources, it’s not really important whether you have

them or not in order to create something interesting.

So this is a decision, I tried to do something out of

nothing.

So did the production costs define Primal Matter?

Not necessarily. I did have the resources to produce

because the crisis did not fully affect me. It was more

of an aesthetic and political choice to reduce the

production to a minimum, as a statement to myself,

to my colleagues and to my fellow citizens. Let’s not

cry about lost money, let’s realise how little we need to

create poetry or something else.

Is it also a statement to only use Greek people in

your productions?

No, it is not a statement. The Greek contemporary

art scene took some time to explode around the

world, which is happening now for Yorgos Lanthimos,

Papadopoulos, Euripides Laskaridis, Kat Válastur. For

me it came late: I am 54 years old, working frantically

since I am 23. Now that I have some recognition, and

it happens to be that the people you see on stage are

Greek, it becomes joy, because it means that in order

to get going I did not have to collect talent from all

around the world. Curators waited for the country to

be destroyed in order to look at the amount of talent

that exists here. We had to go through a crisis to

become “trendy” and people look at us now and they

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discover that we had been there before. I am not a child of the crisis: I was

here since much earlier, and now that you look at us and see the talented

performers here, it makes me smile. But it never came as a conscious

decision, in this case we would only limit ourselves. The Great Tamer is

my first international co-production, so I had considered propositions of

performers from all over the world that were interested to come and work

with me. I was not sure if I was ready to work in English, and probably

on my next production I will attempt it but trying to have a balance

of proportions because the work can be extended to up two and a half

years of travelling together. So it’s a major decision when it comes to the

language.

What were the visual references that you had for The Great Tamer?

“The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp” by Rembrandt came in the

middle of the making as a key. It created irony, a secret contract with the

audience in the storytelling because violence is very difficult on stage.

How do you have people kill somebody on stage? If you want to create

an emotion you have to make it intense; the more intense you make it

the more ridiculous it becomes because it is fake. So you need something

and the way that I used and twisted the image and tried to make it into a

freak show helped me because it creates a smile, and at the same time gets

the point through, and for some people it also becomes a little bit realistic

and a little bit disgusting. In a way it carries the emotion of those people

destroying and eating a person.

Do you have any visual references that you would like to work with in

the future?

I never see a painting and say: “Oh, I would like to make a work about it.”

There are more basic decisions that come first. My biggest problem when

embarking on a play is the background. Theatres are black; if you don’t

want to create an enormous set and you don’t want to have a white screen

à la Robert Wilson you have to work in black, your visual references are

immediately defined by chiaroscuro. These are the defining visual factors,

so in Primal Matter I was liberated because I decided to stage it against a

wall. But the premise never starts with saying: Let’s do a Botticelli. You

work with premises and you identify how they look, and you either call it

in, or you try to forget them if they’re not useful.

Are the new pieces trying to take ideas from your past work further?

A bit further or a bit backwards [laughs]. I film and personally edit my

work, creating short films, promos or summaries: trying to recreate an

edited product that will go onto the internet and that it will be the only

thing that survives after we are gone. I am trying to understand what

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I am doing and make its best

edited version. Going through this

process, I realised that there are

some fixed ideas and themes that

come back, some evolve and some

just repeat, so possibly in the future

a researcher could find a thread

in my work but is not my job to

comment on this. I discovered that

there are similar images that go

deeper than style, they have to do

with something that I am looking

for, something I am obsessed with

and I can not do anything about

it. Is already hard enough to find

something interesting enough to

accept to let the audience see.

Is there a specific idea or message

that you want people to perceive

with your work?

I do have ideas that I see on my

work, not while I am working on

it but when I am done with a piece

and repeating it. Touring with a

piece is a way for me to understand

what it is about and to try to make

it more clear to be articulated

on what it is about. But there is

no message, I don’t even like this

word when talking about art, I am

a little bit conservative that way.

Sometimes a big blue painting is

the best message.

Photo by Mariana Bisti

What is the relationship you have

with the actors or performers, in

order to understand the freedom

they have as contributors?

As an analogy with music, I select

performers that take my score as a

chance to express themselves, and

that in order do so do not neglect

the score. They follow it and with

creativity make it better, better in a

way that I was not able to think on

my own. The performer’s job is to

solve this equation by following the

form I give, and so comes freedom.

It is not a very popular idea: we

live in a period where we crave a

kind of tolerance or safe space for

everybody, and we try to place our

sensitivity as such an important

factor that we tend to forget what

our human responsibilities are. Is

the same with freedom, we tend

to forget how many parameters of

discipline we need to have among

us in order to be free. We tend

to believe that freedom is just an

image or is a “whatever”.

Do you think as an artist you

have a responsibility towards

spectators?

I do think that my personal

responsibility is to exhaust every

amount of talent that I was given

until I die. And it would have

been the same if I was a father,

researcher, or anything else.

Personally, there is a morality

attached to it: I would like to

exhaust my talent in a territory

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of human expression that is

encouraging a positive vibration

in humanity. I would like to invest

in the bank of free expression, as

opposed to using my talent for my

personal ambitions.

When it came to the time of

doing the Opening Ceremony

for the Olympics, I had to make

the distinction about the fact that

there are some jobs that need

artists to do them, but the result

is not art because morally you are

not free to express what you want.

You can not be bitter and negative

about it, you have to be positive,

and if you have to be something

then it’s not art.

Of course, this is a long

conversation because we have great

artists who, within the limits of

the Christian tradition – that they

obviously wanted to break – found

a way within their limitations to

break it but accepting the format

of the commission. Another aspect

of this conversation is that after

years of having seen performances

by Pina Bausch, every time I

would leave the theatre besides the

admiration I would feel for the

work, I realised that something

had changed inside me, I would

feel more human. I loved humans

more, and this is the most

powerful political statement.

What do you work on besides

what you show to the audience?

I paint, photograph and film. I

always do something if I am not in

rehearsal. I don’t know how to live

without making things. Sometimes

all of these creates a library of ideas

to work with but also it creates a

confirmation that I am made to

create out of desire.

When you start having a career you

go from one project to another one

and suddenly you know what you

are going to be doing in two and a

half years, so it can be that I miss

the need for creation. It’s important

for me, since I don’t like to be

chained in an automatic reaction

of something like a career, or

building a name or having a job, to

bounce back to my real connection

to why I am doing things.

It is important not to lose the joy,

you need to be reminded that this

is your choice. Since I was a child,

I got oppressed really easily if I had

to do things, so I would not want

to do them. I want to be reminded

of how much I need for my life to

be creative.

@papaioannou_d

13

Dream Wife: Breaking The Mould

Photos by Hollie Fernando

Interview & Polaroids by Nicola Phillips

“I never think about

gender. We didn’t start

this band because we

all have vaginas.”

British-Icelandic punk-rock trio Dream Wife have been on our radar

since we first laid eyes on them during their pastel coloured days of tonguein-cheek

poolside pop. What first started as a piece of performance art,

based on an imaginary girl band in Brighton art school, soon turned

into something much bigger in reality. Comprising of Rakel Mjöll

(lead vocalist), Alice Go (guitar, vocals), and Bella Podpadec (bass,

vocals), Dream Wife are most well-known for their powerful, ragefilled

anthems, constant rallying for equality, and memorable DIY live

shows including, most importantly, their “bitches-to-the-front” policy

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where they encourage women to rock the fuck out at the front of the

stage. Since the release of their first EP in 2016, the band have made

incredible waves throughout the globe, most notably described as one

of the most exhilarating live rock bands to emerge within the last few

years by Billboard in 2018. In the same year the three-piece were also

included on Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of “The 13 Best Things We

Saw” at Lollapalooza music festival. Since their self-titled debut album

released in January 2018, receiving 5 stars across the board, the band

have been on an extensive tour of Europe and North America, opening

for The Vaccines, Sunflower Bean, The Kills and Garbage.

This was soon followed by performing in several cities in Australia as

part of the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival and their first headlining

tour in North America. In short, Dream Wife have conquered the

world, performing no less than 150 shows in 2018 alone.We caught

up with Rakel during Dream Wife’s packed-out Berlin show about

encouraging more girl bands, the unrealistic expectations of being the

perfect performer, making music on the road, and providing safe spaces

in festivals.

You played so many shows in 2018! Can you name

one performance that stood out?

We played a show in a city we’d never been to called

Hasselt in Belgium and there were a lot of cool teenage

girls there. It was a full house and people had driven

from all over to be there. That was pretty cool! I think it’s

good to play shows in more obscure cities sometimes and

bring these types of shows to smaller settings because it

can have a longer-lasting effect. It’s like in Iceland when

I was a teenager, my bands would play relatively smaller

venues, but then you’d have this intimate gig with the

people there and you remember that moment your whole

life – like the first gig you went to when you were 13.

Maybe that’s because it helps you to feel more in tune

with your fans?

It’s nice to show people something they haven’t

necessarily seen on stage, especially if you don’t live in a

capital city. Also just to see a women-fronted band, and

unapologetic women doing something different on stage.

Like Alice’s style, you know, her guitar style is totally

different from any other guitarists I’ve seen, and Bella as

well with her bass style. So it’s like we each have our own

character and it’s good to be able to showcase that. To

share the message that you don’t have to be fit into some

kind of mould that you think women musicians on stage

should be in. That you should just be the truest version

of yourself.

Do you ever have the chance to chat directly with

your fans after the show?

Sure! It’s so fun afterwards when we have really good

discussions with people, we try as much as we can to

speak to them. We all come from mixed backgrounds

as far as our musical education goes but there’s this

underlying idea that you have to be perfect. The perfect

pianist, the perfect guitarist, and if you are not as

perfect as you think you should be, then you don’t feel

as though you can be the lead guitarist, the vocalist,

the drummer. I noticed that even from my youth when

I went to a music academy in Reykjavik. It’s weird

because, you know, I always think back and remember

thinking that I had to be perfect. And if you’re not

then you can’t be in a band. We love it when we get

a group of teenage girls and they’re all coming up to

us like, “we’re gonna start band!” – that’s always really

great to see because we’re showing them that they don’t

necessarily have to be an educated musician to follow

that dream.

So how did you figure out what you wanted to do?

I think to be honest this idea of being perfect didn’t go

away for me until recently. I think so much of this is

bred into us. But at the end of the day, you don’t have

to be perfect to start a band. Especially with rock music

because it leaves room to make mistakes. The music you

love to listen to isn’t polished but that’s what makes it

interesting. When it’s too perfect it’s boring.

What was it that made you get over the fact that you

don’t have to fit into that role?

I think actually through this band, which is odd enough

[laughs]. I think when you sort of play more, do more,

see more scenes, you start to understand these weird

roles that you’ve put yourself through your entire life

and why you did that and why society did that to you

as well. I think performing in this band is the first time

that I could actually fully express myself and feel a part

of the band. It’s so comfortable to write with Alice and

Bella and now we have a session drummer – our friend

Alex who is also from University where we all met – and

that’s how you should write music. In a room where

everyone feels safe to contribute and everyone respects

your creative process. Where you’re not trying to please

someone.

Have you found yourself comparing yourself to other female-fronted bands?

I never think about gender. We didn’t start this band because we all have vaginas. We

started this band because we were friends and we didn’t even think about gender until that

was sort of put on us by the media. And then we started thinking about things differently,

especially when we started getting attention.

What do you think about festivals pledging to achieve 50/50 gender balance by 2022?

Interesting. Right before we started this interview a friend of mine messaged me telling

me that she pulled out of a festival because of this topic. She’s kind of in the same friend

groups that we’re in. But I mean there’s one thing that was sort of bugs me with that, you

know, with festival headlines. It’s when festivals say, yeah, we are putting more women on

the bill and we’re like, great, OK, cool. And then you see the bill and the top 10 names are

all male and then the women are small ones and you’re like, OK, can they not be bigger

on that bill please. And I think that idea is not just about having more women play, it’s

also having them as the headliners. I’m not saying that we’re all close to that mark now,

but with that kind of ideas, why not book women that are at that stage? I think if festivals

are pledging this, we also have to make sure that those top names that you see are women,

or at least include a woman in the band. There are so many amazing women. You need

representation.

But there’s also the topic of keeping women safe at shows, especially teenage girls, and

changing attitudes, right?

That’s another thing too. I think we have to have representation in both ways. I was

also talking about this with friends of mine who were organising the stage at one of the

festivals, they’re called Girls Against, and they want to make it very known that during gigs

sexual assault does happen and that it’s all of our responsibility to make others aware of it

happening. It’s the bouncer, it’s the staff, it’s the person next to you. They’ve been talking

to every single person involved in these events, the promoters, people that are performing,

especially bouncers and just had this conversation of if a person is acting this way, there

is no tolerance. They get kicked out. Like, if there’s any kind of offensive remarks towards

your gender, anything, you just have to go. You’re not welcome here. And I think that’s

really good to have this knowledge passed along. You know, I’ve known people to pull

out of festivals because they’ve booked bands who have been accused of assault. But then

people will still go. You don’t book names that are known for having assaulted women.

And you shouldn’t say that you’re going to be a festival that supports women in music but

then they’ve hardly booked any acts who are women.

15

We’ve noticed that people are

taking a stand against this type

of issue though more and more.

I think it’s also just because like

there’s a younger generation

coming to these shows and they

are demanding more equality.

So why is it the people that are

booking, that are maybe a few

decades older, deciding what

people want and not taking their

views? But then luckily there

is this new generation that is

working now for the festivals and

they are demanding that there is

more different representations.

