Ottolinger: Open Ends

Again and again, I hear how difficult it is to live in the moment, looking neither backwards nor forwards – the ‘moment’ being that instant you want to capture, one you wish to remain in. Such moments are also associated with feelings of enduring, allowing and respecting. I was thinking about all this before I met Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient, the designers at Ottolinger. And then I realised that these two women are able to remain aware of life in the moment because they have the gift of being true to themselves, a gift that sets you free.

SLEEK: I’d like to start with an observation about myself. At our initial talk, you brought me a gift. When I tried it on at home, it occurred to me that there’s something unfinished about it.

Christa Bösch: What you’re describing is really interesting. I really don’t like finishing things, and I’ve caught myself not thinking things through to the end – simply because I don’t feel like it. I want to work on that because sometimes a design doesn’t work precisely because I didn’t think about it enough. On the other hand, it’s an aspect of my personality – I love starting things. I find it inspiring to do 10 things at the same time, but I don’t have to finish them. It’s the same with books and films.

Cosima Gadient: I like your observation. It’s appropriate, and the interesting thing about our way of approaching things is that we offer an idea – an attitude, some clothes – and leave open what people are to make of it. I find it restrictive when something is designed too rigidly or something is too complete. It’s really interesting to suggest something through a sketch.

S: For me, that describes more of an internal attitude and a quality of not ending things. Can you describe how you found each other and became aware of each other?

CG: I remember well that I saw one of Christa’s works at uni and thought, “She’s the best and most mega-talented of us all.” I think it wasn’t just the work, I liked her as a person. We didn’t know each other, we weren’t friends while we were students.

CB: Cosima compensates for things that aren’t easy for me. For example, I don’t like photo shoots because I feel insecure in such circumstances. If there are too many people around, I can’t make decisions or think. Cosima recognizes this and reacts perfectly in such situations. She compensates for my insecurities. I think life is always a quest for who you are or who we are together. I believe the quest unites us. Together, we are ‘more’ this quest than what we do. This is also a reflection of the zeitgeist, because the quest is a way of creating identity.

CG: And we don’t know whether everything is going in the right direction – or indeed what the direction is – in order to belong. What I do know is that we’re good at putting up with the fact that sometimes you just don’t know.

S: What is striking in your designs is the extent to which you don’t seal off the body, but incorporate it into the story.

CB: One of our goals is somehow to make the body look better. None of us is perfect, but everyone has something beautiful and unique about them. We want to find lines that make the body appear more beautiful.

CG: Body awareness has changed, and awareness of it has become a bit more relaxed. This allows designs to be ‘unconstricting’, and shapes to feel free, even when they’re sexy or cropped. It’s important for us to work in an organic way with a new sensibility. Something that excludes nothing and allows a lot.

S: Are there limits?

CB: No. It’s more about asking each other precise questions so as not to create any limits.

CG: And it’s about always trying not to think in one genre too permanently. We want to push ourselves to disrupt genres because that’s what we want to address as well.

S: Does this also include observing the overall situation and what’s going on and incorporating issues?

CG: It’s really important for us to think holistically.

CB: For example, when we go out or are on the street or in another city, we look at people. We absorb what people are wearing or what they’re not wearing, discovering something in someone that is totally exciting. Sometimes, we do a thought experiment and imagine that everyone on the street is wearing a pair of our trousers. It’s funny, but it would generate such a variety of different stories.

S: What does beauty mean to you?

CB: Beauty has so many interpretations. Beauty, pure beauty or perfect beauty, can also be boring. We don’t talk that much about beauty.

CG: Over the last 100 years, the pursuit of beauty has also been a history of exclusion, categorization and judging. For me, that needs to be rewritten. For me, the term, or perception of the term, has changed since we started doing what we’re doing. The longer you think about what exactly beauty is and what it creates, the more you get a sense of responsibility. It’s a term that has caused quite a lot of misconceptions.

S: I find you very feminine and your fashion works to intensify that.

CG: In fact, a lot of people say that and that’s really nice.

S: So you make the most of your options and it pays off …

CG: If you mean that as a kind of statement, we think that’s too shallow. We really talked about whether we should also publish statements to go with our collections. We find the consistency of our work is stronger when we sustain and work on it rather than when we communicate it. We don’t want to produce any advertising slogans.

CB: At the moment, as a fashion brand, you have to redefine yourself or find your own way, because everything you do gets rapid reactions from people on social media. That’s hard too, I think.

CG: Another reason why we don’t want to make any shallow statements is that we are quite honestly convinced that what we do has a good, true meaning and comes from a deep sense of honesty. It’s most honest when you let people feel part of what you do, but you don’t go on social media and make statements about it. Today, a fashion label is also required not only to make fashion, but also at the same time to find the right expressions and words for lots of topics. So it’s all the more important that we deal with expectations truthfully. We have influence and we want to continue to do what we do, within the limits of our ability, so that it always stays honest.

CB: It’s right to take the space to react to things. Each of us carries the values that have been instilled in us. And these values also mean that we know exactly what we stand for. Taking the time to think is valuable.

S: And you communicate through your fashion …

CB: Our strength is to package the zeitgeist through fashion; and at the same time, it is a challenge to include society – or society’s strength.

CG: I actually think the best thing is that you can trick people. We can all dress up super serious and go to a fancy restaurant and be treated accordingly. Or we dress a little differently and that puts us in a different group. That’s the fun thing about fashion, thinking you’re super interesting because you dress up in some way, but you’re always the same person. I find that fascinating about the codes of fashion. And of course it is also an excellent game for revealing social structures because it is so easy to decipher the codes.

S: I like the word ‘trick’ because you can play along with it as well as play against it. That’s why fashion has power for me.

CG: Influence, definitely. And I totally appreciate that people are asking more and more questions about our pieces, because that means identification. When someone begins to engage with a piece of clothing in this way, they’re taking the time to really look at it. This is the trend against mass consumption.

S: I have just one more formal question: where does the name ‘Ottolinger’ come from? I really thought when I came to meet you that I would be ringing Mr. Otto Linger’s doorbell.

CG: That’s funny. In our first studio, here in Neukölln, we didn’t have our own mailbox. The typical Berlin-style rear building was occupied by a Mr Georg Ottolinger. Now and then we got his mail because we occupied the front of the building. When we moved out, we simply took the name with us. He knows that.

S: That’s lovely. So what I had felt earlier fits.

CB: And you can pronounce it in any language.

As featured in SLEEK 73 – PASSION. Available in print and digital here.

CREDITS:

Photographer: Felix Aaron
Assistant to Photographer: Luis Bompastor
Makeup: Leana Ardeleanu
Production: STUDIO 11:40 GmbH
Starring: Christa Bösch, Cosima Gadient, Marie, Lakota, Zoé
Thanks to the whole Ottolinger Crew