2019
PRODUCTION OF AN INTERVIEW-Podcast funded by German Academic Exchange Service with creatives in NEW YORK CITy:
RE:FASHION NYC
HACKING COUTURE
For the love of lace
Under given circumstance (namely the pandemic) I got time to further edit my New York talks. It´s the best way for me right now reaching states of concentration, which I love. Now I would like to share my encounter with Elena Kanagy-Loux. I was first intrigued by her style, when I was waiting for the talk she was about to give and then captured by her expertise on lace. I could listen to Elena for hours – love her elastic mind and learned a lot from her historical and technical knowledge about lace but also from her perspectives on this valuable and complex handcraft. Moreover Elena has many anecdotes to share and therefore I remember the talk exceptionally well.
We touched upon Disneyland and History Bounding, Lolita look in Japan, the best place for hippies in the US, working for Courtney Love, the „shiny moment” of landing on a worst dress list, and for sure a lot about lace. Elena is the founder of the “Brooklyn Lace Guild” in New York City.
From ART TO FASHION AND VICE VERSA
Martina Cox took a break from art university and opened a second-hand-shop out of her apartment. That`s when she also began to alter garments. Half a year later, she took her new and beloved approach in fashion and went back with it to art school. Her senior thesis exhibition was seen by many and the right people: only one year later she works independently as a fashion maker with a clear artistic touch. I loved Martina´s honesty and the laugther we shared throughout the whole conversation. We talked about partying in Berlin and her italian grandmother – both sources of her passion for fashion – moreover about the first time she presented fashion in art school (surprising) and her love for detail (inspiring).
the power of uniting opulence & humility
“I like the more interesting, kinda crazy stuff”. This is Cindy Hulej speaking about her special approach in building and embellishing guitars. She decorates them in many ways, from which one is to use a woodburner. Often she ends up having the bodies fully decked out with the most wonderful detailed drawings, showing portraits of e.g. the Beatles or cathedrals. She learned to built from Rick Kelly, owner of the legendary shop “Carmine Street Guitars” in New York´s famous Greenwhich Village. A place that feels like old New York as many do agree upon. Old means true creative vibes remained here, but yet fresh as I want to add, to not forget about the relentless dedication and constant transformation you can meet when entering the heart of the store, the workshop, where Cindy and Rick are to meet most likely. Cindy became a luthier eight years ago: She walked into the store wanting to learn from Rick and none other. From the beginning on she learned exactly the way Rick built, but did it under her own brand “Cindy guitars”. Synesthetes will definitely agree with me that
even before a Cindy guitar is played it screams: Rock´n`Roll! We talked about her very early discovery of punk, about working in an art friendly restaurant, about costumizing a guitar for a Jim Jarmusch movie and the “mystery of the molecules” which goes into all of what Cindy and Rick are doing and which has to do with the special energy of the wood they use plus the history of the shop…
Entangling arts and Fashion
I got to know Janelle Abbott first as one part of the collaborative duo “Femail”. Here
she, together with Camilla Carper, creates beautiful and complex fashion, using
upcycling. Since Janelle lives in Seattle and Camilla in Los Angeles, they use snail
mail, sending back and forth their pieces, until they are ready. I fell in love with their
work through an article about upcycling on fashionista.com. Luckily they hosted a
workshop in NYC while I was in town – a collective refashioning session – sure that I
went there ! The interview is recorded via Skype, because Janelle was already back
in Seattle. Janelle and me talk about Femail, but also about her very own work,
which includes a beautiful project called “Wardrobe Therapy”, about seeing and
living live as a Gesamtkunstwerk and why Lady Gaga ended up buying a dress that
have been sweatpants of her dad before.
Talking to a Fashion Anthropologist
Mikaila Brown created her own businessmodel combining her PhD in anthroplogy
and her love for fashion: Mikaila Brown is a fashion anthroplogist. In other words, in
my words: For Mikailas work with fashion “why” comes before “wow”. She is also the
creator of “Sidewalk Safaris”, a city tour which she describes intriguingly: “We are
going to disco deep dive into Harlem, using fashion as ur lense.” This walk is to get
to know Harlem as the starting point of black fashion in America as much as today`s
Harlem and the importance of community in keeping small and diverse businesses.
When I met Michala, she was in the middle of launching similar tours in Atlanta and
LA. By the end of next year she wants to have them in ten american cities. This talk
is recorded in a café in Harlem. We are sitting outside, next to a busy street. It´s the
last stop of our preceding “Sidewalk Safari” and we still are surprisingly energized.
Mikailas power is contagius! I decided to publish this conversation, even if the
background sounds try to overtake. Meeting Mikaila was an encounter I will never
forget, but listen to her nuanced and vibrant speech yourself!
The oddly satisfying spa
Most mysterious indoors I´ve experienced in New York: THE ODDLY SATISFYING Virtual reality producer and DIY-lover Tyler Pridgen had the idea for this place -a Spa using immersive technology for relaxation and meditation purposes. David Lobser, co-creator of the Spa says this place is realized to “escape into your senses”. Listen and learn about the difference between augmented and virtual reality. Also about how it all started when Pop Up´s became very trendy and Tyler started watching oddly satisfying videos to distract from the Instagram competition game. I love this kind of transferring things from one area to another ! I was lucky to have Tyler and David answering my questions, because like good teams do they complement each other which our talk shows. For this episode I am again stepping out of the textile field, following my curiosity for people with inspiring ideas and the courage to follow them. Also in this one I was able to collage some extra sounds which was so much fun – Tyler, thank you for sharing the soundfiles you use in the Spa!
Fashion & Risks
Otto von Busch is full time faculty at Integrated Design, School of Design Strategies and point person for the minor in Alternative Fashion Strategies at “Parsons The New School in New York City”. I got to know Otto first through reading “The FashionCondition”. It is written by “The Fashion Praxis Collective” of which he is a part. Otto wrote countless texts and books around fashion using different lenses to deep dive into fashions many powerful relations. The majority of his texts can be open sourced on his website, which I highly recommend to do. Otto enthusiasticelly spreads ideas on how to engange in your own clothing in many creative ways and with the same passion he promotes other people´s approaches. As with the most interviews I did so far, Otto didn´t know what the topics of our talk would be, and I am likewise open to go on a ride – daring to move into the yet unknown is something I am commited to establish in my dialogues.