Can you tell us more about the

journey that the band has been

on up until now?

We’ve played a lot of live shows.

We’ve sort of carved our way by

just doing it and coming into

our own and experimenting and

making mistakes. Not striving

to be anything because truth be

told this band was made as a bit

of a joke originally! Basically we

all wanted to go to Canada, or at

least Bella and I did. This was a

post-night-out on the dance floor

kind of idea. We decided if we

started a band that could finance

us to travel then we could tour

Canada and visit all of our friends

and just sleep on their sofas. Our

friends are musicians and we

thought – well they can sort us

with gigs. We knew we needed to

find someone else for the band and

that Alice is a great guitarist so we

asked her to join us. She was down

and we went to Canada. We even

did the same around Europe! It

was in the first year of us forming

like three years ago. When we did

that we had such random shows,

like, random as fuck. And we were

like sleeping on coaches (this is in

the first year) we hadn’t released

a song, and nobody knew about

us. We just wanted to tour. But

looking back on it I think it was

pretty healthy approach.

So you basically had the same

mentality to just go for it and

start a band?

Yeh. You should just start! You

shouldn’t have to wait until the

demos ready or waiting until you

find the perfect people. Make a

band with your best friend, or

make a band with someone who

looks cool and fun and you get

along with. Not someone that

you think that there could be a

power dynamic where it just ends

up being weird. Someone that’s

on the same kind of level as you

and if that’s your best friend,

awesome. So I think it’s a really

powerful thing to do and we didn’t

realise it at the time. The first year

we literally made this band for a

reason to travel and meet friends and then through

doing that we were like, wow, there’s some chemistry

here. There’s some good vibes and it’s really easy for

us to write music together. I think it’s a good way of

doing stuff.

What’s the biggest learning for you from that

experience?

Just not putting such high expectations at the start.

Of course there’s a point in time when it should

get serious, but there’s also be a point in time when

there’s play, when you should play shows that are

weird, when you should just do stuff and when you

should play a bunch so you can find your sound. A

band is never going to find its sound in just a few

months. Like bands that are like fully formed playing

their first show, that’s never going to just happen. It

takes time to find your sound. It takes live shows to

figure stuff out.

So the advice that you’d give is to travel on coaches,

record in coffee shops....

I mean everyone has their different approaches. We

actually recorded some of the songs in Alice’s old

nursery at her parents house. It was great and her

dad is the drummer on our E.P, when we realised

our songs were getting more like rockier here and

it’s like pretty difficult to be a rock band without a

drummer. So we asked her dad to play drums, and

he hadn’t played drums since the early eighties, and

his sounds is quite retro which was perfect for our

E.P. So we were like putting simple retro styles, and a

little bit punkier too, and whilst we were doing that

we understood okay that sounds great and we should

definitely incorporate drums in our live set, so you

learn through doing. It was really cool to do that,

doing it our way and then allow other people to step

into our lives rather than having people like try to

make it right. I think you always have to do it your

way instead of people in the start instead of people

I’m wanting to assist you and them to not be in your

way and ends up not sounding like you. So I think

it’s really important to get your own sound down. I

think that’s why we still writing the album which is

right after this. Then it was really easy for us. It was

really natural. And we also signed to a label called

lucky number that were like you have the last say

on everything. And that’s the kind of label that you

want.

How does it feel to go back and hear your earlier

work and then see how you’ve progressed?

As soon as we added live drums things changed.

Especially because we recorded an E.P. off the back

of that really weird Europe tour I was telling you

about where we slept on coaches. We even did our

own sound sometimes, like, mixing on our knees

or like tiny cafes somewhere [laughs]. Like, at one

point we didn’t even know what country we were in.

It was weird. But doing that I think we really got to

know each other. We also realised that it’s so good to

learn what you don’t like. We got better and better

at performing songs together and the chemistry

together. And right off the back of that tour we went

to Alice’s parents house and she recorded our E.P. that

we released with a small Brighton Record label and

made like 50 cassettes.

The last thing you want is to be pushed into

something that doesn’t feel like you.

I mean you’ve got to earn your chops and we sure

have earned them. [Laughs]

www.dreamwife.co

@dreamwifetheband

17

Les Diamants sont éternels

Artwork by Sebastián Delgado @bastianilkk

www.bastianilk.tumblr.com

Photos and creative direction by Karl Slater @slaterkarl

www.karlslater.com

Styling by Lewis Robert Cameron @lrcfashionstylist

www.lewisrobertcameron.com

Make up by Sogol Razi using 3ina @sogolmakeup

www.sogolmakeup.com

Hair by Tetsuya Kaneko @tetsu3139

www.tetsuya-kaneko.com

Model is Jacob L from SUPA Model Management London

@longdaylarner @supamodelmanagement

www.supamodelmanagement.com

18

Top - Nathalie Coste

Gloves & shorts - Aleksandra Seweryniak

19

Earrings - Vivienne Westwood

Shirt & gloves - Aleksandra Seweryniak

Necklace - Topshop

20

Jumpsuit - Aleksandra Lalic

Shirt - Ralph Lauren

Brooches - House of LoLo, Swarovski

Belt - PRTTYBOI

21

22

Earrings - Espiegle

Jacket - Aleksandra Lalic

Gloves - PRTTYBOI

Coat - Aleksandra Lalic

Pearl choker - PRTTYBOI

23

Earrings - Espiegle

Blazer - Tagliatore

Shirt - TOPMAN

Brooch - Swarovski

Shorts - Aleksandra Seweryniak

Gloves - PRTTYBOI

24

Necklace - PRTTYBOI

Coat - Aleksandra Lalic

Trousers - DHENZE

Tights - ASOS

25

LET’S

TALK

ABOUT

BERLIN +

FETISH

WITH

HART

MAGAZINE

HART Magazine is a bi-annual

magazine for post fetishism and

queer culture. Based and created

in Berlin — one of the world’s

most vibrant, queer cities. We

had a chat with the two founders

Niklas van Schwarzdorn and

Léon C. Romeike about their

work, fetish and why Berlin is

the place to be for them.

Interview by Marcel Schlutt

www.hart-mag.com

@hart.magazine

@miss.ivanka.t

@leochrom

What does Berlin mean to you?

Moving to and living in Berlin for both of us meant a big shift in

many parts of our identity. How we identify, what we value, what we

want from life. We both come from smaller cities. Even if we thought

back then we knew who we were, in the context of such a different

city, that all changes dramatically.

What are your favourite spots in Berlin? And why?

Hm, I could definitely name clubs, bars and café that we love to go to

but it’s more about the people than the spot itself. The same club can

vary depending on the party and if the party attracts the people that

make us feel home. I would definitely say that GEGEN at KitKatClub

means a lot to us but even in the last year, it has changed a lot.

If you could use just 3 words to explain HART Magazine to my

mother, what would they be?

She wouldn’t probably know what queer means, so that’s already

a problem. It’s pretty abstract but I would say: honest, unafraid,

forward-thinking. I know that’s 4 words.

We are in LOVE with your magazine. Tell us more about it. Who

came up with the idea? And when did you found it?

Well, it started as Niklas’ university project. He and I realised that we

had such a productive energy together so we worked on a shooting.

That to this day is one of my most favourite ones.

That was in summer 2017. In the beginning, it was a free editorial but

none of the magazines we sent it to would have it. For some, it was

too much fetish, for some too much fashion. Niklas was just sick of it

and said, “We are going to do our own thing.” He always dreams big.

HART is all about post-fetishism and queer culture. What is postfetishism?

And how do you translate it into your content?

OK, so myself, Léon, am the one who came up with the sub-line. I

have to explain both of these words. At that time I was really interested

in how queer people formed a kind of culture that ideally isn’t based

on nationality, skin colour, gender or whatever. What connects people

and how they identify.

What is interesting is that the idea of queerness is very hard to define.

It’s an idea that takes its power from not being “definable”. It describes

people that are usually discriminated against because they don’t fit into

the way most people understand identity. I have to say that this is the

ideal vision. In reality, even queer-identifying people can be extremely

exclusive. However, when I thought about the origin of modern

queerness the connection to the fetish scene was very apparent to me.

What I learned in Berlin was that sexual freedom and freedom of

sexual identity almost go hand in hand. Again, ideally. We want

to talk about queerness we have to think about the post-fetishistic

movement. I loved the word post-fetishism because again it’s hard

to define. What even is that? For me, it describes a new interest in

the aesthetics of fetish. Suddenly everyone wears a harness and lots of

small and big designers use this aesthetic to create fashion. It is still a

phenomenon that we have to investigate and think about what that

means for our society.

What’s the difference between sexual preference and fetishes?

Well the lines a very blurry. We hear a lot about fetishising of black

bodies and there are people that for example would say they have a

foot fetish or a fetish for redheads. The word used to describe a sexual

excitement caused by inanimate materials or objects. I think when we

talk about fetish, we talk about the fantasy that comes with sex. That

it is not just an act of reproducing.

Where do you believe most fetishes come from? More past

experiences of more innate/genetics? Do you think everyone deep

down has a fetish?

It’s the most natural thing for me. It is so human to disconnect

from the natural act of doing something. I think eating is a good

comparison. We obviously have to eat, but food is such a huge

cultural factor. It has turned into so much more than receiving

energy to live. It’s not that different to sex. It’s a natural urge that

offers the possibility to create a huge storyline around the thing itself.

There are so many things that play into that. It’s hard to tell where

fetishes come from exactly but to me, they are very natural.

Why do you think fetishes are still so taboo?

It makes people feel unsure about structures of power. Fetish plays

with that, dominate and submissiveness. And of course, everything

that has to do with sex still makes people uncomfortable.

What do you think the most important things are when beginning

to explore a fetish, especially in the queer world?

Being safe. There is not much open discussion about the practices of

fetish and some of them need experience. In Berlin, we are fortunate

to have organisations that specialise in sexual education.

Do you think it’s more difficult for women or for men to begin

exploring their fetishes and entering the scene?

First and foremost, it is always harder for women. In many aspects,

women are over-sexualised but their own desires are mostly overlooked.

I don’t really know any lesbian sex-positive parties for example. I guess

there are some but they are definitely under-represented. But I can’t

really speak for the female experience.

You have just published your second issue. Tell us more about the

theme. Who is in the issue and what is the topic?

We don’t have a topic for each issue. I guess “Magazine for postfetishism

and queer culture” is already quite a special topic. However,

this issue is a big improvement for us. We dig deeper into our mission

to analyse, document and celebrate the scene. We had the chance to

work with people that have inspired us even before HART, like Love

Bailey, Sussi and Miss Meatface. We are able to provide a platform for

small and big artists, all of them exciting forerunners.

As an indie magazine, we know it’s not always easy to print. How

do you find a way around that?

Oh god, yes it’s a huge challenge. We can’t pay any of the people that

we work with. Considering that, it’s even more exciting those artists

let us publish their work. For the first issue, Niklas invested his own

money, for the second one we did a Kickstarter to cover the printing

costs. Niklas has done most of the work when it comes to getting the

money. Trust and believe me, this queen has so much willpower, it’s

unbelievable.

Are there any artists who you would die to work with for HART

Magazine?

Well, there are, and we might soon work with them. So I won’t say

too much!

If you could have dinner with any two queer people in history,

who would they be?

Divine and Marsha P. Johnson,

Let’s get personal! Léon, who is Niklas? What are his strengths and

weaknesses?

I said before Niklas is extremely ambitious. His willpower is the reason

why HART exists. It can definitely get exhausting to keep up with

him but what we created together is very rewarding. He always knows

exactly what he wants, which also means that our shootings usually

go pretty fast. We have this amazing productive energy together. I

know that whatever I style or whatever idea I have he will make it look

stunning. If I would have to name a weakness, I would say that he

doesn’t like to rethink an idea. Even if there are concerns on my side,

it can get difficult to change an idea. But I guess that’s my job.

Niklas, who is Léon? What are his strengths and weaknesses?

Léon is a person that sometimes needs a kick in his ass to see how

talented and amazing he is. And I feel that together we form a good

union. I kick ass, and he brings me down when I am sometimes

getting a bit too hyper. When I met him he still was really insecure,

shy and now he really blossomed into the creative person he is today.

Since you’re also in a relationship outside of HART, is it easier to

produce the magazine as a couple? Or is it more of an obstacle?

I have to say that there is no separation between life and work. It

means that the work never really stops but also that it never just feels

like work. There are actually a lot of stylists/photographer couples.

And as I said, we have a pretty good energy together.

27

Vital Vulnerabilities: BLVTH and Ben Esser

talk production values

Interview by Nicola Phillips

BLVTH photos by Roberto Brundo @robertobrundo

Ben Esser photos by Gianna Shamone @gianna_shamone

BLVTH

Ben Esser

“You have to work hard every

night and every fucking day.

That’s what I think is the best

lesson for me.”

BLVTH, the moniker of Patrick Denis Kowalewski, cannot be placed

easily into a box. The half-Polish, half-Albanian, Berlin-based producer

and singer-songwriter chases a vision in which his art is not merely a

stand-out, but rather a stand-alone. BLVTH has shown a willingness

to go against the grain of the current musical landscape. Whether it’s

the genre-hopping antics found on his debut EP “Blut” or his gritty live

performances, his rebellion could not have arrived any sooner. Fuelled by

his punk roots and the buzz of Berlin’s electronic music scene, BLVTH’s

songs are raw, hard-hitting, but nonetheless, catchy as hell.

