Ellen Allien Fashion
1 The obligatory first question: When and why did you first come up with the idea of designing your own fashion line?
Long before I exclusively did music I originally wanted to study fashion design. When I was 18 years old, I actually even tried to do so - for one year I attended a prep school and learnt to design cuts and many other things related to fashion design. Unfortunately this preparation was dominated by mostly technical matters, at the expense of creative aspects. It was more focused on the manual/technical realisation of designs than designing itself. This lack of creativity eventually made me quit, it just didn‘t thrill me. A few years ago the desire of designing clothes lit up again, also due to the DJ culture and the connection to other fields of art and creative living in general. Because of being a DJ, I travel a lot, stroll through shops all around the world and see a lot of different fashion. It‘s like going to museums, poking around small art galleries or getting stuck in book shops. It‘s all a lot of fun. Fashion is a cultural imprint of a country - though not taking clothing chains like H&M, Zara or Mango into account. Those shops only sell an European mainstream. But small fashion stores and less known designers not only create their own style, but a style typical for their region or country. For example, Berlin designers are recognizable by their mixture of very sporty, young and raw designs. Nevertheless, it became more and more difficult for me to find clothes that go with my lifestyle. There are great designers, of course, with beautiful fashion. But most of the time they are quite expensive and pretty inconvenient, like the clothes can‘t be washed or have cuts that are too complicated, the fabrics are too fragil ... This drove me to my own examination of this subject and soon evoked the question of the realisation of my ideas. There are two levels that are part of the process: First, there is the question of the actual production, where a compromise has to be found between the initial creative idea and the actual technical producibility. Second, you have to check if the designs are really wearable, if the clothes are not too complicated, easy to wear, something a woman can feel comfortable in.
2 What was your first experience with fashion, maybe even as a kid, like, when do you think you first started thinking about fashion consciously?
As a child I used to love to disguise myself. I loved to watch my mom get dressed up. When you are young, you learn all the cultural codes and female tricks. I always told my mom how beautiful she looked, I adored her ... When I grew older I used to remember those moments and thought about my own presentation and development of my feminity. At that time I was affected by Hip Hop and other sub cultures. Especially in Hip Hop there are a lot of clichés of women and you as a woman have to wonder about your own role in that, if you want to be part of that clichés of the oversexed female or if you can succeed in representing yourself neutrally, a person that is not just reduced to its sex. It became more and more important to me to dress with an distinctive style and with an eye to contexts like design, art, music, architecture. They all belong together and create our perception of aesthetics, which always changes and morphs.
3 How would you interpret the expression „fashion conscious“?
There are people who don‘t care about what they are wearing. The consciousness of fashion starts when someone pays attention to the fabric of his/her clothes, looks at the mirror and combines different pieces of clothes. You then realise that you can express something with how you dress, this is what I mean with inclusion of the context. Clothing is as much culturally encoded as language. You create a certain grammar that enables you to express yourself playfully.
4 What‘s the bottom line of your collection put in one sentence?
Playful, feminine, comfortable, wearable.
5 And now, please, a little bit more detailed: What‘s the concept of your collection?
Everything is open and only slowly starts to develop into something specific. The focus lays on the clothes being wearable, not so much on a certain code anymore. My collection is open for your own interpretation. I put a lot of emphasis on combining, straight lines aren‘t important to me. And ironing is a no-no! There are no dictates of sterness. Just be.
6 What‘s the link between the brands „Ellen Allien, the musician“ and „Ellen Allien, the fashion designer“? And in general, what‘s the link between music and fashion for you personally?
Actually, the link is the precondition and, at the same time, the result of my collection. I already take on music and fashion when I travel or play as a DJ. The contexts are incorporated there as well. When I dj, my clothes have to be comfortable and feminine. At the same time, onstage, I send unspoken messages with my clothes that some people take on as an example. I don‘t see myself as a trendsetter, but it‘s definitely about representation: What do I reveal of myself, what do I stand for, what and who do I want to represent? And what do people expect of me? In the end, I try to stay as natural as possible. I don‘t like make-up and when I am tired from travelling I need clothes that make me happy when I look into the mirror..
