Download PDF - Zeitgeist

Esther
Perbandt
intro
The Berlin designer loves the contrast.
And Berlin. It is the 3rd time she is
present with her collections at the
Fashion Week.
Esther Perbandt studied fashion design
at the University of the Arts, and then
she pursued her master degree in European
Fashion and Textile Design in
Berlin, Utrecht and Paris.
After an employment at the label Chacok
in Paris she took the opportunity to
venture on her own label – with
success. Today she is among Berlin’s
upcoming designers courageously going
their own way…

Esther Perbandt
Our exclusive interview & report
with fashion designer Esther Perbandt
LN: You were once more part of the Berlin Fashion
Week. How does it feel to have such success
in your hometown after stations in Moscow
or Paris
EP: Moscow has made me tougher, Paris has
shaped me. In Berlin I can at last be how I
actually am. But without all these experiences
I would be a different person and last week’s
show would have been a different one, not that
smooth, honest and pure.
LN: How strong is the artistic influence from
your time in France as designer for Chacok and
how did this encourage you to found your own
label
EP: The time I spent at Chacok was not to influence
myself in an artistic way. That already
happened before in Moscow. At Chacok it was
the time of “being thrown into cold water” and
having a lot of responsibility at a very young
age. I have incredibly learned on a professional
level but also on personal and human one.
LN: The way to your own label is not easy. Courage
is part of it and never-ending creativity.
What is your source of inspiration
EP: The sun, the light and love. Fortunately, I
am now confident in the fact that this well will
never run dry. A lot of courage is needed. But
also leading a life without compromises requires
courage and confidence.
LN: You characterise your collections as an
interplay of strength and sensitivity changing
between male and female elements. You play with
contrasts – does this reflect your personality
EP: Of course, I would not be able to hide. Why
should I I often get the feedback of being
unapproachable and proud on first sight, design
dressed from head to toe. But if one meets
me more often it is likely to find me without
any make-up at all wearing ragged clothes and
trainers, open and vulnerable as if one breath
could make me fall over. This is all me and the
mix is important.
LN: You call yourself as your own muse. How
much Esther is in every single piece
EP: I told a friend a few weeks ago that I have
increasingly become the product of myself in
recent years. As if I would explicitly create
myself. Some people say that I am the only one
who is able to wear my collections. This is of
course not true. On the contrary, I love watching
other women wearing my collection pieces.
But the idea behind was caricatured in my
show last Thursday: All models were sent on the
catwalk wearing a wig with my very own haircut,
so-called Esther-lookalikes.
LN: Your current collection shows a lot of passion
for detail Would you call yourself a perfectionist
EP: I have a passion for detail and might tend
to the complicated which makes my production
company moan. I would like to become a perfectionist
when I’m grown-up. I have the greatest
team on earth and know that often helping hands
rush from the outside. But as for perfectionism
we don’t have enough manpower yet.
LN: How does a day in Esther Perbandt’s life
look like when hundreds of people wait for the
latest designs at the evening of the show
EP: In the morning you still think of what to
wear the night, which shoes and which make-up
colour although slowly panicking if all might
turn out well and what to do until the kickoff.
And then, all of a sudden it is the final
and one enters the catwalk without make-up,
stinky t-shirt and flat dirty shoes realising
that one had no food all day. Such day is fast
motion.
LN: Do have the opportunity at all to watch
your own show or are you strongly involved
backstage
EP: We had no monitor backstage. In fact, I did
not spot anything from the show. I only made
the girls enter the catwalk and took care for
final styling. Everything else was perfect. I
have wonderful, extraordinarily concentrated
dressers that helped a lot.
LN: A fashion show means a lot of coordination
and planning. Are you already preparing for
summer To what are we looking forward
EP: The January show was developed quite spontaneously
which has cost immense energy for
all. In any case we start summer planning in
February. The cooperation with the artist Jaybo
will be continued. First ideas are in the pipeline.
But as it is almost common standard with
creatives it might be the 20th idea which will
be realized. I am already looking forward.
LN: You show your collections in fashion shows,
you have your own store in Berlin – which aim
is going to be next
EP: I have a big dream for this year. I am
burning for a project which caught my eye last
year. We’ll see!

Esther
Perbandt
show