MODE UND KULTUR

Archives 2019

Berlin retrospective

Stage dance in Berlin – second part
The year 2011 in the retrospective
On 12th March 2011, the audience of the Berlin Comic Opera experienced the world premiere of the dance piece “OZ – THE WONDERFUL WIZARD”, which was based on the meanwhile classic children’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by the American writer Lyman Frank Baum from the year 1900 and enriched with musical pieces by the Russian composer Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich.

Christian F. Janssen — 1st January 2019 → to the piece

Paris couture spring/summer 2019

	The woman with the belt The fashion and the labyrinth What is the feminine shape anyway? This was the question, which the Beirut fashion designer Georges Chakra posed himself, when he wanted to design poetic dresses in order to envelop the female body with lightness from the air. Then, on 21st January 2019, he gave the answer, namely in the form of the couture collection for spring and summer of 2019, in the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Christian F. Janssen — 3rd February 2019 → to the piece
	On the quiet Don The fashion and the ether The twentieth century had been a period of profound political, social and economic upheavals for Russians. Especially the period from the First World War via the revolutions to the civil war had meant a turning point in Russian history. Christian F. Janssen — 4th February 2019 → to the piece
	Circus of colours The fashion and the zeitgeist “The circus is good for you. It is the only spectacle that, while you watch it, it gives the quality of a truly happy dream,” the American writer Ernest Hemingway had once uttered. The Athens fashion designer Celia Kritharioti appropriated this. Christian F. Janssen — 5th February 2019 → to the piece
	Orion on the sea bed The fashion and the fetish The maritime world is a fascination, so when, by boundless horizon, the surface of the water glisters under the night sky. In view of the richness of the oceans, the Beirut fashion designer Zuhair Murad’s creative spirit dived into the sea as deep as its bed, so to speak. Christian F. Janssen — 6th February 2019 → to the piece
	Paris as Forbidden City The fashion and the karma From Chang’e, the goddess of the moon, in the Moon Palace to the fairies in the Dragon Palace, the mythology of the Far East is a long history. In Far Eastern folklore, the palace was not only a dwelling of the ruling family and of the court, but also a spiritual resting place for those who had cultivated the Tao and thus attained a state of bliss … Christian F. Janssen — 7th February 2019 → to the piece
	Some like it cold The fashion and the joy “It is nature from which the artist borrows his models, it is nature which gives him inspiration,” the Swiss-French writer and literary critic Victor Cherbuliez once said. The beauty of nature also delighted Paris fashion designer Armine Ohanyan, although pollution, destruction of nature and climate change worried her. Christian F. Janssen — 8th February 2019 → to the piece