7 If there are influences - which record labels or fashion designers were/are style icons for you?
Rick Owens, Chloé , Bernhardt Wilhelm, Jil Sander, Ann Demeulemeestr
8 From the perspective of a musician - please name three tracks that deal best with fashion! Or, alternatively, three books or movies where fashion is involved.
Movies: La Dolce Vita, Drawing Restraint 9 (USA 2005, Matthew Barney & Björk), Breakfast at Tiffany‘s, Kids
Book: Oskar Wilde: The picture of Dorian Gray
Tracks: Johnny Cash- Cry! Cry! Cry! (1955, Sun Rec.), Aphex Twin – Windowlicker (1999, Warp), Björk – Hidden Place
9 You collaborate with the fashion designer Markus Stich - how do you actually work together? Does each of you have their own field of responsibilities and how do you complement each other?
It‘s a good share: I draw the cuts and both of us finalize them. We measure everything on my own body. When everything is perfect, we give the pieces into production. Due to his professional experience and his know-how Markus is very helpful with the production as well.
10 Which garment(s) did revolutionize the history of fashion?
Hats, shoes and jeans.
11 The top five fashion sins of this summer (besides the obligatory tennis socks and sandals) are ...
Pink in all shades and combined with pastel colours. Except when it places emphasis on some other colour; pink should never be a base colour. There has to be a contrast. Monochrom sucks. And shiny leggings. No way! (For example Armani for Men, next summer collection - terrible!).
12 Do you have basic rules for your designs and colourings? If so, which? If not, why not?
There are no rules at all. And there will never be any.
13 In what way do you see fashion and its effect in a social context?
Fashion is always related to society. It transfers cultural peculiarities, codes, values and concepts of morality. All of this forms a certain aesthetics that is fed by every aspect of life itself. Fashion is a spokesman as well, sometimes revolutionary, sometimes telling about the feeling of wanting to belong to something.
14 Is fashion (also) a matter of money?
Yes and no. Fashion, in the first place, is something fast moving. Every designer has two new collections every year. H&M has four of five even. Fashion can be created at the top (Haute Couture) or at the bottom (on the street). Interestingly, most of the best impulses come off the street. Money is not important, at least not directly. Indirectly it‘s hidden in codes and labels. Money is relevant when it‘s about quality and exclusiveness. With street wear it‘s more about communities, belonging to a certain group. But fashion, in the end, is a matter of combination.
15 In your opinion, is the classical catwalk obsolete? Or asked diffently - how would you like to present your fashion to the audience?
No, the catwalk is not obsolete. But there are a lot of new forms of presentation. My collections are usually shown on the internet, independent of the time of the year. But this year in March, for the very first time, I‘ve been at Rochas in Paris. I have to say, it was pretty exciting ...
16 What‘s the feedback to your collection so far? What did the people around you say about the fact that you now also do fashion design?
Well, they were all very curious and interested. I also get a lot of support. It‘s really nice that I can act out my creativity so openly. And it‘s a lot of fun to include your friends.
17 What would you give as an advise to someone who wants to design fashion very ingenuously?
Just do it. It‘s all learning by doing. Just be brave and do it!
18 Do you think there are differences in the way people design and work, depending on if they went to school for fashion design or came to it rather in a round-about way?
Well, it depends. It‘s important to be engaged in it, to be creative and to know the craft. When you are a professional fashion designer, you put emphasis on other things, other discourses, than me, for example. I am not in the middle of any artistic discussions, I am someone who came to fashion design from another angle and who picks up her contexts from other areas. I don‘t want to compare myself to anyone or match with anyone. I have too much respect for fashion designers, they are a valuable contribution to culture.
19 „You can‘t escape fashion. Even when fashion becomes out of fashion, it‘s fashion.“, quote Karl Lagerfeld. I don‘t know what he means by that - do you?
Maybe he talks about trends and the ubiquity of trends in our lifes. It has a lot to do with the aspect of time in fashion. It‘s so fast moving. When you take on a current hype, it‘s already too late when it‘s out on the streets. But I am not so much into trends.
20 What‘s your future as a fashion designer? What are your next steps or cuts?
There are dresses, pants, jackets and tops. Other than that, nothing is decided yet, although I am already working on my next collection. I tasted blood and want to challenge myself. It‘s a totally different artistic examination of the world than to do music. But those differences and the change between those two worlds inspire me.
