ANNTIAN: tape fashion from Berlin

16 Apr 2007 Category: Fashion, Features, Worldwide

No doubt, Berlin is a hot place for fashion designers: inspiration literally not only walks down the streets, there is even a street fashion exhibition right now, too. But though the rents are cheap, designers have to deal with conditions in a metropolis that is often referred to as “bankrupt city”. Fashion designers ANNTIAN try to reflect the style of Berlin itself with one quite informal and less decorative style. They fix their clothing with tape before printing onto them - and this refined technique makes their quite colorful designs stand out against the bad economical mood that sometimes seems to be in the air. PingMag talked to ANNTIAN’s Christian Kurt about making fashion in the city.

Written by Akiko Watanabe

Christian, how did ANNTIAN get started?

ANNTIAN was founded in March 2006 by us: Anne Hilken is a graphic designer, also working for Berlin-based graphic agency Double Standards, and me, a fashion designer. All began as we once decided to start a small clothing line without any further plans. This first collection was based on a certain subject, a dialogue within the fields of “nature & technics”. It consisted only of tops printed by ourselves. Within this work, we realized that we had so much in common in terms of our aims, feelings, taste, that we decided to continue. Now the volume of our collections is about 40 to 60 pieces, consisting of T-shirts, sweaters, trousers, tights, socks, jackets, dresses, scarfs, bags, jewellery, and more. 60 to 80 percent of our lines are handmade by ourselves, the rest is tailored by small companies in and around Berlin. Each printing is always and only from us!

So, is this your aim through designing?

We’re certainly not the ones to make people believe in something. In fact, we wish that people discover our world - just like you did. If there’s an interest in our work and our aesthetics, we’re happy. If not - that’s fine as well. Without being pathetic, this is our positive way of thinking. The way we worship life, people, and the time we spend together make us design clothes. We respect and love the varieties of life, like people, nature, or style. In general, we see things rather deeply, “profound”, than merely do it in an opportunistic, selfish or superficial way.

And that is reflected in your collections. The first time I came across ANNTIAN was with your third season XXXL - GRAIN line. It was based on the idea of using a large-scale garment converted and designed into a wearable form with grainy patterns like spray sprinkle. That drew my attention from first sight! On what ideas or inspirations are your collections based on usually?

We find inspiration in certain art, nature and real life, of course: as the more special and unusual the subject is you focus on, the more individual and new, or authentic, the output can be. One special and recognizable trait our collections always have is our own “printing process” within a visual theme. For example, the printed theme of our AW07 collection was gradients: we tried to dissolve the surfaces and tear apart what is perceived as a feeling for love for life, horizons and wideness and wanted to present it as a poetic thing. The XXXL collection was about the ordinary, the “everyday life”. We used what we found and rearranged simple T-shirts with a variety of designs. We see this as an homage in respect for the banal. And by using an ordinary theme, we wanted to push things forward. To us this is a form of realism…

Something else: I was wondering where you are from originally… And why did you choose Berlin to start a fashion label?

We both come from rather small, rather rural and idyllic towns in the South West of Germany. Compared to other cities, we think Berlin has more inspirational sources. The city seems to be wide and open minded, and you can feel more freely here. Apart from that, the infrastructure related to fashion in terms of manufacturing is very suitable for us, as well as the attractive rents and lots of green spaces…

But I guess the city structure has some impediments as well… What are you struggling the most with having Berlin as your business platform?

Sometimes life feels a little bit too slow, lazy and overslept over here. It can be nice in a way, but it has got disadvantages, too, especially in the business area. Unlike New York, Paris or London, it’s not so hectic and busy here, but at the same time things often move inefficiently. Nevertheless, Berlin is an outstanding and unique place with it’s very own charm and characteristics!

Right, there are lots of cheap spaces to create things in the city - but at the same time many people are struggling to make a living. This can make it sometimes harder for you to continue your activities… How do you see the future of Berlin for designers then?

We see Berlin as a place of relevance and importance, with a great impact in the future. It’s certainly an attractive location to live and work in: distinctive, special, pluralistic, open… Many people moved to the city and even more are willing to. We guess that they all want to move forward, which could make it a place full of power! The “struggle”, like the lack of buying power over here, is something we live with as long as we want to. We see the label in a more international context anyway.

