 
|
“Let’s make a collection together. Let’s take it further and set up an independent company which both the helpers and the supported profit from. A collection to inspire hope. The COLLECTION OF HOPE.”
Having successfully worked with Waridi Schrobsdorff on a number of projects, in fall 2007, Silvia Kadolsky and Dorothea Beisser of ESMOD GERMANY, Klaus Metz of Fashion Patrons and Thierry Prevost of Galeries Lafayette Europe agreed to accompany the founder of the ‘I-magine e.V.’ association on a visit to her native Kenya in order to view the work of the AMANI self-help group in Sultan Hamud, near the capital city Nairobi.
77 children aged between 2 months and 17 years, some of them with HIV, and 28 HIV-positive adults live in this community, supported by I-magine. This small institution may have some sad stories to tell but it is filled with energy, the urge to create and the desire to live a fulfilled life. That is why Waridi Schrobsdorff sees her task not only as meeting the members’ basic needs by providing financial aid but is also particularly concerned with providing information and access to education in order to open up some prospects for the future.
The directors of the ESMOD private fashion school returned to Berlin and Munich full of new impressions and fresh inspiration from Kenya and began their second year coursework with a workshop on the subject of Africa and Social Responsi-bility. The pieces resulting from this workshop will launch the bold and promising “Collection of Hope”" project.
Inspired by direct contact with the country and its culture, the idea was born of building a project which is not based simply on one-sided foreign aid but on exchange between the cultures. The “Collection of Hope"” offers a space to discuss the aesthetics, sense, sensuality and social, cultural and economic significance of textiles and clothing in modern Africa, to reflect on international differences in peoples’ understanding of fashion and to discover undreamt-of similarities with what is considered ‘foreign’. “With the ‘Collection of Hope’ we would like to show people in Europe a whole new side to Africa.",” explains Waridi Schrobsdorff. “The community, for example, is of central importance and everything it acquires goes back to the family."”
With this credo, it is clear to Waridi Schrobsdorff, a former model, that her efforts must be profitable for both sides. On the one side, the designers are offered a platform to present themselves and their work while still students as their names appear on the pieces made by them. On the other side, 50% of the net profit will go to the Amani self-help group. “When the project has reached a certain size, we can imagine transferring some of the production to Sultan Hamud,” is how Silvia Kadolsky envisages it. More cooperation projects are planned for the future in order to secure the continuing development of the enterprise.
The “Collection of Hope”" was created as part of a workshop by second-year students
of the ESMOD Berlin and ESMOD Munich fashion schools. Working in groups to set subject and fabric requirements, students developed individual collections with specially developed fabrics and print designs. A jury made up of retailers, designers and PR agencies selected the strongest pieces to go into the final collection. The logo and accompanying corporate design is also based on marketing concepts by individual students. The result is a women’s wear collection comprising 30 pieces and a children’s collection of 10 pieces which, in keeping with the project’s high social standards, are made exclusively from eco-materials. The seriousness of the label’s founding principle and the fresh creativity of the students blend harmoniously to produce strong, commercial but absolutely new fashion. The "Collection of Hope" will be presented twice yearly and made entirely in Germany.
 Download Collection of Hope EN [PDF, 0.5MB]
Download Collection of Hope DE [PDF, 0.5MB]
Kontakt
CREATE BERLIN E.V.
Almstadtstrasse 35, 10117 Berlin
+49 30 28 09 28 08
www.create-berlin.de
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
