You might be forgiven for thinking that German design polymath Aino Laberenz has a reason to slow down. Having scooped a Golden Lion at the 2011 Venice Biennale, gained exhibition design credits from the likes of KW Kunstwerke and MoMA PS1, and designed costumes for some of Europe’s most prestigious theatres it would be natural to imagine that the Berlin-based artist was in need of a break. To the contrary, Laberenz has decided to add scarf designer to her ever-growing resume which already includes exhibition designer, artist, author and costume designer. She has collaborated with luxury lifestyle retailer aeyde on a limited-edition silk scarf bearing an image of her hands in black leather gloves, as they rise from thistles into bright violet blue.
SLEEK spoke to Laberenz about her aeyde collaboration, charity work in Burkina Faso and the responsibility of representing revered German artist and theatre director, Christoph Schlingensief:
The print you’ve produced for this collaboration is described as a “digital collage” artwork. Could you tell us more about that, and how it can tie into a fashion collaboration?
I designed a digital collage to be the motif for the silk scarf. It is a combination of hand-drawn images, photography and digital editing. And then there’s the element of collaboration — the design is mine, but the idea to make a silk scarf with an artist came from aeyde. Together, we discussed the materiality, the design of the label, and other details like the packaging.
How does your background as a theatre costume designer inform your approach to fashion?
As a costume designer, I also design accessories, and I work with fabrics, but it is always bound to the context. When you design costumes, you design for specific characters, and help them tell their story. I brought that discipline with me into this collaboration, but I applied it more ‘unbound’, more intuitive way.
I started to explore floral motifs on scarves and they are all very conventional and classic – so I picked the thistle as “my” flower motif. The thistle is one of the most common heraldic flowers, in France it is even a sign of resistance. As a rough contrast to something natural like a plant, I placed one hand in a patent leather glove in the collage.
It was important to me to play with a variety of sharpness and a certain “video aesthetic” – so all blurred or frayed outlines are intentional. The Blue / Violet background colour became more and more important in the process – to really find that perfect mixture between a strong Violet and Royal Blue.
Which previously unexplored facets of your creative persona did this collaboration allow you to tap into?
I wouldn’t say anything was unexplored necessarily, but I love to get involved in new projects. I enjoy working in different environments and in different disciplines. I love to design, but I hadn’t done it in such a way yet, working with an accessories label. It was a very positive experience.
What other projects do you have in the works?
Luckily, I have a lot going on at the moment. I carry a lot of responsibility for Opera Village Africa in Burkina Faso, and managing the estate of the artist Christoph Schlingensief. We’re publishing a catalogue for the Opera Village that comes out this autumn. So that’s kind of my day-to-day work, but I am also designing costumes right now for a dance project that’s premiering in Paris at the end of the year.
As someone working across disciplines, where do you find inspiration?
I’m inspired by a few key arenas. I look to film, film history, music, fine art exhibitions, and also costume and fashion history of course. But I’m also inspired by what I see on the street, and on my travels.
Aino Laberenz’s collaborative scarf entitled ‘AINO’ will be launching exclusively at ANDREAS MURKUDIS on 10 September and at aeyde.com on 11 September.