28

After autonomously releasing numerous EP’s and singles and producing

for German rap acts Casper and Ahzumjot, along with international

acts such as K.Flay and Point Point, BLVTH released “Blut” September

2018, produced by fellow Berlin-based artist Ben Esser.

The classically trained pianist already proved that genre and boundaries

can always be bent. Esser totes heavy hip-hop, R’n’B and jazz influences,

sliding these into his originals and production work. After his debut

single “Love You More”, the prolific producer took a backseat, extending

his production hand from German rap, to working with artists such as

Noah Slee, Max Graef collaborator Wayne Snow, Jordan Rakei, Georgia

Anne Muldrow, Shiloh Dynasty, and XXXTentacion - but a handful of

creators he has piqued the interest of.

An undeniable match made in heaven, Ben’s slick production values

and BLVTH’s fresh attitude have forged something bold yet perfectly

balanced. We had the chance to find out what makes these two so in tune

with each other, the foundations of “Blut”, and why visiting Berlin is

next on your bucket list.

Let’s start from the top. What is your musical

background and how did you end up working

together?

Ben: We already met in Hamburg because we both had

the same shitty job building stages for concerts. We

kind of knew that we would make music, but we never

thought about making anything together. We ended up

at the same spot in a way. At some point, I saw Patrick’s

name pop up and then I saw him play live for the first

time, that for me was very important. There’s the studio

and then there’s the live performance, and he has a very

strong personality on the stage. That impressed and

inspired me a lot. We had a chat after the gig and it was

just funny that we crossed paths again.

I’m a big fan of getting to know the person before

making meaningful music. The first sessions we had we

were just talking about music, about what’s happening,

you know. And then you kind of warm up to each other.

Then you can start being vulnerable.

BLVTH: Because music is super personal. If you don’t

catch the vibe, then it just won’t work.

Ben: I started with classical music when I was younger,

things like playing the piano. One year before I moved to

Berlin from Hamburg in 2013, that’s when I decided to

focus more on production. The two cities are so different

in terms of music.

What’s so different with the Hamburg music scene?

BLVTH: I think the 90s were better, like more

dominant. I mean, a lot of great musicians that we

appreciate are originally from Hamburg or near the area,

like Boys Noize, Nils Frahm, so there are musical people,

but I think the flourish went to Berlin. There’s a huge

scene in Berlin. People are here from everywhere around

the world.

I first started playing in like punk and rock bands back

in Dusseldorf and then I moved to the Baltic Sea next

to Hamburg with my parents, started producing music,

producing beats and started playing in bands again and

had my own band that was not so successful, but we

played a lot of shows everywhere. That was cool and

got me into the music thing more deeper. And then we

called it a day one day and I continued producing music

and writing my own songs and was kind of trapped in

the Hamburg bubble, like doing music but not really

knowing what I should do or what I wanted to do. Then

one day I decided to go all in and focus on my music

thing. So the Blut project it’s been a lot, it’s been some

years now that I’ve really been doing it full time. I think

maybe like two or three years, and the whole project is

even way older, maybe around five years.

I like that you can really hear some of those past

influences coming through, especially with something

like this industrial sound found in “Rigid”

BLVTH: Yeah, that’s true. I don’t like the classic way

of producing songs. I mixed up the electronic elements

with real instruments. Not that I’m like, super nostalgic

to instruments. But you know it from the Noah Slee

productions [nods to Ben]. You do electronic stuff but

you’ve also included guitars, worked with basses, I think

that’s nice and that’s what I wanted to do as well. I think

that’s what makes it the EP as it is.

Do you follow any particular steps when producing?

Or is it all down to a certain mood at a certain time?

BLVTH: I think for the EP the samples are very

important. The samples make it what it is and are the first

step into the world.

Ben: Sometimes when you have a beat it’s already on

the way, and then when an artist is connected to it then

it has a powerful sound. I feel like a lot of the songs on

“It’s weird, you sat there and

wrote the lyrics and record

stuff and you put so much

into the songs and then

people listen to it and they

can feel it.”

29

the EP came when Patrick was just sitting at the

piano and trying something out. One of his best

friends, Eric, he’s also a crazy songwriter and he

was just doing something on the guitar. So it’s like

more of the kind of classic songwriting. But I feel

like if a song already works in this very vulnerable

stage of maybe not even lyrics or anything, just

like a melody, then you know it’ll be something

amazing.

BLVTH: We’ve really been trying to work out

a very rough idea first, like, to get a song idea.

To not produce it to a level where the song has

already finished, like everything is ready. We’re just

trying to strip down the song to just a guitar or

just a piano. Ben is a very great pianist and I think

it’s very important for the songwriting process

too, it helped me a lot to have someone that

knows technically all of the musical stuff. Because

for me, I’m kind of self-taught. I didn’t study

music. It wasn’t my thing. But the theoretical and

practical stuff is so important, but it can kill the

vibe sometimes. For me, you don’t want to write

a song that’s a perfect song. I think you want to

write a song that has heart and emotions and

people sometimes get stuck into finding the right

chords or progressions and all this stuff that is so

unnecessary. When we needed it in the writing

process then we’d know what to do, so it was like

a perfect match. It wasn’t like Ben was always like,

30

“Yo, we need like a progression like this”, it was

more like, “So we have the chord progression beds

we need a more like uplifting thing or we need the

hook to be more outstanding.” And he was like,

“Yo, what about weight?” And I was like, “Fuck,

what is he doing? I don’t know, but it sounds

nice!”

Where were you finding the elements to

incorporate into Blut? A lot of artists have a

thread or a theme but I found each track to be

totally different from the other on the EP

BLVTH: I think that’s something I personally

really like to have, an EP or an album that is in its

own universe. Every song is different, a different

country, a different place, different tastes, different

styling. But it’s one artist’s world, you know? And

for me, for Blut, I’m influenced by so many things.

Like I can strip it down, I can’t just describe it in

two, three, five, four words, you know, it’s not one

genre. I have grunge elements, pop elements, trap

elements and it’s a weird mix, but it’s the thing

that in the end, is the project. I’m a huge fan of

not putting things into boxes.

Ben: Yeah, I think that’s what I like about working

with Patrick is that it was always about the vibe.

If he wasn’t feeling the moment then it wasn’t

happening, but then again if it was happening

it was happening very fast. But it’s also a mood

thing, completely. It’s not like you go into the

studio every day and have the same mood. That

changes every day. You can kind of pin it down to

these songs for that time period. But yeah, it was a

lot of fun too because my mind was always racing

thinking about what’s happening now, let’s try this

or this. So I really appreciate this kind of work.

Were there any new production methods that

you tried and tested and were surprised at how

they worked out?

Ben: I think everybody develops kind of habits

that you can always go to, but that’s always

dangerous because then you might end up doing

the same thing that you did half a year ago. But I

never had this feeling when working with Patrick

because there was always something new. Like for

example, the “Disney” song, we had this piano

thing. And he was like, “Oh, we just leave it

like that.” You have to not overthink it and keep

the momentum and the energy of that. I think

the best stuff always happens when people stop

thinking about it.

What has stuck out in your memory from

2018?

BLVTH: I think that 2018 was my best year.

I’m so fucking amazed and like blown away with

what’s happened in the last few months. The

Europe tour was great. I did some festivals too

and seeing people singing to my songs, that was

“You have to not

overthink it and keep

the momentum and

the energy of that. I

think the best stuff

always happens

when people stop

thinking about it.”

kind of the moment where I was like, “Yo, there are people singing my lyrics.

That’s crazy.” It’s always nice seeing people react to my music. It’s weird, you

sat there and wrote the lyrics and record stuff and you put so much into the

songs and then people listen to it and they can feel it. And that’s so rare, you

know, it’s like telling someone this story, they’re like, “Yo, I can relate. I had

the same feeling.” And you don’t even know each other. Most of the lyrics

vary, like it’s a mix. It’s a mix of very personal stuff and perspectives like I’m

telling stories about someone else or my friends. It’s always super weird to see

people really connect to it.

How do you connect with Berlin on a personal level?

BLVTH: What I love the most is that there’s everything you need to have

and everything you want, like right next to the place where you live. There’s

everything I need right around the corner. I love this. There are people from

all different places and so many creative people like painters, musicians, actors

and it’s nice. Everyone’s doing their own thing in a way that it’s not disturbing

anyone else or being competitive with someone else. Everyone’s doing their

own thing but still somehow working with other people. I went to L.A.

recently and I do love it, but I had the feeling that people are kind of very

upfront and very aggressive. Everyone wants to be there and at the right time.

It has to happen now and if it’s not happening it’s over. Berlin is more chilled,

it takes its time.

Ben: I really enjoy Berlin. I came here mainly with a focus to be involved

in the music industry but I always wanted to work with English speaking

musicians. When I came here I was surprised by how many people are already

doing this but there’s not that pressure. As Patrick said, it’s still breathing

and taking its time, and I could still experiment with stuff. There’s all of this

music, you know, world-famous techno and there are loads of people doing

great stuff. It’s inspiring. Also it’s pulling people from all over the world. I

would have never met Noah Slee if I hadn’t moved here. People are drawn to

the city because it’s still inviting and fresh.

Was there any moment in Berlin that you really couldn’t get your head

around?

BLVTH: Yeah okay so, I’m a huge food person. Like, food is my life...

You’re going to talk about Burgermeister, aren’t you?

BLVTH: Yeah, fuck. Burgermeister. If I’m talking about burgers that place is

in my top three burger places, but I would say my favourite moment in Berlin

is having Arabic food for the first time in this awesome place on Sonnenallee.

It’s super busy, loud, and super friendly. Everyone was having a good time. A

friend of mine took me when I first moved over, I even took my mum back

there later on. It’s a nice way to experience a new culture. I think you can

experience so many different cultures in Berlin.

Ben: I think I’d pick when I played a sold-out show with Noah Slee. It was

kind of like, when you come to the city and everything’s new and you’re a

nobody, and then that was that moment where I had this feeling of, okay,

I earned a spot in the city. I’m not just a visitor, I’m participating fully. I’m

crafting. So that was a moment where I felt like, cool, that was a milestone!

Do you have any top tips for like an upcoming artist or producer?

BLVTH: I think my advice would be when you start producing is not to

start focusing just on the technical side of it. What I learned in working

with different people and over time is to work on your songwriting and your

musical skills more than producing, because producing will always come

along. You’re always going to find like a new drunk kick or drums or a new

synth, and you can always nerd out on. But focus on the music. If somebody

can stand on the street and sing your song on a guitar and it’s recognisable

and people still feel it, then that’s the most powerful thing.

BLVTH: My tip would be just put stuff out there. Don’t overthink too much,

because you’re just wasting your time. I think that’s the best way to develop

your own style and grow as a person. I think that’s what I regret the most.

Sitting around and telling my buddy that lived in my apartment, “Yo Bro,

I’m releasing a new song sometime this year it’s awesome.” And he was like,

“Yeah, yeah, cool man. Just put it on.” And I was like, “No, no, no. It will be

finished in a couple of weeks” and then it’s still on my computer, you know?

Every time I’m putting out a new song it’s always like this feeling that you’re

naked in front of thousands of people. If you’re not prepared for this, okay,

I can understand that, but you won’t grow. Nothing will happen. Always be

humble and appreciate things happening and wait. Everything takes so long,

so much time. Work hard. You have to work hard every night and every

fucking day. That’s what I think is the best lesson for me.

@_blvth_ @ben__esser

31

No Shade

Collective

looks back

on a killer

year

Last year was a productive

and exciting year for Berlinbased

DJ collective No Shade.

Working with big names like

Bread&&Butter, Nike, RBMF

and CTM as well as throwing

their own successful event

series at Acud Macht Neu they

have for sure been enriching

the nightlife of the city. Here

are some of 2018’s highlights

according to members of the

group.

“Working as a collective can be broken down to simple mathematics.

People are just stronger together. That’s why people work in alliances.

Sometimes it can seem like working alone is easier or, concerning

music, more promising in regards to personal recognition. But on the

one hand, there is a need for an organised counter-power to the white

patriarchy. And on the other, I think in the time where individualism

is cultivated to a point where the self becomes the ultimate product,

it’s time to calm down a bit. I want to think about art, music, culture

and society in a way, that it’s not there to caress anybody’s ego, but to

find enriching ways of living, working and thinking together. Some

of my top moments were the events I organised were at the (soon to

be destroyed off-location) at Kudamm Karree especially the one with

Kelman Duran. Also the No Room 4 Shade event (Room 4 Resistance

X No Shade) in September was out of this world!”

– Ace of Diamonds [@aceofdemons]

Photos at the No Shade Xmas Dinner by CEEKAYIN2U

Head over to our Soundcloud player to hear some of No Shade’s top tracks of 2018:

soundcloud.com/kaltblutmagazine/sets/no-shades-killer-year

32

“Top event for me was definitely

Version @ OHM in January. The

top event that I played at was Trade

@ OHM and the first time I DJ’d

(which was very special of course)

was in February for No Shade @

ACUD. The top hangover of the

year was the No Shade Xmas party

(still tired). Top tunes idk where

to start last year I had so many

favourites!!!”

– FORESTA [@foresta___]

“Playing my first ever festival at

Splash, seeing our whole collective

come together for No Room 4

Shade and kill it, playing at my

first ever Boiler Room set in

August, being able to spin some

of my favourite grime tracks at

the BBK performance in Berlin,

probably one of my favourite gigs

ever.”