Milan ready‑to‑wear autumn/winter 2019/2020

	Milan in the bag The fashion and the reuse of waste together with the electromobility Fascinated by the light show in the Arctic, namely the magical mystery of the northern polar lights with their extravagant colours and the crystal clear purity of the Arctic ice with its sharp, light-breaking edges, Manuel Facchini as the creative director of the apparel brand “byblos”, based in Bussolengo near Verona, formulated a message of sustainability. Christian F. Janssen — 1st May 2019 → to the piece
	Metropolis The fashion and the matriarchy A journey into the heart of a metropolis, which effected a “patchwork of urban sensations and emotions”, was the basis of the ready‑to‑wear collection for fall and winter of 2019/2020 at the brand “MARYLING”, based in Milan. Christian F. Janssen — 2nd May 2019 → to the piece
	Genius of fashion News from the apparel brand “MONCLER GENIUS” In the fashion world, sometimes a new creature sees the light of day. Remo Ruffini, chairman and chief executive officer of the MONCLER SPA in Milan, had conceived the apparel brand “MONCLER GENIUS” as a new business and communications model in the last year in order to celebrate the diversity of customers in the digital era. Christian F. Janssen — 3rd May 2019 → to the piece
	Lucky travel! The fashion and the generational conflict Even in the year of 1785, the German poet Matthias Claudius had remarked: “If anyone does a journey, / So he can tell something; / Therefore I took my cane and hat, / and choosed to travel.” Now travel memories and mental images induced the fashion designers Luisa Beccaria and Lucilla Bonaccorsi to make the ready‑to‑wear collection for autumn and winter of 2019/2020 … Christian F. Janssen — 4th May 2019 → to the piece
	Bang bang The fashion and the tale Fairy tales are always suitable as a source of inspiration. In the fashion designer Sara Cavazza Facchini’s imagination, a snow queen, feminine and delicate, yet strong and determined, passed through an enchanted forest in almost mystic silence, where the sunlight came upon the snow, what charming refractions created. Christian F. Janssen — 5th May 2019 → to the piece
	The Bauhaus in Milan again The fashion and the enlightenment Of course, every human being has at least one favourite thing. For the Rome fashion designer Marco de Vincenzo, it was a small deer as a ceramic figure from the 1940s; although it was not precious, it was very important to him. For the tenth anniversary of his brand of the same name, there was, under the motto “MY FAVOURITE THINGS”, a collection, inspired by his favourite things. Christian F. Janssen — 6th May 2019 → to the piece
	Summiteers The fashion as a living artwork Halfway between an alchemical laboratory and a technological atelier, there was the BELUMBURY FASHION GROUP SRL, located in Milan, which Stefano Maccagnani, originated from Turin and busy as an entrepreneur in Rome in the sectors of automotive, biomedicine and information technology, had founded as the bearer of the simultaneously created brand “AU197Sm” in the year of 2016. Christian F. Janssen — 7th May 2019 → to the piece
	Fade to grey The fashion and the fun As chic, stylish and timeless, but always trendy, yet also as a little eccentric, so the ideal of women of the fashion designer Simonetta Ravizza from Pavia could be described. There the American Chloë Stevens Sevigny, actress, director, fashion designer and mannequin, definitely suited her just fine as an inspiring muse because of her spirit, charm and strong, eclectic style. Christian F. Janssen — 8th May 2019 → to the piece
	Elisabetta Franchi, Jackie Kennedy and the Winter’s Tale The fashion between sin and rebirth After the 1970s had been the topic of the last but one season, it was about the 1960s for the fashion designer Elisabetta Franchi from Granarolo dell’Emilia near Bologna this time. She dedicated the ready‑to‑wear collection for autumn and winter of 2019/2020 to the American journalist, publisher’s reader and “first lady” Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis … Christian F. Janssen — 9th May 2019 → to the piece
	The mimosa Op‑art in the fashion In the year 2000, the fashion designer Maurizio Braschi had taken over the management of the fashion house “BRASCHI”, based in Rovereta in San Marino, which his parents Lorenzo Braschi and Kate Anna Topp had founded in the year 1966. For the couture collection for autumn and winter of 2019/2020, he took up the style of the 1970s. Christian F. Janssen — 10th May 2019 → to the piece
	The daily adventure The fashion and the erosion The Rome apparel brand “Laura Biagiotti” had always stood for the ideal of timeless beauty, thus for a style, which endured for all time, because it defied trends and was immune to the transience of fashion. The fashion designer Lavinia Biagiotti Cigna reworked and refined the “LB”‑monogramm, designed by her mother as a brand logo in the year 1975 … Christian F. Janssen — 11th May 2019 → to the piece
	The grand tour The fashion and the country life Since the late Renaissance, the grand tour or rather cavalier tour had been an educational trip to the culturally significant sites preferably in France, Italy and Spain, provided for young European noblemen as well as gentlemen, in order to form personality and character. The Rome fashion designer Stella Jean followed a route, which resembled the grand tour, along the own wardrobe. Christian F. Janssen — 12th May 2019 → to the piece

Berlin retrospective

Stage dance in Berlin – third part
The year 2012 in the retrospective
THE TEXT IS REVISED AT PRESENT!