1 The obligatory first question: When and why did you first come up with the idea of designing your own fashion line?
Long before I exclusively did music I originally wanted to study fashion design. When I was 18 years old, I actually even tried to do so - for one year I attended a prep school and learnt to design cuts and many other things related to fashion design. Unfortunately this preparation was dominated by mostly technical matters, at the expense of creative aspects. It was more focused on the manual/technical realisation of designs than designing itself. This lack of creativity eventually made me quit, it just didn‘t thrill me. A few years ago the desire of designing clothes lit up again, also due to the DJ culture and the connection to other fields of art and creative living in general. Because of being a DJ, I travel a lot, stroll through shops all around the world and see a lot of different fashion. It‘s like going to museums, poking around small art galleries or getting stuck in book shops. It‘s all a lot of fun. Fashion is a cultural imprint of a country - though not taking clothing chains like H&M, Zara or Mango into account. Those shops only sell an European mainstream. But small fashion stores and less known designers not only create their own style, but a style typical for their region or country. For example, Berlin designers are recognizable by their mixture of very sporty, young and raw designs. Nevertheless, it became more and more difficult for me to find clothes that go with my lifestyle. There are great designers, of course, with beautiful fashion. But most of the time they are quite expensive and pretty inconvenient, like the clothes can‘t be washed or have cuts that are too complicated, the fabrics are too fragil ... This drove me to my own examination of this subject and soon evoked the question of the realisation of my ideas. There are two levels that are part of the process: First, there is the question of the actual production, where a compromise has to be found between the initial creative idea and the actual technical producibility. Second, you have to check if the designs are really wearable, if the clothes are not too complicated, easy to wear, something a woman can feel comfortable in.
2 What was your first experience with fashion, maybe even as a kid, like, when do you think you first started thinking about fashion consciously?
As a child I used to love to disguise myself. I loved to watch my mom get dressed up. When you are young, you learn all the cultural codes and female tricks. I always told my mom how beautiful she looked, I adored her ... When I grew older I used to remember those moments and thought about my own presentation and development of my feminity. At that time I was affected by Hip Hop and other sub cultures. Especially in Hip Hop there are a lot of clichés of women and you as a woman have to wonder about your own role in that, if you want to be part of that clichés of the oversexed female or if you can succeed in representing yourself neutrally, a person that is not just reduced to its sex. It became more and more important to me to dress with an distinctive style and with an eye to contexts like design, art, music, architecture. They all belong together and create our perception of aesthetics, which always changes and morphs.
3 How would you interpret the expression „fashion conscious“?
There are people who don‘t care about what they are wearing. The consciousness of fashion starts when someone pays attention to the fabric of his/her clothes, looks at the mirror and combines different pieces of clothes. You then realise that you can express something with how you dress, this is what I mean with inclusion of the context. Clothing is as much culturally encoded as language. You create a certain grammar that enables you to express yourself playfully.
4 What‘s the bottom line of your collection put in one sentence?
Playful, feminine, comfortable, wearable.
5 And now, please, a little bit more detailed: What‘s the concept of your collection?
Everything is open and only slowly starts to develop into something specific. The focus lays on the clothes being wearable, not so much on a certain code anymore. My collection is open for your own interpretation. I put a lot of emphasis on combining, straight lines aren‘t important to me. And ironing is a no-no! There are no dictates of sterness. Just be.
6 What‘s the link between the brands „Ellen Allien, the musician“ and „Ellen Allien, the fashion designer“? And in general, what‘s the link between music and fashion for you personally?
Actually, the link is the precondition and, at the same time, the result of my collection. I already take on music and fashion when I travel or play as a DJ. The contexts are incorporated there as well. When I dj, my clothes have to be comfortable and feminine. At the same time, onstage, I send unspoken messages with my clothes that some people take on as an example. I don‘t see myself as a trendsetter, but it‘s definitely about representation: What do I reveal of myself, what do I stand for, what and who do I want to represent? And what do people expect of me? In the end, I try to stay as natural as possible. I don‘t like make-up and when I am tired from travelling I need clothes that make me happy when I look into the mirror..