– KIKELOMO [@_kikelomo_]

“Linnea’s Gigi D’Agostino DJ set at

No Shade Halloween party was life!

Best 2018 discovery – sculpting in

VR”

– BAD JUJU [@itsbadjuju]

“Working as collective is important

for me because collective ways

of organizing are also a way of

resisting to the fragmentation and

individualisation of certain aspects

of our lives. I think not losing sight

that we are part of things and of

something, is really important and

that that’s not opposite of having

our individuality and personality

- it actually boosts it. With a

collective, we have the possibility

of creating space, and in No Shade

we aim for safe, open and inclusive

spaces where exchanging and

possibly transforming is possible

(in and around), and I think this

is fundamental socially and adds

a lot creatively. 2018 was a year

of revising and reconnecting with

my roots and waters and guts in

a brand new way, personally and

artistically. Favs of 2018: the labels/

collectives/groups Trrueno, Naafi,

Salviatek, Hiedrah and Tormenta,

that brought us so much <3”

– PERÍFA [@perifaxx]

“I have to point out two favourite

moments cos both felt so rare and

overwhelming. First, my mom’s

wedding that everyone was expecting

to be a sort of chill gathering/

ceremony but my brother has no chill,

my sister is a joyful twerk queen and I

was “YouTube” playing mom’s all time

fav tunes. Mom went wild and ended

up with the wedding dress totally

soaking wet at the restaurant! The

second was shaving my sister’s hair. I

was so lucky for being around when

the right time arrived. Felt so intimate

and chemically bonded. Like falling

in love with her once again. Other

inspo includes Youda’s and Estrid

Lutz’s work, Eichi Matsunaga’s nails,

Jonny Negron “IF IT WERE LEFT

UP TO ME” T-Shirt, Matt Carignan

and @tranquil_top tattoos, Drake

Carr’s “Gulp” show and that yummy

rice pudding known as Milchreis.

So addictive...sprung like T-Pain on

that.”

– SARA FUMAÇA [@_s.fumaca]

“RBMF was probably my favourite

night in forever, the sequence of

everyone’s set that night, in that

space flowed in a relentless, euphoric

momentum, it went off and I

completely let go. Chatting outside

of the venue was really dope, had this

sort of out of body realisation that it

had actually happened, and we did it.

Halloween was unforgettable and

fun, a highlight being talking smack

in a secret room I hadn’t ever been in

at Acud.”

– HUNNI’ D JAWS

[@lele_hunnid]

“Absolute highlight for me with

the collective had to be the party

we threw with Room 4 Resistance

and Redbull Music Festival. The

mix of people, energy, amazing DJ

sets and Regrets live performance

was just amazing and I’m so happy

we had the opportunity to put

together something like that. I feel

the power of the collective is really

establishing something special here

and I can’t wait to see what 2k19

has in store. Also really excited

about all the new merch we got

coming!!!”

– CEEKAYIN2U [@ceekayin2u]

“Favourite non-musical discovery

- Korean Artist Lee Bul’s Crash

exhibition @ Gropius Bau - Art/

Sci-fi/Feminism/Technology -

Everything you need. My highlight

of the year was No Shade feat.

Room 4 Resistance @ Griessmuhle

for Red Bull Music Festival - such a

killer collab/event/Line up/people.

Working as a collective to me is

important cause you can go so

much further with collaboration I

find ++ Its just fucking great and

a dream to have an artistic family

to work & hang out with. Being

part of a collective like No Shade

also changes the working ways and

spaces of the music industry as

we hold the power & control the

narrative of our own space and I

believe this makes a difference.”

– GRINDERTEETH

[@grindrrr_teeth]

33

In conversation with Olaf Hajek

Interview by Amanda M. Jansson

Olaf Hajek is already a household name to anyone

interested in illustration, paintings, art, or Berlin.

Primarily living and working in Berlin, he has a

unique way of blending the most astonishing colours

with primitive universal themes and punk aesthetics,

while taking a stance on issues such as race and the

beauty of imperfection. Our favorite painter talked

to us about his daily inspiration in the city, the

importance of staying true to his vision, subconscious

symbols, and folk art.

You are one of the most significant illustrators and

modern artists to come out of Germany. How would

you say you developed your signature style?

My style just developed over the years. But the essence of

it was there from the beginning. I started to work with

found materials, old cardboards, and wooden boards,

which I found on the streets. The material and the texture

was always an essential part of my work.

Is it true you never work with digital media? What

media do you like to use to produce your works of

art (for example acrylics, etc.)? And why do you feel

digital doesn’t work for you?

I am a painter. I work with acrylic, pastels, and crayon on

wooden board. I need to work with my hands, feel the

material and need to trust myself and my senses, I am not

able to easily make changes, but I also think that makes

the work much stronger. Of course, I use digital tools to

scan my work and send it over to clients.

One thing that makes your work so visually strong is

also the contrast between warm and cold colours. Is

this intentional? How do you feel the two elements

complete with each other?

Yes the colour palette is a very important part of my

work. I always try to find the balance between the light

and the dark…and the use of colour is the best way to do

this. I love the power of each colour and its symbolism.

My work is also stylistically characterized by the use of

abstract, graphic elements in contradiction to the use of

more realistic and detailed elements.

“Berlin is a great city to meet other artists

and to see amazing art and exhibitions. But

to sell your art, Berlin is a disaster.”

Flowers are also dominant in your illustrations.

What do flowers mean in your work? Do you have a

favourite flower?

I was always inspired by Flora and Fauna. Flowers are

such an amazing symbol of birth, death, and evanescence.

I love to paint realistic flowers, but always use some

abstract forms of flowers and plants as well to express the

whole Circle of Life.

A lot of archaic symbols are also present, such as the

sun or snakes, etc. Which ancient cultures do you feel

have shaped your art?

I was always impressed by Folk Art and its archaic forms.

I love to play with archaic elements and symbols from the

subconscious. I am affected by American and German

Folk Art, South American and African Art, Indian

Miniatures. I use all these influences to create a universal

language in my paintings.

Race is also an issue you like to bring up. Like the

Black Antoinette. How do you try to approach race in

your work?

My travels to South Africa had a big impact on me. There

I started to exhibit in galleries and painted my work on

site, so of course, I was influenced by the daily issues

of race. My idea of Black Antoinette was to create an

image of luxury, opulence, and beauty which has nothing

to do with wealth and prosperity. I adapted the idea

of Marie Antoinette and created a “Black Antoinette”

who is wearing the concept of the whole of nature

35

on her head—the beauty as well as the birth and death and the

evanescence. Out of the first image, I painted a whole series was

born.

Your work might be vibrant in colour, but there is also a

melancholy side and darker feel to it. How do you perceive

beauty differently from what the norm is?

I was always inspired and touched by the imperfection of beauty

and the power of simplicity. I think this idea of beauty might not

be the norm, but this is my obsession, and without it, I would not

be able to express my own idea of aesthetics.

Where do you get your inspiration from in general? Is it parts of

daily life too or more abstract notions?

Inspiration is something I can get in parts of my daily life, but

also from travels and culture and art. Inspiration can be found

in fashion, film, and exhibitions. It’s always good to expand your

horizons and get out of your comfort zone. Every new exhibition

starts with a "white canvas" and I hope to create something new.

So daily inspiration is vital.

Judging from your paintings your brain must be an explosion of

colour, wild nature, archaic worlds. How do you cope in a big

city like Berlin?

Berlin is a city of contradictions. It’s always in progress and never

really boring. I sometimes have a kind of love/hate relationship to

it, but it’s also a place where I can work and be private, but also can

explore the excitement and the energy of a metropolitan city.

There is wilderness in your paintings. But also some punk

aesthetics perhaps? How much of Berlin do you personally see

in your work?

My teenage time I spent in the 80s. The decade of eccentricity. I

sometimes miss this today – this special individualism. I think some

of these elements are still in my paintings.

You travel so much, and your work is universal. Why and how

did you choose Berlin as your base?

37

After my studies, I lived in Amsterdam but then moved

to Berlin. For me and my West German generation,

Berlin after the reunification was the place we always

dreamed of before. A new city with free spaces and an

experimental field with an amazing mix of creatives.

Not one of these established West German cities with

pedestrian zones and people who worked in a bank.

Do you think Berlin has changed over the years? In

which ways?

Berlin changed dramatically. The good thing is that it

got so international. I love the idea of all these different

languages, and I also have no problem ordering my coffee

in English. But of course, the city lost its innocence.

The dark walls are gone, and the interior looks stunning,

but the rents are high, and artists lose their workspaces.

When I moved here, you were able to experiment, move

from one apartment to another or find new studios

to work. These days are over. I am curious in which

direction the future of the city will lead.

Has Berlin changed you? As a person and as an artist?

I love Berlin because of its people and the ability to meet

others so easily. I love this open attitude, which is not

so civil like in other cities. I think that this is still a great

character of Berlin. The good thing for me is that I was

getting older with the city and so I might not miss so

many of the things, that were important for me 25 years

ago.

How important is a city like Berlin for an artist’s

career?

Berlin is a great city to meet other artists and to see

amazing art and exhibitions. But to sell your art, Berlin is

a disaster.

How about the internet and social media? Do you feel

they are shaping the art world or ruining it?

Time will tell but at the moment it’s an amazing tool.

I get inquiries from all other the world, and of course

you never really know, where they are coming from. I

think it’s the combination of all the energy you put out

there: publications, websites, social media, exhibitions…

The world is getting smaller, this can be a curse or a big

chance.

How do you cope with social media and the internet?

I try to update my website and use Instagram as often as

possible.

In your career, you have also collaborated with big

fashion houses. Was this something you always had in

mind or how did it come about?

I work for such a different range of clients, but the most

important thing is to keep my personal style and artistic

freedom. Fashion is perfect for this.

How easy or difficult is it for you as an artist to work

with commissions? Is there something you wouldn’t

agree to do?

I have been working as an illustrator for nearly 27 years,

and of course, one of the biggest challenges is to work for

a commercial brief and to create a piece of your personal

art out of it. The good thing is that I am at a point at

my career, where I get assigned to create something in

my personal and individual style. So I don’t see myself so

much as a service provider.

What are you currently working on? What should we

expect to see next?

Right now I am working on the winter collection 2019

for "Diptyque", and on a picture book with the theme of

"Healing Plants." I will have a new exhibition in March

in Hamburg.

www.olafhajek.com / @olafhajek

www.komono.com

Influencer Spotlight

Shoes - Buffalo London

Trousers and body - ALLES Berlin

Chains and earrings - Lani Lees

Black leather keyring - Rosa K.

Meet

Hakan

Berryfinn

@hakanberryfinn

Photos by Sebastian Pielles @sebastianpielles

Make up by Krzysztof Tomasz @krzysztof.tomasz

Assistant Styling by Anne Poprausch @annepoprausch


You have an exceptionally unique

look, Hakan. Where does your

style savvy come from?

Thank you! It’s always kinda strange

for me to get complimented on my

outfits. It all started when I was 14.

Believe me, it’s evolved. My style

was still unique in the beginning

but also super ugly! It was a process.

My look now is just how I like to

present myself. I wear what I like the

look of on myself, that’s it basically.

How did you first develop an

interest in fashion?

As I said it all started at the age of

14. My cousin went shopping with

me the first time and I recognized

that if you look fashionable or

trendy people get interested in

you faster. Your look is your first

impression, so this how my love

affair started and my interest in

fashion started to grow.

Can you tell us more about what

you were doing before you became

a blogger and Instagrammer?

When I was 16 I did an

apprenticeship as a graphic designer,

so that’s what I studied actually.

After that, I went to high school to

study and my plan was to move to

Berlin and study fashion journalism.

What can I say? After I got in touch

with so many amazing people in

the fashion scene I realised it wasn’t

necessary to study at all. I started

working as an influencer/blogger

without having a real education.

Social media made this possible for

me. By experimenting, I learned

how to create interesting and highquality

content for my followers and

the customers and brands I take care

of.

What has been the key to your

success?

First of all, it’s not as easy as it looks!

The journey is hard and you will face

several fights with yourself until you

understand a lot more about who

you are. I still wouldn’t say that I

found a “key” to be successful, it’s a

process. Be patient with yourself and

never give up following your dreams!

Who is your primary audience,

and what do you think keeps them

coming back to your blog?

My primary audience is creative

people of all kinds. Fashion people,

artists, musicians, anyone in a creative

network. I mostly know a lot of

my followers in person so they are

interested in myself and my work, I

guess.

Do you cultivate a different

audience being based in Berlin,

or are you able to connect with an

international audience?

I am definitely connected with an

international audience. Olly Alexander

from Years&Years for example. We

got in touch this year and since then

we following each other. This is the

amazing thing about Instagram. There

are no walls between you and an artist

living in London, New York or Paris.

Have your blog and Instagram feed

evolved over time?

Of course! I am in a growing phase. I

am 24 years old so my style, my taste,

my direction will always change – and

with it, my blog and Instagram feed

as well.

How do you decide which brands

to partner with, and how do you

ensure that your fans are receptive to

sponsored content?

Luckily I can choose the brands that I

want to work with these days. I have a

specific style that I stand for but I am

also open to new things. So it is quite

easy for me to choose what I want to

show in my content. If I like it, my

followers will like it for sure as well.

What central message do you hope

to impart to followers through your

blogging?