Christian F. Janssen — 1st July 2019 → to the piece

Paris couture autumn/winter 2019/2020

	The blue planet The fashion between Old and New World What is really important? The question, who one is and who one wants to be, has always bothered people. The emergence of a differentiation and the acceptance of the same is a daily struggle deep in the people themselves. The Beirut fashion designer Nicolas Jebran went on a journey into his inner self … Christian F. Janssen — 1st August 2019 → to the piece
	The mushroom Art Deco in the fashion The funguses form the third great kingdom of eukaryotic creatures beside the animals and plants. Some are poisonous, some are edible and partially tasty. These mysterious creatures inspired the Beirut fashion designer Tony Ward to the couture collection for fall and winter of 2019/2020. Christian F. Janssen — 2nd August 2019 → to the piece
	Romeo und Juliet on the runway The fashion and the golden age In Figaro’s cavatina (№ 3) of the opera buffa “Le nozze di Figaro” (KV 492) by the German composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart after the libretto by the Italian poet Emmanuele Conegliano alias Lorenzo Da Ponte from the year 1786, it says in the German version: “Does the Count want to dare a little dance now …” Christian F. Janssen — 3rd August 2019 → to the piece
	Giorgio Armani in the night of love The fashion and the metropolis “I love to invite my friends,” it says in Prince Orlofsky’s couplet (№ 7) of the operetta “The Flittermouse” by the Vienna composer Johann Baptist Strauss (son) from the year 1874. What would a fashion show be without guests? Christian F. Janssen — 4th August 2019 → to the piece
	Oasis of bliss The fashion and the figure The Maghreb is always worth a visit. This was also Beirut fashion designer Zuhair Murad’s opinion, when he designed the couture collection for fall and winter of 2019/2020. He combined the cultural heritage of northern Africa with the bohemian life of the 1970s to a collection at the crossover of epochs and traditions. Christian F. Janssen — 5th August 2019 → to the piece
	Not without any alternative Gothic in the fashion “Orbis non sufficit – The world is not enough,” it has said the famous movie character James Bond’s device since the year 1969. The existing universe did not suffice the Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei no longer, so that she created an entirely new universe. There, light and darkness coexisted so, how an angel and a devil acted side by side. Christian F. Janssen — 6th August 2019 → to the piece

Berlin special

To noose a rope
New paths of customer connectivity in the fashion branch
In German language, the idiom “to noose a [hangman’s] rope of something for somebody”, means to use something against somebody, namely to interpret someone’s statement or action so, that a damage is the result for him. In the world of fashion, the rope and the knitted fabric, respectively, do not connote negatively, because the knitwear is delighted in.

Christian F. Janssen — 1st September 2019 → to the piece

Milan ready‑to‑wear spring/summer 2020

	Milan goes bathing The fashion and the climate rescue The Milan fashion week from 17th September 2019 to 23rd September 2019, where it was about the ready‑to‑wear collections for spring and summer of 2020, became a damp affair, because a few presentations – it concerned the brands “UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON”, “Francesca Liberatore” and “ICEBERG” – took place at the edge of swimming pools … Christian F. Janssen — 1st November 2019 → to the piece
	Tulips from Amsterdam The fashion and the swimming The event site “Bagni Misteriosi” in Milan is unique. Inside it is a theatre under the name “Teatro Franco Parenti”; outside it is an ice rink in winter and an open-air swimming pool in summer. Such a multiple site was the ideal location for a fashion show … Christian F. Janssen — 2nd November 2019 → to the piece
	In the sun The fashion and the polemics The Paris fashion house “Maison Margiela” is present in the fashion weeks not only in Paris, but also in Milan. For its brand “MM6”, the event site “FABBRICA OROBIA 15” was the place, where the ready‑to‑wear collection for spring and summer of 2020 was shown on 18th September 2019 … Christian F. Janssen — 3rd November 2019 → to the piece
	Outside ooh, inside not at all fie! News from the apparel brand “MaxMara” “Fiction needs more female spies,” the British feminist and publicist Natasha Walter had once uttered. Her debut novel “A Quiet Life” from the year 2016 is a spy thriller, at whose centre a female person stands … Christian F. Janssen — 4th November 2019 → to the piece
	Giorgio Armani soars into the air The fashion and the syncretism “You peoples of the world, you peoples in America, in England, in France, in Italy! Look at this town …,” Ernst Rudolf Johannes Reuter, Chief Burgomaster of the City of Berlin, had exclaimed on 9th September 1948 during the Berlin blockade … Christian F. Janssen — 5th November 2019 → to the piece
	From Argentina to Cuba Gauchism in the fashion The term of gauchism is ambiguous. In its French meaning it denotes a radical political movement in France on the left of the French Communist Party, whereas in its Spanish-Portuguese meaning it denotes a literary movement about the world of the gauchos, the South American ranchers … Christian F. Janssen — 6th November 2019 → to the piece
	Cast off and full speed ahead! Fashion for a cruise and a garden party For sailing, the fashion designer Elisabetta Franchi from Granarolo dell’Emilia near Bologna has a foible; so she spent on a boat an entire summer. For the presentation of the ready‑to‑wear collection for spring and summer of 2020, she transformed the runway of the marquee in the courtyard of the Teulié Military School in Milan into the upper deck of a yacht on 20th September 2019, in order to take the guests along on a glamorous cruise across the Mediterranean Sea … Christian F. Janssen — 7th November 2019 → to the piece
	The dot over an i The fashion and the truth At the brand “ICEBERG”, based in San Giovanni in Marignano near Rimini, its creative director James Long concerned himself with the poem “Warning” by the English poet Jenny Joseph from the year 1961: “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple / With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me … Christian F. Janssen — 8th November 2019 → to the piece
	Rendezvous in Marrakech Fashion from Hungary in Milan “Someone who runs to meet future and forgets his past thereby lose his identity,” was Nicoletta Spagnoli’s credo. In a globalised world, dominated by speed and haste, the chief executive officer of the Perugia-based Luisa Spagnoli S.p.A. and its creative director bethought herself of the couture, standing for virtuoso tailoring … Christian F. Janssen — 9th November 2019 → to the piece
	Shape and colour The fashion and the printing method To create a collection means to shape colour, because the colour is the soul of the clothing. The fashion designers Piero Cividini and Miriam Cividini from Gorle near Bergamo, who were already impressed by the colour of the things before the shape, were sure of that … Christian F. Janssen — 10th November 2019 → to the piece
	Old school The fashion and the roots Under the motto “I’M Alumni Collections ®evolution”, the Istituto Marangoni S.r.l. with the place of business in Milan regularly introduces the winner of an internal competition among all associated fashion schools by use of a fashion show in the Milan fashion week in order to bring the talented rising generation of fashion designers “on market” … Christian F. Janssen — 11th November 2019 → to the piece
	Generation Z Fashion from China in Milan Shenzhen, a sub-provincial town in the Guangdong Province of the People’s Republic of China, is, for the Chinese market, a metropolis in the women’s apparel sector … Christian F. Janssen — 12th November 2019 → to the piece
	No fear of Virginia Woolf More fashion from China in Milan Besides Shenzhen, Suzhou is an important place of fashion in China. Near Shanghai, Suzhou is a prefecture-level town in the Jiangsu Province of the People’s Republic of China. The Venetian merchant Marco Polo had once called the so-called mother city of silk Venice of the East because of its many canals … Christian F. Janssen — 13th November 2019 → to the piece
	Flower-power The fashion and the grunge The last day of the Milan fashion week was just an appendix of the other days. Instead of a full program, the event calendar contained only two fashion shows, which one would have better scheduled for the previous day … Christian F. Janssen — 14th November 2019 → to the piece