7 If there are influences - which record labels or fashion designers were/are style icons for you?
Rick Owens, Chloé , Bernhardt Wilhelm, Jil Sander, Ann Demeulemeestr
8 From the perspective of a musician - please name three tracks that deal best with fashion! Or, alternatively, three books or movies where fashion is involved.
Movies: La Dolce Vita, Drawing Restraint 9 (USA 2005, Matthew Barney & Björk), Breakfast at Tiffany‘s, Kids
Book: Oskar Wilde: The picture of Dorian Gray
Tracks: Johnny Cash- Cry! Cry! Cry! (1955, Sun Rec.), Aphex Twin – Windowlicker (1999, Warp), Björk – Hidden Place
9 You collaborate with the fashion designer Markus Stich - how do you actually work together? Does each of you have their own field of responsibilities and how do you complement each other?
It‘s a good share: I draw the cuts and both of us finalize them. We measure everything on my own body. When everything is perfect, we give the pieces into production. Due to his professional experience and his know-how Markus is very helpful with the production as well.
10 Which garment(s) did revolutionize the history of fashion?
Hats, shoes and jeans.
11 The top five fashion sins of this summer (besides the obligatory tennis socks and sandals) are ...
Pink in all shades and combined with pastel colours. Except when it places emphasis on some other colour; pink should never be a base colour. There has to be a contrast. Monochrom sucks. And shiny leggings. No way! (For example Armani for Men, next summer collection - terrible!).
12 Do you have basic rules for your designs and colourings? If so, which? If not, why not?
There are no rules at all. And there will never be any.
13 In what way do you see fashion and its effect in a social context?
Fashion is always related to society. It transfers cultural peculiarities, codes, values and concepts of morality. All of this forms a certain aesthetics that is fed by every aspect of life itself. Fashion is a spokesman as well, sometimes revolutionary, sometimes telling about the feeling of wanting to belong to something.
14 Is fashion (also) a matter of money?
Yes and no. Fashion, in the first place, is something fast moving. Every designer has two new collections every year. H&M has four of five even. Fashion can be created at the top (Haute Couture) or at the bottom (on the street). Interestingly, most of the best impulses come off the street. Money is not important, at least not directly. Indirectly it‘s hidden in codes and labels. Money is relevant when it‘s about quality and exclusiveness. With street wear it‘s more about communities, belonging to a certain group. But fashion, in the end, is a matter of combination.
15 In your opinion, is the classical catwalk obsolete? Or asked diffently - how would you like to present your fashion to the audience?
No, the catwalk is not obsolete. But there are a lot of new forms of presentation. My collections are usually shown on the internet, independent of the time of the year. But this year in March, for the very first time, I‘ve been at Rochas in Paris. I have to say, it was pretty exciting ...
16 What‘s the feedback to your collection so far? What did the people around you say about the fact that you now also do fashion design?
Well, they were all very curious and interested. I also get a lot of support. It‘s really nice that I can act out my creativity so openly. And it‘s a lot of fun to include your friends.
17 What would you give as an advise to someone who wants to design fashion very ingenuously?
Just do it. It‘s all learning by doing. Just be brave and do it!
18 Do you think there are differences in the way people design and work, depending on if they went to school for fashion design or came to it rather in a round-about way?
Well, it depends. It‘s important to be engaged in it, to be creative and to know the craft. When you are a professional fashion designer, you put emphasis on other things, other discourses, than me, for example. I am not in the middle of any artistic discussions, I am someone who came to fashion design from another angle and who picks up her contexts from other areas. I don‘t want to compare myself to anyone or match with anyone. I have too much respect for fashion designers, they are a valuable contribution to culture.
19 „You can‘t escape fashion. Even when fashion becomes out of fashion, it‘s fashion.“, quote Karl Lagerfeld. I don‘t know what he means by that - do you?
Maybe he talks about trends and the ubiquity of trends in our lifes. It has a lot to do with the aspect of time in fashion. It‘s so fast moving. When you take on a current hype, it‘s already too late when it‘s out on the streets. But I am not so much into trends.
20 What‘s your future as a fashion designer? What are your next steps or cuts?
There are dresses, pants, jackets and tops. Other than that, nothing is decided yet, although I am already working on my next collection. I tasted blood and want to challenge myself. It‘s a totally different artistic examination of the world than to do music. But those differences and the change between those two worlds inspire me.