It doesn’t matter what you look like,

just be true to yourself. Love yourself,

and be happy about life!

What benefits and problems have

come with an influencer career?

I would say there’s always pressure

to deliver. Even when there are

periods in life when you not feeling

up to it at all. Your followers want to

see everything, but sometimes you

do not want to show it. You push

yourself to go to this and that event

just to produce “good content” again,

even when you are not really in the

mood. But that’s fine I really can not

complain about that too much. I

really love what I am doing, most of

the time!

If you had to give up all your social media accounts but one,

which would you keep?

Definitely Instagram! I am addicted to this fuck on that platform

[laughs]. I really like the way how you can show your art via

Instagram. It’s also a timeline about your life. Sometimes I scroll to

my first picture and start laughing about myself for ages.

Shirt and trousers - ALLES Berlin


Earring and chain - Lani Lees

In what ways do you hope your social media career develops in

the next two years?

That is a tricky question. In terms of Instagram, I would say more

followers. I realised that the way to get attention from brands is

to have more than 10K followers and I hate that. For me, it is

really not important how many followers I have. My followers are

amazing people. Creative and lovely, and real! I would love to see

my success would grow, but hey, I am already here and working

with genius people every day so I really do not know what more I

need.

Can you give us some fashion tips that you live by?

- Don’t plan your outfit for the next day!

- If you want to dress up for no reason do it!

- If you feel something, wear it, no matter what it is!

- No gender roles in clothing!

Which are your favourite Berlin fashion brands?

Alles Berlin, Rosa K, 032c, Lani Lees, Goetze.

Your favourite go-to outfit is?

High-waisted black flared pants with a ripped white tank top

combination. Cowboy boots in snake optic and massive silver

jewellery on top. Thanks. Bye.

What is your favourite fashion quote?

“Don’t be like the rest of them, darling!” – Coco Chanel

What advice would you give to those interested in building a

following online?

If you just interested in building a following online I don’t have

any tips for you, [laughs]. If you love what you do give yourself

a platform to share your art. It is like a portfolio. After that, get

in touch with the scene and the people who are working in that

scene.

Body and vest - ALLES Berlin

Belts and choker - Rosa K.


What is your biggest dream in life?

My biggest dream in life is to marry my dream man who loves me

how I love him. Also, I would love to adopt 2 children. Happy

family, please. #fingerscrossed

Any exciting projects on the horizon that your fans should get

excited for?

Of course, there are always projects in the pipeline. I am a fucking

workaholic, [laughs]!! To be honest there are several things I

am planning but I will not talk about it before I have organized

everything. If you want to follow me, you will find out what’s next!

“Be patient

with yourself

and never give

up following

your dreams!“

41

One Night in Berlin with Amanda Lepore

Text by Marcel Schlutt, Photos by Sebastian Pollin

Arguably the world’s most famous

transgender entertainer, Amanda

Lepore is a performance artist and

nightlife icon in possession of the “most

expensive body in the world.” An

effervescent fixture on the New York

scene, she’s been at the cutting edge of

culture since the club kid era, breaking

and re-making the rules for music,

marketing, and gender. Back in the

1990s, a newspaper column blithely

labelled her a drag queen, so she mailed

them a (nude) Polaroid of herself giving

them the finger – “I’m a transsexual,”

the exasperated diva explained. “I have

a vagina!”

While Lepore was making her foray

into the city’s club scene she was spotted

from across the dancefloor at the

opening night for Disco 2000

(a weekly party at The Limelight) by

the party’s promoter Michael Alig.

On that fortuitous night in 1993,

Alig hired her on the spot to become

a club regular and help spice up

the party and a nightlife icon was

born. In 1998, Ms Lepore ran into

photographer David LaChapelle at

Bowery Bar, and after spending the

whole night talking he invited her

to model for him the following day.

The photographer-muse relationship

blossomed as her devotion to perpetual

self-reinvention through plastic surgery

intensified.

Following a series of dramatic

transformations, Lepore has

dehumanized her physical form

through exaggerated changes to create

a glamorous fantasy pin-up character.

“Amanda has no interest in being

a girl,” Lachapelle once remarked,

“she wants to be a drawing of a girl,

a cartoon-like Jessica Rabbit. When

I told her that silicone is dangerous,

she said, ‘I don’t care, as long as I

look beautiful in the coffin’. There’s

something kind of profound in that,

that she’s creating this moment of

beauty for herself and is willing to

make the ultimate sacrifice.” In many

ways, this makes her a living, breathing

statement – boldly holding a mirror up

to America’s shameless materialism and

addiction to capitalism.

In 2017 Lepore launched her

autobiographical book, ‘Doll Parts’

co-written with Thomas Flannery Jr.

and published through Regan Arts.

Amongst her revealing story, the book

features various pictures of Amanda

taken by various photographers from

David LaChapelle to Josef Jasso and

Rob Lebow.

The nightlife legend stopped by for

an exclusive shoot with KALTBLUT

in Berlin.

43

44

45

Introducing Gaddafi Gals

Interview by Asha Hussain

Photos by Alexandra Howard

“We’re control freaks,

we work very closely with

different visual artists to

create our videos.”

Hearing the words Gaddafi Gals might conjure up images of a

certain now-dead Libyan Colonel and his sinister take on selecting

bodyguards specifically of the opposite sex. Instead, however, we

have a music project dedicated to creating evocative low-key beats

46

in the vein of trippy hip-hop and R&B with an effortless vocal

delivery. Made up of vocalists Blaqtea (aka Ebow) and Slimgirl Fat,

and producer Walter P99 – Gaddafi Gals found their way from

the south of Germany to Berlin and Vienna, whilst establishing

their space in the underground music landscape. Each of them

is a talented artist in their own right, and all three continue to

collaborate and craft their respective signature sounds. From the

laid-back, dreamlike lethargy of “Fila”, to their own take on the

90s R&B spirit covering Aaliyah’s “We Need a Resolution”, each of

their tracks conjures up a distinctively layered soundscape, caressing

your sensibilities with the sultry rap and vocals afforded by Blaqtea

and Slimgirl Fat. The menacing undertones on “The Death of Papi”

with its dark video and “Gaze” providing an alternate take on love

and affection, the music videos tend to read more like short films.

Coupled with an on-point fashion aesthetic, their expansive creative

talents and visual capabilities speak for themselves.

First up, your band name. Gaddafi Gals says ‘politics’

– intentional or otherwise. Is that something you

convey in your music?

Us doing music is political, no question. We are very

aware of this, we utilize it, we work on it but at the same

time, we wanna make them people dance.

As children of immigrants, this has undoubtedly had a

significant impact on your work. Where did you grow

up and how has this shaped you?

We grew up in the south of Germany and it’s shaped

us in many ways. Of course, it’s hard to look from the

outside and know exactly what kind of influence being

children of immigrants has had. Good or bad – but in

the end, it made us who we are today and we wouldn’t

change that!

There are queer aspects to your music video “Gaze”.

Masculinity, femininity, androgyny all meld together

in a simplistic, yet seductive video. Then you have the

darkness of “The Death of Papi”. Who comes up with

the visual concepts?

We’re control freaks, we work very closely with different

visual artists to create our videos. Sometimes one of us

is leading the process more than the others, that’s why

they are so diverse. For the upcoming projects, we wanna

develop this aspect even more.

Your ode to Fila and general love beyond streetwear

fashion clearly resonates throughout your lyrics and

videos. Who or what are your fashion inspirations?

We don’t know if it’s an ode or more of a critique,

but maybe that’s what makes the song. Our fashion

inspirations rank from early 2000 hip hop mob shit like

The Diplomats or Ruff Ryders to Instagram. We also

get heavily inspired from a shop called “Socialladen” in

Berlin, where the owners know us by name, and from eBay Kleinanzeigen. Finding something by

accident, that’s really the thing.

There’s been a turn from mainstream US hip-hop and R&B in recent years to the likes of

Odd Future, artists on Awful Records, Princess Nokia et al and a focus on unwieldy British

hip-hop (we’d also like to think Gaddafi Gals reflect this exciting trend). What has been the

most innovative music for you in recent memory?

Yeah, we can see that as well. Underground is the new pop, ain’t it? We all loved the Solange

album, it was so well made from beginning to end. Walter P99 is fucking heavy with young

16-year-old SoundCloud producers from Sweden, France or Russia. Slimgirl Fat is a huge fan of

Devonte Hynes. Everything he touches gains so much soul, “Negro Swan” is amazing!

You each also have your solo/side projects. We would love to know more about those.

We all made music before we formed Gaddafi Gals, so we kept making our solo projects. In some

way every one of us works on all of those projects, whether it’s only by sharing thoughts on the

recorded music or producing, singing and rapping on them. You could say that on the solo efforts

one of us is the executive producer and lead vocalist (with different taste or focus than when we

work as Gaddafi Gals), but most of the time the others contribute in some way – when we make

a Gadafi Gals song we’re all equal. In 2019 there will be a new Ebow album, a new Slimgirl Fat

album and a new Walter P99 Arke$tra album, which, to us, sounds like a takeover!

What would you say are influences outside the music arena?

Books, plants, food, community.

We really love your music taste (the Gaddafi Gals mixtapes are heaps of fun by the way).

What records are you guys listening to at the moment?

Haha, nice! We really should do new mixes! Currently, it’s Spaceghostpurrp – Blackland Radio

66.6., Casey MQ - Nudes, my girlfriend’s Spotify playlist.

Having already released an EP, are you dropping an album any time soon? And if so, what

can we expect from what we have heard already? And what can we look forward to from the

Gaddafi Gals for 2019?

Our first full-length album “TEMPLE” is already recorded and will be released in Spring. We’re

really excited – compared to the first EP it’s really conceptual and thought out, but we still kept

the grit and the experimental approach. The video for the double single “Skimask/Mitsubishi” will

drop in December 2018. Tonnes of music. We’ve been busy. Stay tuned!

@gaddafigals

47

PARACHUTE – Travel in style with pinqponq

48


Photos and Artwork by Yu-liang Liu www.yuliang-liu.com @yuliangliubln

Models are Michail Rozimatov @blaxze and Michael Solomon @mrsrsl2

Photography assistants are Alex Aravantinos and Sebastian Pollin

Are you planning a road trip in 2019

and looking for the perfect travel

companion? Then look no further

than pinqponq. This up-and-coming

label creates high-quality backpacks

and accessories and since 2014 has

been offering intelligent products

that combine design, function and

sustainability. pinqponq stands for a

new generation of lifestyle products

and PARACHUTE is the name of

their latest model of inspiring bags

and backpacks. We had a chat with

the creative mind behind the brand,

Annemarie Keizers, to explore the

question: is the only way to be truly

modern also to be sustainable?

What inspired you to start pinqponq?

Back in 2014 backpacks had started

to come back in a big way. Fashion,

sportswear, outdoor wear and streetwear

all started to come together and take

inspiration from each other. As the

different areas started to collaborate

with each other and melt together that

really made sense to us and was long

overdue – especially if you look at it

from the consumer side. Backpacks sit

at the centre of all of these areas and

bring them together.

Do you have a background in fashion?

I studied Fashion Design at the avantgarde-inspired

Hogeschool voor de

kunsten Arnhem in The Netherlands

and gained work experience at fashion

houses such as Vivienne Westwood and

Giles Deacon in London. My studies

were really progressive and ahead of

fashion developments at the time, but

I was quickly disillusioned by fashion

world itself. There were too many sad

people, too much hierarchy, too much

time wasting, too few visions.

Design, function and sustainability

are the three keywords for your

designs. Can you tell us about how

you design your products?

There is a difference between our

editions and the main collection. The

main collection needs to be accessible

and should be a reliable and suitable

partner (also identity-wise) in one's

everyday life. In terms of materials we

are really limited due to the sustainable

standard, but that's OK. I like boxes.

In terms of shapes, colours and stories,

I am mostly inspired by society. In

relationship to social developments

or cases, I research for non-abstract

things that can fulfil the lacks for the

consumer. Then a visual world emerges,

which is where I draw my inspiration

from. We see that modern urban

citizens want to take their electronic

49

devices everywhere, need bags for different occasions but do not

want 5 bags, take their outdoor backpack for grocery shopping, that

work and life blends, that transportation changes. These are some of

the things I have in mind when designing the products, but for the

look and feel of the bags – especially for the editions where we can

be more inspirational and progressive – I delve into more soft topics,

longings, aspirations and lacks that our consumers, or we face.

What made you want to create a sustainable company?

It is much more expensive, all the more when you decide to work

together with sustainability or green seals. But for us, it is simply the

only possible way to work and still be able sleep at night. Everyone

should feel the need to take some responsibility where it’s possible. I

don't understand the other routes. I mean, we’re not exactly saving

the world, but we are trying our best as a company that also has to

pay wages. Of course there are so many areas that we need to work

on. We are making an industrial product and the reality is that the

whole network and system is not entirely sustainable. You have to

find a way to make a difference across as many points as you can.

That means that you also need the will to try and a certain level of

education on such topics with the people in your workflow, but

sadly this is rare. I think, this is also the main reason why only a few

brands commit to sustainability, because it is hard to do. Everything

takes more time, a lot of stuff is not possible and you really have to

dig deep to understand which changes could potentially make the

world a little better.

Do you think the only way to be truly modern is to

be sustainable?