How would you define Berlin, in one word?

Independence is probably a key word for Berlin - not only in terms of style - combined with a fresh, new spirit.

Finally, what is next for ANNTIAN in the city?

Right now we are making the concept for the forthcoming collection and planning for summer season 2008. Moreover, rather than just presenting the clothes, we’re thinking more about installations and other forms of exhibiting them artfully. We’ll see what comes out of that. And we have to find a new working space, a bigger office atelier! Then we would also have the chance to work with trainees.

Thank you, Christian! Though just freshly started, ANNTIAN is already presenting their 6th collection and selling in shops and showrooms in Berlin, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Tokyo and Nagoya. Check out their website for more.

39 Comments

1. Great stuff, wonderful colors!

   Posted by: HDR Photography on April 16th, 2007 at 7:43 pm

2. Ive been hearing sooo much about Berlin and the Art n fashion scene there. Its nice to get a few kool links connected to all that… (Still in Berlin/Create Berlin).

   ‘Wall painting with sweater’ super nice…..  Autumn/Winter collection 06/07 is really cute….. Be nice to have some of the darker fabrics with lighter/brighter paints (just a little).

   Posted by: SHANTELL MARTIN on April 16th, 2007 at 10:46 pm

3. ……well,absolut cool fashion and colors here from ANNTIAN.YES
   keep it on !!!

   Posted by: ACID HANSi on April 16th, 2007 at 11:35 pm

4. Real amazing discovery. There are so much to catch inside ANNTIAN website. Loving the SUMMER collection. Keep it up! ;-)

   Posted by: NICO on April 17th, 2007 at 2:02 pm

5. i love anntian!

   Posted by: gigi on April 17th, 2007 at 4:21 pm

6. i wish the stupid ugly ***** would get the hell out of our city. Real Berlin people do not wear this stuff or stuff linked in the blog. If you walk down a street like this in berlin you are sure to be looked at as a tourist or west germans trying to be hip and cool. This city has so much natural potential in its own we really do not need people from the outside posing for cameras. Because of these people Berlin has seen a housing boom and rents are shooting through the sky at the moment and all nice and groovy places are beeing torn down or rebuild. You rarely even find clubs were the original down gritty berlin feeling is still there. Its such a sad bad development and to see our city die from it is extremely discomforting.

   Posted by: bartender on April 17th, 2007 at 5:33 pm

7. My dear, this is a bit pathetic. What exactly do you mean with ‘original down gritty Berlin’ feeling? I agree on that we don’t have the 90s anymore with more spaces to play around and lots of Tagesbars - but other spaces with other possibilities emerged instead. I like the energy people bring from the outside, and I don’t like this typical German tendency to always complain about everything…

   Posted by: Verena on April 17th, 2007 at 6:03 pm

8. Yes, because foreigners and outside culture will taint the purity that is Berlin. Do I have to point out what you sound like? Yeah, I look wistfully at the 90’s but time marches on and things change.

   Posted by: Foj on April 18th, 2007 at 12:58 am

9. Purity? How would you define purity in terms of a city that always consisted of a vivid international mixture, albeit before the war? Or do you mean purity in terms of the Stasi controlled GDR East Berlin back then? Right now I’m tempted to compare Berlin still with some Chinese cities regarding the free spirit - though you can’t, I know.

   Posted by: Verena on April 18th, 2007 at 1:39 am

10. “Taint the purity that is Berlin!?!?” … this reminds me of a party in Germany, led by an unsuccessful austrian with Charlie Chaplin beard. What was his name again?

    Guys: how come you even can communicate in English when your brains are obviously not built for thinking?

    Fascinating…

    Posted by: E. Kaestner on April 18th, 2007 at 2:32 am

11. guys, guys, slow down… if you think carefully, you’re overreacting and it’s not fair to make such comparisons as we may agree that ‘bartender’ doesn’t have a tendency to racism… I don’t agree with his opinion, but I hear his point. Starting to attack and insult each other undervalues what this site stands for.

    Well, generally speaking the comments on this site are usually not the brightest if I may say.
    Positive ones are like : “cool!” and negative ones are something like “uh that’s gay..”. It kind of degrades the valuable content… and should be removed.. to make space for more deliberate opinions and constructive criticism.
    Keep up the good work!!
    Peace out!

