Opening up New Fields of Creativity
As initiator and with two co-partners, in 2007 I have found a concept store for children‘s fashion in Munich-Neuhausen. Munich-Neuhausen is a residential area with many children and is well-situated. At that time it did not yet offer any shopping for medium- to high-priced children‘s clothing, shoes and children‘s products with well-known brands. Engelbert was the first concept store for children‘s clothing in this district. Because of my relocation to Berlin in 2008, the capital of fashion, I left the project, which subsequently lasted for 10 years. This was also where the first ideas for my children‘s fashion label tokipoki* were born.
tokipoki* offered trendy styles for 2-12-year-olds, which were designed with children in mind. They were made of high-quality materials in Europe, in small handicraft businesses and workshops for the disabled. The issue of sustainable, ecological and fairly produced clothing, especially for children, was already an important topic for me when I founded my first label FUNKY. The aim of both labels was always to make fashion without a dreary eco-image, but with timeless designs, sustainable materials and fair production conditions. In 2010 „Mommy&Me“ a mother-and-child collection was added. With the label, I have participated in several national and international trade shows, including Playtime Paris, Bubble London and Kleine Fabriek in Amsterdam. 2010 I also took part in the VDMD-Competition Fashion & DesignART. Within the VDMD design competition, the award of the first three best placed of the competition was a free exhibitor stand at the fashion fair Premium Berlin.
With my online platform Circus Magazine, in 2010 I entered the fashion communication business as a journalist. The online blogzine provides information, styles & trends to a national and international B2B and B2C audience, bilingual in German and English. Through this activity, I was invited in recent years, to give lectures on the topics related to the industry, which I enjoy very much. Additional I founded KIDX Magazine, a print B2B magazine for children’s fashion industry professionals with exclusive news and reports. 2011 the magazine went to London based publisher Publicom.
ShowStyleKids I founded with a colleague from the industry in 2013. Here we offer „pay-per-download“ trend reports and magazines for insiders in the fashion industry, the retail and purchasing sectors and all fashion companies and their design departments. The aim was to offer an online platform for creatives that even small companies and start-ups can afford. It offers research insights on all important national and international children‘s fashion fairs and fashion shows, curated and excerpted in PDF reports. Secondly, trend signals, future visions and innovations for the industry are summarized in trend studies and trend topics. The magazine reported on current market events with interviews and business talks. The ShowStyleKids platform cooperated with many trade fair organizers worldwide (Playtime Paris, New York, Tokyo, Bubble London, CSME Turkey, FIMI Madrid, Pitti Immagine Bimbo, CIFF Cophenhagen, etc.)
Meeting the challenge in education for the 21st century
I have seen the fashion business from many directions and gained valuable knowledge from all perspectives. With my experience in fashion design, fashion business and fashion media, today I also educate the next generation of the industry at various educational institutes and universities. The challenges for the fashion industry are significant. More than ever, it is important to prepare the new generation of the industry for these diverse challenges. I am pleased to be able to contribute my part to this.
Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash