BERTO FOR VOLGGER: #INTERVIEW
Can you recall the exact moment when you decided to become a fashion designer?

Since I was a little girl, I liked to draw a lot and was always supported by my parents to express my creativity. After visiting a textile school for the first time at the age of thirteen, I knew that I wanted to become a fashion designer. The combination of having your own ideas, drawing sketches, feel the materials and create something new really impressed me.
VOLGGER Studio guarantees a combination of high-quality design and durability of its products.
What was your first project?

The first project I joined was the Sympatex Award 2010. I created a snowboard outfit with fabrics from Sympatex and won the second prize. It was very interesting, but also new for me to work with this special fabrics and to create a sportswear outfit.

Creative process: do you work instinctively or planning each single small step? Where do your ideas come from?

An important element of VOLGGER Studios long-term mindset is to reinvent ourselves all the time without chasing after the latest fashion trends. Being timeless and innovative by carefully selecting and integrating elements of the contemporary zeitgeist is one of our core ambitions. In a creative process you can’t plan every single step. When it comes to my creative sessions I like to design at a quiet place out in the nature and some ideas just happen during the process. I get my ideas from arts, architecture and by simply testing something, that’s how VOLGGER Studio arose.

What did you think when you have been contacted by Berto first?

VOLGGER Studio attaches great importance to the quality and durability of its products. The quality already starts during the design process and cut development, which are implemented in-house or in collaboration with experts. It features the finest materials from cotton, linen, leather to cashmere, exclusively from Europe, which have been either organically treated or not treated at all. Even with accessories such as threads and zips is the focus high resistance. The quality standards of VOLGGER Studio apply not only to the individual parts of the products, but also the careful and meticulous workmanship and overall high-quality consumer experience. Thus, VOLGGER Studio guarantees a combination of high-quality design and durability of its products. That’s why we decided to work with Berto, because they supply innovative, certified and high quality materials and a great, competent team.

Which Berto’s fabrics have you been working with for your project/collection?

Inspired by different genders and intense involvement with open-minded people, the CORE collection arose. In the center of our actions is the idea to cease thinking about different genders as static stereotypes. Our creativity is based on our unalterable attitude of gender equality. That unisex mindset applies to every garment, which is made by VOLGGER Studio. We used the denim fabrics Nevada Blu and Rockabilly Carbon, which is one of our favourite fabrics of the CORE collection. We used them especially for jeans, but also for our denim coats and jackets.

What's the most meaningful part about this project in your opinion? What have you been able to achieve thanks to this program?

This project with Berto is a great opportunity to get in contact with open-minded people with a sense of fashion and beyond. People who are interested where the materials and products come from. With this program we get a chance to get more publicity and support.

“Less but better” could be read as an endorsement for purity in design but in fashion design too. It can also be adopted as an environmental message about reduction and sustainability. What do you think about this?

VOLGGER Studio empowers people to raise awareness of social responsibility and sustainability. To fulfill our self-imposed aspirations we focus on high-quality design and long-lasting products. One of VOLGGER Studios principles is sustainability. VOLGGER Studio understanding of sustainability stems from its approach to ecological & social justice, as well as fair corporate management. VOLGGER Studio is committed to making a stand against unfair production conditions of garments over all production stages - from the production of the fabric to the production of its accessories, from the development of the cut to the realization of the garments. All VOLGGER Studio materials are manufactured in Europe in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Apart from production conditions, quality and haptic are also decisive. However, VOLGGER Studio’s understanding of sustainability goes beyond the certification of materials and products. Each production partner is handpicked and maintained through on-site, direct, personal contact and extensive exchange. VOLGGER Studio also assesses the working conditions under which its products are produced. Of course, the principles VOLGGER Studio promotes apply directly to its partners. In order to deliver products to its customers that embody the VOLGGER Studio brand, every single step is monitored internally and evaluated extensively. Our goal is to change peoples approach to (fast)fashion and the way they „consume“ fashion. We think it’s very important that people reflect more about the background of the fashion they are wearing. The situation has been getting better in the last years, but there is still more potential in it, especially with reference to the younger customers.

Is there anything you'd like to do that you haven't done yet?

There is still plenty in this world we would like to do, places we haven’t seen yet, people we haven’t met yet. We want to stay curious and open-minded. Respectively in the fashion business we would of course want to showcase our collection in the main fashion metropolises, such as Paris, London and New York.

www.volgger-studio.com