Yes, but not necessarily to make it your slogan. Sustainability is

something that should be inherent in your company, but it doesn’t

have to be the main story. If sustainability would be the main story

of all fashion brands from now on, that would be really sad. Take a

look at the eco fashion sector. Our approach is to have a story and

a product that convinces without foregrounding the sustainability

aspect.

How much of what you buy for yourself is new?

And how much is used?

I buy a whole lot of vintage and make some stuff by myself, but not

only for sustainable reasons. My biggest hobby is eBay I am really

into it, I even know the coding language of the search bar [laughs].

I also buy new designer pieces now and then, ones that I fall in love

with – not necessarily sustainable, but long lasting pieces – and I buy

new underwear and knits. I don't have a car (an easy decision living

in the city) and I try to reduce waste.

For sure I’m no angel, but I’m also confused a lot of the time. Not so

much with textiles, but a lot with food or reusable cups or electronic

devices. There is almost never a good straightforward path you can

go, it’s always a choice. I wish governments would find ways to make

rules that made it easier and better for all of us and the world.

I sadly don't believe in a revolution by consumers alone.

You use PET bottles to make your products. That’s amazing!

How did you come up with this idea?

It’s not our idea but that's fine. We are only the missionaries. When

we started it was clear that we wanted to take responsible decisions in

the supply chain. We researched for solutions that were ready to use,

because we know how long it takes to develop a whole new section in

that industrial business. This would have been a whole other project.

So instead we teamed up with our brilliant fabric supplier in Taiwan.

They are pioneers in sustainable solutions that can be used in an

industrial scale and blue-sign members like we are. An important

factor for us was that any solution could be scaled up, so we could

potentially start something that could really make a change.

50

But how do used PET bottles become such beautiful bags?

Can you explain the production process to us?

The bottles are from post-consumer waste (after using), they are

collected, melted and spinned into yarn again. Quite simple! The

process is being checked all the time to make sure that the bottles are

really used and the yarn is really from used bottles and not new ones.

But we are working constantly on better solutions. We are in

developments to work with solution dyed yarn, a water free dye

process, with algae foam, water based coatings (to be PFC and PVC

free), recycled nylon, castor oil

buckles, the list goes on.

Where are the bags made, and are

they paid a fair wage?

Yes, we are also members of the fair

wear foundation. These guys have

a true mission. Even our German

workers are asked if we communicate

with them fairly. I love it! But also

before we were members of FWF,

we searched for reliable partners that

treat everyone fairly throughout the

whole process. We see the workers

in Vietnam as our colleagues and

are there quite often, so we feel

responsible. At the start there were

a lot of subcontractors, where we

didn’t know the conditions, because

we just couldn’t control it. But now

we are asking everyone involved to

be audited or they can’t take part in

the process.

Let’s talk about the new Parachute

bag! I love the shape and the

colors are on point. What was your

inspiration for that one?

The starting-point was something

that everyone who lives in the city

can relate to: longing for space,

natural experiences and new social

interactions. The shape is inspired by

our first backpack (the Cubik) and

by golfer bags. There is so much that

is interesting and layered to them.

Golfing has an elite reputation, but

is also socially driven and fulfils a

need for nature, space and wellbeing.

Golfing bags have funnily

51

been the same for decades. They

are the most un-fresh, un-chique,

untouched designs you can imagine,

even though they are so regularly

used by the glamorous elite. That's

my sense of humour. They lasted so

long that the style gets interesting

again, but in a sort of anti-way, no

elderly elite player would want that.

But if you look at golfing as a sincere

reasonable activity without the elite

side, it fits. I really liked the doublesided

nature in aesthetics that occur

with golf-related stuff, so I took it as

inspiration. Also road trips, a hippie

mentality, a sentimental look and

feel — woven labels from outdoor

packs during a previous time or naive

illustrations from landscapes. We also

made woven labels on the parachute,

but integrated modern visuals like

a cursor. We translated the idea of

the naive drawing over the whole

backpack using it as a canvas for the

landscape. The “Wunderbaum” as a

zip pull is also synonymous with road

trips, but is sort of ageless, it is now

and 20 years ago at the same time.

That also reflects the timelessness of

the feelings that were the startingpoints

for the design process.

What makes this bag so special?

What is different about this

backpack?

It is rare that products that are

functional and/or sustainable can

also inspire in any way. I see it as my

duty to accomplish that. And with

this backpack I could do that more

than ever before.

You release the backpack for

Fashion Week season. How

important is the fashion circus for

you as a brand?

It is not that important, I think. I

mean we are in the fashion system

and need to attend fairs and stuff to

make our sales. But for the brand it

is important to be where the most

modern things happen and that is

not necessary the Fashion Week.

What’s been the biggest struggle for

you thus far as a starting brand?

I think the biggest struggle is to be

economically successful and still stay

true to your values.

52

What would you say to someone just

starting out in this journey?

I would say do not limit yourself

to the fashion world. Everything is

fluid nowadays. Do what feels most

modern, not what gives you easy

success. And take care of yourself,

don't get dragged into a competition.

As a designer I would say, know the

system, know the rules, know what's

going on, but then forget everything

and restart – be true and never

blindly follow.

@pinqponq

www.pinqponq.com

buerov1.de /// social /// @buero_v1

53

12 Reasons To

Pretend It’s

Already Spring

We’ve been sick of winter since it started. The cold, the snow and the icy wind just don’t cut it compared to the warm sun and fresh

air in the spring and summer. If you’re like me, you want to soak in all the sun you can get before the next snowstorm hits, close

your eyes and pretend it’s spring already. So here are my favorite looks from ModaLisboa S/S19 to pretend when you just can’t take

the cold anymore. ModaLisboa is a multidisciplinary project, whose mission is the promotion and the development of Portuguese

Fashion national and internationally. And our favorite fashion fest in Europe.

AWAYTOMARS

DRAWN BY LIGHT

Founded in 2015, AWAYTOMARS has been wildly

successful in its mission to build an international

community of creative talents. AWAYTOMARS puts the

power to create in people’s hands; a movement for a new

global aesthetic, where there is no I, only We. The online

platform is available for a constant exchange of ideas and

the possibilities for contributions to the creative industry

are endless. The new Spring/Summer collection is cocreated

by 809 designers. Light, the natural agent that

stimulates sight and enables all things to become visible.

The colours chosen for the collection are heavily inspired

by the early developments of synthetic aniline dyes, such

as the deep purple colourant Mauveine created by British

chemist William Henry Perkin in 1856. We love it.

www.awaytomars.com

54

ALEXANDRA MOURA

HEIRLOOM S/S19

Portugal-based fashion designer

Alexandra Moura wowed the

fashion circus with her new S/

S19 collection. With “Heirloom”

the heritage of a childhood full

of references is reinforced, of a

girl from the city that spends her

holidays on her grandmother’s

house in the countryside. Alexandra

Moura’s collection for the upcoming

Spring/Summer season reinforces

the history of the designer and her

childhood, evoking the holidays in

Trás-os-Montes, near the frontier—

Vila Verde da Raia. Memories

of her Grandmother Amélia and

Grandfather Delfim’s house; the

magical immaculate divisions, that

were kept clean and tidy for the

visit of a guest; the clothes worn

for the village’s celebrations and the

procession on a bright Sunday. Here

two realities of the designer’s life are

joined together, the girl from the city

that would feel delighted to go to the

village.

www.alexandramoura.com

KOLOVRAT

PASSPORT

Designer Lidija Kolovrat is my favourite designer from

ModaLisboa at the moment. She studied cinema and

fashion at the Design and Technology College in Zagreb,

Croatia. In 1990 she moved to Portugal where she lives

and works since then. Established in1990, Kolovrat offers

a deconstructed new vision on men and women’s tailoring,

while keeping the DNA and finishing of a traditional

savoir-faire. “Passport is the shudder of this subconscious,

a symbolic door of contagion between what is dreamed

and what is real, an unpredictable vision in a society of

functional mechanics. Passport is the identity returned to

the individual, a face and not the number is the symbol of

humanity’s passage that deconstructs again, the breaking

of the norm through creativity, a simplistic statement

of rupture.” Kolovrat is placed in an old bakery‐flagship

store, in the heart of Lisbon.

www.lidijakolovrat.com

PATRICK DE PÁDUA

SHE

In 2014 this young designer won the

KALTBLUT Fashion Award during

Fashionclash Maastricht. Since then,

it is my pleasure to watch him grow as

a designer. Patrick de Pádua was born

in 1988, in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

In 2000, he moved to Portugal, and

graduated in Fashion Design from

MODATEX, in Lisbon. In the new

Spring/Summer collection the colour

palette focuses on the classics of the

brand, black and white, bringing to

this collection yellow, blue, red, orange

and purple to reinforce the concept.

Within strategically deconstructed

silhouettes between fair and oversized,

as well as overlapping of materials, in

an assumed streetwear/sportswear

DNA.

www.patrickdepadua.com

LUÍS CARVALHO

CHERRY

"Cheri, Cheri lady. Going through emotion. Love is where

you find it. Listen to your heart!" The GQ Men of The Year

Award winner is dressing icons like singer Conchita Wurst

and influencer Luis Borges. Let’s face it he is everybody’s

darling. The main inspiration for his new collection are

cherries, that will stand out in specific and abstract forms,

in prints and silhouettes, in the construction of several

pieces and in small details. Another focal point is the

oriental cherry tree from where the silhouettes come from.

The shapes are fluid and structured, bouncing from micro

or XL to straight or oversized. The predominant colours

are red, sky blue and dry green in materials like taffeta,

crepe, and silk satin. Luís Carvalho was born in 1987, in

Vizela. In 2002, he started his fashion training, graduating

in Fashion and Textile Design at the Polytechnic Institute

of Castelo Branco. In 2016 he was honored with the

GQ Men of The Year Award in the category of Fashion

Designer. In 2017 he won the Golden Globe for Best

Fashion Designer.

www.luiscarvalho.net

RICARDO ANDREZ

Ricardo Andrez is also an award–winning fashion

designer from Portugal. He was born and brought up in

Oporto, Portugal. He studied at the Cooperativa Arvore

and the Citex (school of textile and design) in Oporto.

Thinking about fashion means thinking about the body,

and he wanted to explore images and products from this

perspective. Andrez established his own label in 2006,

with men’s fashion forming the focus of his research.

Since then, he has reinterpreted sportswear and streetwear,

creating a colourful, healthy and structured universe. He

says about his new Spring/Summer collection – "Getting a

panic wave, similar to the believes of ‘the end of the world’,

the millennium bug presents itself as something harmless,

stimulating and apocalyptic."

www.ricardoandrez.com

55

Tove Styrke is on a roll

Interview by Nicola Phillips

Photos by Sebastian Pielles sebastianpielles.com

Hair and make up by Monica Karsai @monicakarsai

Styling by Nico Sutor @nicosutorfashion

Production by Marcel Schlutt

Top - Ellesse

Trousers - Marina Hoermanseder

“You can get there if you’re

lucky and work hard enough.”

After a well-deserved ‘Pop Artist of the Year’ win at Sweden’s prestigious

national radio P3 Guld Awards this January, the platinum-selling

singer-songwriter joined Lorde on her spring U.S. arena tour after

releasing a stunning cover of Lorde’s Melodrama single “Liability”.

After a run of her first-ever Australian shows, Styrke joined Katy

Perry as direct support on a European run before setting off to her

own worldwide headline tour. Her third album “Sway” received huge

praise internationally, with its bouncy anthems, focusing on tales of

crushes, fails and picking yourself up again. We first spoke to Tove back

in 2015 after the release of her debut album “Kiddo” so thought it was

time to get a little update as she prepared for the last few gigs of the

year in her Stockholm apartment.

Can you tell us about your journey and how you got

started in your career?

When I was a kid I remember I spent hours every day

just singing. I wasn’t that person who was naturally

gifted, I mean, I’ve always had a good ear, but I wasn’t a

naturally gifted singer. And to be able to sing the songs

that I wanted I had to spend a lot of time practising. But

I loved doing it. I’m thankful to my parents for letting

me keep at it because I used to sit in our living room just

like banging at the piano [laughs]. I think it’s important

that you don’t put a limit on what a child wants to do.

So you were just on tour with Lorde and Katy Perry,

that must have been crazy! What was it like sharing

the stage with such inspiring artists?

I feel like I’ve been pinching myself every day and trying

to understand that I actually get to do this. I’ve had so

much fun. I think I counted six or seven tours this year,

which is a lot!

That’s pretty insane! How do you even keep the energy

to keep going?

Because I think it’s the most fun. It’s my most favourite

thing to do in the whole world. I mean, getting to tour

with Lorde. That was the first tour in March where I

opened for her in the US and that was just wild. I’ve

been looking up to her as a songwriter and an artist for

many years. I just think she’s so good and so inspiring.

Touring with a person like that you really learn a lot. Just

watching how much work they put into everything that

they do. It’s the same for Katy. You realise that these huge

artists are actually like, normal people who work really

hard. And it’s great for newer up and coming artists to

look up to see that and it’s actually doable. You can get

there if you’re lucky and work hard enough.

What was it like hanging around with such iconic

female artists?

Meeting Katy was so weird because you see her face so

much growing up and then you see her in real life. She’s

so funny and so down to earth. So kind and welcoming.

I can imagine that she’s a lot of fun to hang out with. I

got this opportunity to be at this dinner thing with her

the whole night. She’s just so much fun. She’s experienced

so much and it’s just cool that she’s a person who can still

speak to a newer generation.