    Posted by: ill p.e. on April 18th, 2007 at 12:29 pm

12. Berlin is like a Phoenix, always has been. It’s been torn down and rebuild so many times that it’s really hard to see what the “Real Berlin” is. Berlin moves fast, move with it!
    And for me, a “real Berliner” is a jelly filled donut…

    Posted by: Cara on April 19th, 2007 at 6:32 am

13. this is extraordinary, wonderful colourways…I like it a lot..delicate and gentle collection, quite outstanding. liked reading the article…compliments and greetings from the US

    Posted by: paul on April 19th, 2007 at 6:12 pm

14. bartender might not be outright “racist” but he is definitely xenophobic. in “bartenders” world “outsiders” are allowed to be tourists but not allowed to leave any tracks. amusingly bartender regards even people from germany as “outsiders” - in a way almost endearing would it not be so sad.

    for individuals like bartender change equals decay. - interesting since berlin faced so many changes during the last decades. still - statements like “we really do not need people from the outside posing for cameras” do not justify comparisons with hitler, the unsuccessful austrian with the charly chaplin beard. - they merely depict a certain political naivite, and although the intention was probably good … the effect is questionable.

    for the ones who ask to “make space for deliberate (sic!) opinions and constructive criticism” and “remove” other posts: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? :)

    Posted by: rosenrot on April 20th, 2007 at 1:46 am

15. Ungh… I did not really say that “Bartender” is Adolf Hitler, guys. I wanted to say that someone calling for sustaining a “Purity of Berlin” (”Yes, because foreigners and outside culture will taint the purity that is Berlin”) sounds as if s/he took this phrase out of Mein Kampf… but I just realized now that this argument comes ricochetting back at me, because this phrase was obviously in this context meant to be understood ironically (by “Foj”). Sorry.

    Anyway: I dis-like comments that start with sentences like: “i wish the stupid ugly ***** would get the hell out of our city.”. I don’t understand in what way this could be an introduction to a constructive comment. It’s a personal offense against someone out of the anonymity of the internet.

    Also Bartender argues that Berlin would go wasted because of new creative people coming into town and I wonder what he wants to do about it? Build a fence?

    Also his/her argumentation is - in my opinion - tasteless. Because someone who says that people from outside coming to Berlin should be thrown out of the city, for me that sounds stupid and tendecially fascist. Or should I agree with him/her and say: yea! Throw them all out, who came to Berlin, start with the Jews, and then the Hugenottes, then the Turks and then all the students. Then Berlin would be a dark city again and he could live there with the other 1500 people whose families are originally born in Berlin for centuries and he has his “gritty Berlin feeling” all by himself to enjoy. I even want to doubt that this guy is coming from Berlin, otherwise he would know the places and clubs that still are gritty (eg Sniper Bar, Angstpop, Ausland,…).

    For me it is a phenomenon that there exist people who impulsively hate things that normal people only would dislike and therefore ignore. Why all this destructiveness? Ah, yea: I forgot. If we destroy all the good things, then we will have the “gritty Berlin feeling” again.

    But stop: I was living in East Berlin in the beginning of the nineties. It was so gritty! It was so cool! I was moving from one house to the other and in any house I lived there were Junkies or Murderers (not metaphorial) or Alcoholics. How I miss that good ole gritty Berlin feeling…

    Posted by: Anonymous on April 20th, 2007 at 9:02 pm

16. Thanks rosenrot and anonymous!! You rock!
    And now let’s talk about the actual content of the article…. hahahaha…
    Peace out!

    Posted by: ill p.e. on April 21st, 2007 at 11:50 pm

17. Hi ANNTIAN, oh, I’ve seen a few pieces of your collection in Copenhagen! Lovely, very nice!

    Posted by: claire on April 25th, 2007 at 5:02 pm

18. The perfect gear for the future! Thank you ANNTIAN!

    Posted by: theW.O.L.F.atM.I.T. on May 8th, 2007 at 12:45 am

19. I could use one of these right about now.

    Posted by: Japan News in English on November 24th, 2007 at 6:44 am

20. what a wonderfully desighed colours.congrats!!!

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