Do you have a particular favourite moment or

experience during your time on tour?

I think maybe my last show with Lorde where I got to

perform with her. We did Robyn’s “Hang With Me”. It

was such a great a moment. I think that’s one of those

that I will keep with me and I will tell my grandchildren

about [laughs].

Could you tell us a bit more about how it feels when

you’re playing live and performing for your fans?

I love performing live. There are so many elements to it.

One thing is that there’s some sort of wizardry behind

it that you have to learn over the years. I’ve performed

in big arenas this year and also like tiny, tiny, clubs on

my own and there’s this magic you have to do. You have

to have that skill where you make that performance feel

intimate and personal, but you want to make that room

feel bigger than it is like like there’s no end to it.

Do you have a preference between a big audience or a

small audience?

I love smaller audiences because you really have to work

the space. I think it’s really cool. In general, performing

Sweater - Dennis Loesch

“In general, performing

live is the ultimate

way for me to

experience the music

together and share

my love for it.”

57

Top - Ellesse

Trousers - Marina Hoermanseder

Top - Ellesse

Trousers - Last Heirs

Belt - Marina Hoermanseder

Shoes - Dr. Martens

live is the ultimate way for me to experience the

music together and share my love for it.

What about in the studio when you’re

recording, do you have a particular process?

I usually collect ideas over time and then I like

doing everything from scratch, kind of building

everything simultaneously. Working on the

melody, the production, and layering it. I don’t

just sit down with a guitar and instantly write a

lyric or a melody. It’s really just like piecing it all

together like a jigsaw puzzle

Could you tell us about your lyrics? What’s the

message you want to share with your music?

I think the main reason that I write is that I want

to connect to people through stories. I feel like

I get validation through that, the way I share

it with people and connect with other people.

When I hear people who also feel the same and it

brings people together it just makes it worthwhile.

At the core of it, if you strip away all of these

circumstances, things like age, where you’re from,

58

what you look like, all of that, I feel that people

have so many similar emotional experiences.

It must have been pretty nerve-wracking to

introduce your new album “Sway” to such a

big audience. Are you happy with the feedback

you’ve received so far?

It’s been crazy, I don’t understand. My mind is

always blown when I think about how I can sit

and make music in my basement in Stockholm

and then somehow I’ll perform in somewhere like

Australia and people will show up and know every

single word!

For the exclusive KALTBLUT shoot (and in

general) your style is a big part of who you are.

Can you tell us more about your connection to

fashion?

I feel like fashion is such a great tool to experiment

with. One thing that really is key to me and

important to me is that I feel like I’m free to

be whoever I want to be. I can wake up and

be whoever I need to be for that day. I feel

like fashion is the best and most direct tool to

challenge both other people’s idea of who you are

and also challenge your own.

Do you work with up and coming designers you

found online or through friends? Maybe you go

to local vintage stores?

I’m constantly on Instagram looking for new

ideas and new artists. I have a stylist called Natalie

Olenheim that I work with a lot, we’re really

close. I’m constantly sending her stuff like cool

stuff I find online, DIY things that people make,

anything. We’ve commissioned a lot of things

from some up and coming artists in Stockholm

and had things tailored.

Do you have any musicians or artists that you’ve

had your eye on recently?

I feel like this has been a great year for music.

People like Doja Cat and King Princess I’m

completely obsessed with. She’s so cool. I think

she’s on every playlist of mine, honestly!

@tovestyrke

Sweater - Dennis Loesch

Skirt - Marina Hoermanseder

59

MALTE BOSSEN

All EYES ON

60

Photos by Kiko Dionisio @kikodionisio_photography

Make up by Anca Oprin @ancaoprinmakeup

Interview and styling by Marcel Schlutt

Shirt - Fred Perry

Trousers - Antony Morato

AGENCY: MODELWERK

AGE: 23

Malte is one of those models - so natural in front of the camera - born

to be a model.Berlin regulars might know him from his involvement at

Pornceptual. Beside that Malte is one of the most exciting male models in

Berlin. We see a star on the rise! So it was only a matter of time until we

invited him into the KALTBLUT family.

How did you first get into modeling?

I started studying product design at

the same department as fashion design

at the University of the Arts in Berlin

2 years ago. Some of the fashion design

students asked me a few times to be

their fitting model and also to be their

model for the shoot of their collection.

was biting the apple at the same time.

This was the end scene of a video. I just

couldn’t stay serious.

What item of clothing could you not

live without?

I couldn’t live without a black

turtleneck.

And how long have you been

modeling?

At first, I was just doing it to

help friends, but then an agency

(Modelwerk) reached out to me on

Instagram. Last spring, I signed the

contract with them and have been

working since then. What does your

career do for you? It might be too

early for me to say because I’ve only

started working recently. Since I’m also

studying at the moment, juggling both

activities can be challenging, but this

is a career that would definitely fulfill

me.

What’s your most memorable shoot?

Probably one of most memorable

shoots so far was one of my first jobs.

I flew with Urban Classics to Norway

to shoot for their winter campaign.

We drove through in the middle of

the country, and the landscape was

incredibly beautiful. Plus, the whole

team was really fun!

What are the pros of being a model?

I would say that it’s definitely a pro that

you get around a lot and get to know

so many people. It’s great to build up

connections.

What’s the biggest misconception

about the male modeling industry?

That every model is arrogant.

What’s your dream booking?

Walking for Burberry would be

amazing!

What’s the funniest thing a client

asked you to do?

I once had to bite on an apple and

hold it with my mouth while a girl

What’s the best piece of advice you

were ever given?

Stay positive, learn from your mistakes

and seize the moment.

What do you do to stay in shape?

I go to the gym at least three times a

week and love to go running. Besides

that, I try to control what I eat in order

to have a healthy diet.

What are your other passions outside

of modeling?

Other than modeling, I’m currently

studying product design. I enjoy

being creative and also love to help my

boyfriend with his project Pornceptual.

We also travel a lot together, and I’m

very grateful for it. For me, clubbing is

important as well.

What are your favorite hang out

spots in Berlin?

For clubbing, I would say Pornceptual

and Berghain. For food: Klub Kitchen

for lunch and La Lucha for dinner.

Any specific plans for the future?

I’m very happy with my life right

now. I do all the things that I want to

and love to do. I would love to have

my own design company and to keep

doing something creative.

What is your advice to aspiring

models?

Be kind and helpful. Stay true to

yourself and don’t try to become

someone else.

Where can we follow you?

I love Instagram. So you can follow

most of my life there especially in my

stories.

Hoodie - Tommy Hilfiger

Shorts - Levi´s Vintage

@MLT.BSN

61

At Funkhaus

Studio 4

Photos by Sebastian Pielles

@sebastianpielles www.sebastianpielles.com

Model is Luisa Moek from SEEDS Models Berlin

Styling by Nico Sutor and Michael Hastreiter

Hair and make up by Julia Krohse using

Paul Mitchell, MAC, Kryolan and Bioderma

www.julia-krohse.com

Make up assistant Maha Hölbling

Production by Marcel Schlutt

Blazer - Sandro

Blouse - M1992

Skirt - Momme Ostendorf

Tights - Oroblù and Woolford

Shoes - Premiata

Earrings - House Of Danaë

Coat - Regina Weber

Tights - Max Mara

Straps - Jasmin Erb

Shoes - Kurt Geiger

Slip - Intimissimi

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Suit - Danny Reinke

Gloves and cuffs - Regina Weber

Shoes - Kurt Geiger

Body - Danny Reinke

Skirt - Essentiel Antwerp

Tights - Calzedonia

Shoes - Kurt Geiger

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Blouse - Lou de Bètoly

Tights and socks - Woolford

Shoes - Premiata

Earrings - Elodie Carstensen

Dress - Danny Reinke

Blazer - Joseph

Shoes - M1992

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Coat and trousers - Lala Berlin

Blouse - Momme Ostendorf

Tights - Woolford

Shoes - Kurt Geiger

Earring - Julia Seemann

Bag - Essentiel Antwerp

Studio 4

The legendary Funkhaus has grown into a hotbed of

Berlin’s music scene with plans to launch a high-end

artist members club with recording studios, rehearsal

and performance spaces, artists residencies, a members

lounge, a gym and even a rooftop pool by the end of

2019. The new members-only lounge 'Studio 4' will

also be presenting one of a kind jazz concerts and is

the brainchild of their artist in residence LaLume.

“It started out as an idea to create a jazz club at

Funkhaus as I was really missing the jazz scene in

Paris,” explains LaLume on Studio 4. “I hosted a

small jazz concert there last year and I brought some

furnishings from my own apartment to cosy it up

and give it a lush vibe. We had a champagne and

oyster bar, it was a real treat! Then it grew into the

idea of becoming a members lounge where artists,

members and their guests could get together in an

intimate space before concerts and between sessions.

Marco Riedel furnished the space with his incredible

collection of vintage pieces to resemble a magical,

bohemian living room. The Funkhaus is so majestic, I

felt that the one thing missing was somewhere cosy to

get together with other artists. A kind of home away

from home for creatives within such a large complex.

It is also a space to showcase new talent, host intimate

concerts and is available to rent for events whilst

structurally remaining a recording studio.”

We attended Studio 4’s opening party where we

were welcomed with a glass of Veuve Clicquot and

were invited to sit in one of the lamp-lit lounges.

As we helped ourselves to sweets served in a crystal

bowl on a table decorated with roses, we took in

the attention to detail. The exquisite decor was

something you could only imagine existing in the

lush private quarters of an A-lister. LaLume nestled

herself comfortably, yet strategically, on a Persian rug

between candles, cushions, rose petals, and various

musical equipment including an old telephone

that had been customised to become a mic. As she

performed her otherworldly music bathed in a dusky

pink light, we took in the homely yet dreamlike

surroundings that could only be described as

delightfully Lynchian.

Website:

www.funkhaus-berlin.net

Inquiries:

studio4@funkhaus-berlin.net

Follow:

@funkhaus.studio4

@lalume.music

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AN OPEN LETTER – to Berlin from Berlin

Foreword & photos by Colette Pomerleau

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I first met Sarah P. at a pizza party three years ago, in the depth of another inevitably

dark Berlin winter. Her bright blue eyes were difficult not to fixate on, and for

whatever reason, we became friends after speaking just for a few minutes. Since that

introduction, there has always been a motivating atmosphere of support from the

artist who, herself has her hands in music, visual arts, and activism specifically for

artists’ rights.

Sarah has enclosed a letter addressed to future residents of Berlin, in hopes that the

glow you experience might last a little longer.

Dear artist/fellow creator,

As I’m typing these words people march down the wooden stairs of my building. 1,2,3…here comes the

banging door. Welcome to Berlin - a beautiful, dark, very noisy, sometimes ignorant paradise for people

like you and me. Park your suitcases to your shared apartment and let me help you navigate through life

in this majestically absurd city.

First things first, Berlin’s warm welcome will last for a couple of months. Everything will seem like it’s

amazingly falling into place. New city, new faces, exciting work opportunities, lots of networking…

This is a good time to take advantage of the kind strangers and ask them to help you with the

bureaucratic madness. You’re still new in the city and trust me, even bureaucracy will seem like a fun,

adulting game. Your Berlin glow will last for a maximum of six months. During that time, you’ll

connect and collaborate with a lot of people who may or may not waste your time. Don’t worry - the

feeling is mutual and it’ll be communicated to you in a rather confusing, passive-aggressive way.

The next point is very critical for your sanity, professional development, private life, retirement plans,

legacy etc.. Berlin is a trickster - it knows your deepest secrets and your vices. All your experiences will

feel new, yet in a loop.

It’s time for you to take off those pink glasses and see Berlin for what it truly is - the self-conscious,

artsy sister of robust brothers Hamburg and Munich, the forgotten child of mamma Deutschland.

Congratulations! You’re officially a Berliner. You can pop the Sekt you bought from the Späti next door

and make a plan for the next years. Set priorities, milestones, long-term goals. Truth is Berlin is like a

station for creatives and either you decide to stay or relocate again in some years from now, you can and

should make the best out of your staying here.

Berlin is pretty laid-back. Don’t let the rhythm of the city affect your creativity. Especially if you’re a

freelancer, I advise you to drink every drop of the collaboration fountain. Along the way, you’ll find

people that you believe in, they believe in you too and you’ll form a community - but until then, it’s

all trial-and-error. Remember, Berlin may be a big city, but the ways to the decision/taste-makers are

way shorter than they are in any other metropolis. Request meetings with them, attend their events and

chances are good that you’ll get their attention - as long as you stay true to yourself and your art.

So, here comes the clue of it all - after all these adventures that come with moving to a new city, you

realise that you must trust more in yourself, your talent, your uniqueness. You picked Berlin because

a. it was cheaper than other big cities you may have considered, b. you were told that Berlin is an

international hub for creatives. And it’s true! Despite the multiplying golden boys/Silicon Valley geniuses

coming to Berlin because of expanding/Trump/Brexit/you name it, Berliners are resisting. Berlin favours

individuality and will always find ways for you and your art to be heard, treasured and successful for

the years to come.

Enjoy your time in Berlin. Connect with people. Embrace the mishaps. Get inspired by the city and its

eccentricities. Create memorable art. Berlin will have your back.

Your favourite Berliner,

Sarah x

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WE ARE

YAR

Interview

First conceptualised around five years ago,

YAR is made up of 3 women with a unique

vision. They first set up their studio in the

“Quelle” area of Nuremberg and started

developing a concept that incorporated

alternative materials. After relocating to

the creative centre of Heizhaus – a coworking

community for cultural and

creative projects in the west of the city –

they were united by the idea to develop

and test innovative strategies. They became

driven by their combined mission to find

solutions for urban space and problems

facing society as a whole. The YAR label

was finally founded in 2017.

und styling by Marcel Schlutt

Photos and artwork by Yu-liang Liu

www.yuliang-liu.com

Model is Elizabeth Ehrlich

@elizabeth_ehrlich

Hair and make up by Anca Oprin

www.ancaoprinmakeup

Photography assistant is Alex Aravantinos

Take us back to the beginning. What sparked your passion for fashion?

First of all, it’s more about our definition of the term fashion, because we don’t have any affinity

with fashion in a superficial sense. That said, we definitely all enjoy clothing, whether it’s to wear,

dress or disguise. It’s our second skin, a shell that protects us from wind and weather, a means of

non-verbal communication. This is the foundation of our passion, united by a love for highquality

and beautiful materials, the joy of design and craftsmanship and the invigorating feeling

that a really good piece of clothing can give you.

How did you get started in the fashion industry?

YAR was born out of our shared desire to make a difference. We have always been motivated

by sharing visions, knowledge, techniques, machines and space, which is why we have been

involved in open workshop concepts and open source contexts for almost 15 years. Each of us

has our own experiences and insights and we all felt the need to get out of the hamster wheel

of consumer madness, whether be that privately or professionally. The fashion industry was

an obvious choice for us because we all had contacts there and were involved with the topic of

sustainability, whether as a clothing technician, textile designer or networker. We all recognised

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garment is neglected because it is hardly possible to wear a fast-fashion-piece

longer than 3 months before it is washed out and broken. This also removes

it from further use or upcycling and inevitably becomes garbage that often

cannot even be recycled anymore.

How can we slow fashion down?

First and foremost we need to move away from consumer madness towards

a sufficient lifestyle, which means being satisfied with less. In a finite world,

resources are simply limited, so let us return to first-class products instead of

mass. Another point would be the consistent ignoring of any trends, these

should be a phenomenon of yesterday. Let us stop getting dictated as to what

fashion can be at ever shorter intervals. Let’s free ourselves from influences

and superficial needs – because the truth is, we don’t have to wear a new outfit

all the time.

the poor working and production conditions in this sector, especially in the

production of fibres, explicitly cotton. During the first few years, we focused

mainly on sourcing alternative materials for the collection. These origins have

become an important part of our overall concept. By offering educational

work, workshops and events on the subject of sustainability in fashion, we are

able to live up to our claim of helping to set standards in the textile industry

at various levels.

Which 3 keywords best characterize your fashion label?

Resistance. Variety. Exchange.

You claim that YAR is a sustainable slow fashion business that offers an

alternative to consumers. Can you elaborate on this mission statement?

We do not design a new collection every half year. Our collection is our

assortment, it is only extended or reduced by models. So we can change

our face again and again without losing consistency because we believe

there should always be the possibility to reorder a piece you love even after

many years. We produce everything ourselves and some pieces only to order,

so we can guarantee good workmanship, fair working conditions and no

overproduction. Even the cuttings are processed into caps, scarves and much

more. The monotony in the textile industry that we want to fight against

is the distribution of the fibres used: approx. 60% man-made fibres, 38%

cotton and the remaining 2% contain all other fibres! With our selection of

fabrics, we show how a balanced distribution using ecologically sensible fibres

such as hemp, linen, wool, yak or TENCEL is possible. When selecting

our materials we always pay attention to environmentally friendly cultivation

and species-appropriate husbandry, low water consumption, low CO2

emissions, and check for the use of harmful and toxic substances, fair working

conditions and transparency throughout the entire supply chain.

Your work steps outside of the fashion circus, how do you hope to

contribute to changing the future of the industry?

We want to try out all-encompassing fun and alternative ways to work

instead of just standing there with an index finger raised. We want to

inform, animate and motivate. That’s why we organise events such as the

KleiderRausch or RepairCafes and offer open studio spaces, workshops and

seminars as well as patterns and fabrics from our high-quality collection. We

want to stimulate critical questioning of consumer behaviour by providing

information so that we do not become more and more dependent on this

crazy idea of growth. That’s also the reason why we are going completely

different ways in marketing and communication. We are of the opinion that

there is no competition within Slow Fashion, but that all the small labels carry

basically the same vision into the world, therefore we believe in cooperation,

networking and exchange. Whether that is joint work or events with NGOs,

initiatives and labels, or an economic union in fabric purchasing. We want

to be a platform and a role model for everyone who loves fashion and likes

to play with it, but we doesn’t want to harm people or the environment with

their behaviour.

What are your top slow fashion tips for someone who is interested to

learn more about the movement?

Put on what you have, take good care of it, repair it if it breaks, borrow

something for special occasions, barter, sew something yourself or buy it used.

And if you really need something new or want to have something new, make

sure you buy it in good quality and deal with it.

Sustainable fashion is developing slowly, but it is evolving. What would

speed up this process, in your opinion?

It would be a good approach, in addition to promoting alternatives, for

companies to bear the real costs of pollution, human rights abuses, the health

consequences of textile chemicals and, ultimately, the disposal of all the waste

themselves. If these costs were included in the product price, an ecologically

and fairly produced product would be cheaper than a conventional one. If

the EU is able to decide by law on the shape of cucumbers, it should also be

possible to determine the conditions under which the clothes that we all wear

every day are produced. From our point of view, sustainability should be a

self-evident fact.

Tell us about YAR’s manufacturing process and what about that process is

important to your label?

Due to the fact that we produce everything ourselves, we are deeply involved

in all of our creations, so we can react quickly to feedback from customers

and also offer custom-made products or adaptations. Therefore each piece

comes with the option to choose your own fabric.

Which material do you prefer to work with?

With hemp in various designs. Hemp feels great, is more durable than cotton,

does not absorb odours as quickly and above all: it grows like weeds, needs

hardly any water and needs neither fertilizer nor pesticides!

And which material would you like to work with in the future?

We are very interested in fibres made from milk, fruit pulp and other waste

products.

Who or what inspires you, as a designer and personally?

Every day we are inspired by pictures, moments, conversations and our

surroundings. A great source of inspiration for us is, therefore the Heizhaus,

precisely because of the possibilities this environment offers us. For example,

there is a large exchange with our direct neighbours, the Subucoola screen

printing works.

What do you see as the biggest issues with fast fashion?

From our point of view, the biggest problem is the escalating overproduction.

Marketing is a big, often underestimated player here. With costly campaigns,

it creates needs that you didn’t have before. The artificial feeling that a person

can only find group affiliation and recognition through their clothing or from

a brand can be fatal. Clothing mostly manufactured under the most adverse

circumstances with the largest possible profit margin. The quality of the

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Where can we buy your pieces?

You can only find YAR in the concept store FifteenSixteen

in Nuremberg, with whom we have been working together

in the field of product development for almost 2 years.

Additionally, you can order our stuff online directly from us..

However, we would be pleased about further shops, which

have the interest to offer our pieces, because we are of the

opinion that you should touch and try on clothes before you

buy them.

Where do you see YAR in 10 years?

We see ourselves as a constant whose name is associated

with quality, style and transparency. In addition, we will be

part of a large network of sustainably working companies,

associations and initiatives in order to move the whole

of society in the direction of the common good of the

economy.

weareyar.de / @weare.yar

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77

Welcome to The World of HENKJENZ


Photos by Sem Shayne &

Anton Fayle

www.semshayne.com

Models are

Jademire Kartopawiro &

Dilara Dundar

Styling by Juliëtte Heijnen

All fashion by HENKJENZ

Special thx to fashionclash.nl

“You don’t have to be skinny or muscular to be

beautiful. We live in a time where your body is

your temple. You have to love you for you to be

the best version of yourself. ”

78

The fourth annual KALTBLUT fashion award winner HENKJENZ is

a progressive and youthful fashion brand from Rotterdam, Netherlands

focused on instinct and excitement. During Fashionclash Festival 2018,

the designers behind the brand, Juliëtte Heijnen and Maurice Muller,

unveiled their winning collection: AVOCADO vs. MAYONAISE.

We spoke to the duo about topical fashion, challenges faced during

production, and how social media is affecting the world around us.

Congratulations! What does winning the

KALTBLUT Fashion Award 2018 mean to you?

Winning the award means to us that the journey of the

world of HENKJENZ can begin and that we are very

grateful that you, KALTBLUT Magazine wants to help

promote us.

How important are competitions like this one for

your career as a designer?

It’s very important because it can lift up your label and

helps to get a bigger reach for people who like to express

themselves through fashion.

I’ve followed your work for years. We met in

Maastricht during Fashionclash Festival and first

got to know each other. How important is a fashion

festival like Fashionclash for a young fashion brand?

For us, Fashionclash Festival is the most important

because you really can connect with other designers

and have the chance to talk to professionals who are

already in the field for a long time. This is also one of

the first events we went to. Every time we go, we meet

new people. It’s an annual reunion for the ones you’ve

already met. Compared to other events during fashion

week where your show is more private, it’s harder to get

the attention of people you want to notice you.

What does it mean to you to be able to present your

collection at Fashionclash?

There’s a big international reach, which we didn’t

experience on other Dutch fashion platforms.

How would you describe yourself and your work?

We accept the people around us, exactly the way they

are, and find it very important that they at ease. The

World of HENKJENZ is all about respect, acceptance,

instinct and excitement.

When did you realize that fashion was a world that

you were attracted to and that could be your future?

Juliette: I was always busy with what to wear as a child.

Viktor & Rolf inspired me at an early age to sketch

garments for people, but then I didn’t know what the

fashion world was about. Later on, it attracted me to

explore how clothing can influence your mood and

representation for yourself.

Maurice: For me, it was just a thing to dress cool, I

always wanted something else to wear. When I met

Juliette, it became clear to me that it could be even

crazier and different. I liked it even more from that

moment on.

What fascinates you most about the world of

fashion?

It fascinates us how every city has its own vibe and style.

What was your winning collection inspired by?

AVOCADO vs. MAYONAISE is inspired by the fact

that we don’t have a ‘typical beauty’ type. You don’t have

to be skinny or muscular to be beautiful. We live in a

time where your body is your temple. You have to love

you for you to be the best version of yourself.

We as HENKJENZ work with people who are

completely themselves. We are all unique so why try to

be someone else?

Your collections always have a topic, a social

statement. How important is that for you as a

designer?

It’s important for us to connect with the crowd on

more than just on the topic of fashion. It’s nice if you

like our designs for our designs, but we like to spread a

message with HENKJENZ, where one of our keywords

is acceptance.

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What kind of material did you

used for the collection?

For AVOCADO vs. MAYONAISE,

we used a mixture of fabrics

including jersey, bamboo, fleece and

wool.

What challenges did you face

during the design process?

Deadlines are probably our biggest

challenge, because the further we are

in the process, the more ideas come

into mind to add to the collection

- which is also the most fun part

when it comes together at the end

on time.

What would you say that is the

biggest influence to your design

process?

The world around us because we use

such political and social themes.

What is your favourite piece of the

collection, and why?

The long “Neon Tech Body

Warmer” is our favourite piece

because we love the tech flock print

fabric. We feel it’s both practical and

unique.

How important is social media for

a young designer?

It’s such a digital time. We find that

quite hard sometimes because our

process is analogue. We like to see,

feel and smell things. Social media

makes the world smaller, making it

so you can easily connect to people

on the other side of the world.

Who are your 3 favourite

influencers and why?

Henrik Vibskov, because patternwise

he’s always exciting. He

uses such calming colours in his

collection and we are in love with

the whole world he creates around

his brand. Influencers Louis Rubi

and Patrick Mason are two we like

very much. They have their own

vibe and both in a different way.

Louis is always very classy and

oversized, which makes it interesting

for us with our one size designs and

Patrick has his exciting colourful

crazy style.

Where do you see the evolution

of social media and fashion going

over the next 5-10 years?

That is a hard one, hopefully, social

media will challenge us to really

connect to each other again and not

only through apps and electronic

devices but really face to face

contact. And for fashion, we hope

it will make it easier for designers to

make the production process more

sustainable and that consumers will

consider more local designers over

fast fashion.

How do you see the future of your

fashion brand?

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HENKJENZ is still at the

beginning of its growth so the

world is wide open for us. We

hope to enchant the people in the

upcoming season with The World

of HENKJENZ and spread the

word so that more people will get

to know us and want to be a part

of our world of acceptance. So our

next step is to see you all in Berlin

and get some stockists so you can

shop offline.

If you could give one piece of

advice to someone considering a

career in fashion, what would it

be?

Never stop dreaming about what

you want to accomplish in fashion.

You have to be sure you are not a

quitter because it can be hard and

take some time before you see the

result you want from the fashion

world around you.

What are your three must-have

items for every fashion lover for

the next Spring/Summer season?

We think a unique pair of sneakers,

for the sunny weather, an oversized

T-shirt that feels comfortable and

HENKJENZ shorts for sure!

@HENKJENZ

FORM OF INTEREST.

BE A MENSCH

CONCEPTUAL UNISEX LABEL

SS19 COLLECTION “BE A MENSCH - HUMAN”

www.formofinterest.com

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FREDPERRY.COM

LISTEN TO BLACK / CHAMPAGNE / CHAMPAGNE

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