Bitten Stetter – tales from the tailor
|
Ordering fashion, we know about that. But subscribing to fashion? Bitten Stetter makes it possible. The designer no longer sells her fashion exclusively through shops, she offers it on subscription. Stetter calls the concept “Textile Publication”, and instead of serving the market in seasonal fashion cycles, the 36 year-old surprises her customers from Hamburg to Hong Kong with new “fitting tales” every two months.
Bitten Stetter (who was born in 1972 in Dortmund) discovered her passion for fashion at an early age and decided to train as a dressmaker after her Abitur. This was immediately followed by a degree in design at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg. Paris press agency Girault Totem already noticed Stetter during her studies through a fashion show in the Hanseatic City. Armed with international contacts in the industry, the young designer then embarked on an adventure of independence straight away. She founded the stetter_koetter label together with Ilona Kötter, a fellow student. That was in 1999. |
|
|
||
|
The pair created fashion together for four years. When the label dissolved in 2003, Bitten Stetter continued to work under her own name. Bored with the inflexible fashion system and cycle of collections, she finally began to market her fashion in new ways in October 2007.
“Fitting Tales” When the postman knocks on the door of Stetter’s customers – in Austria, Belgium or Hong Kong – and hands over a “Fitting Tales” box, it always has a certain surprise effect. As well as up to three garments, the boxes always contain a written introduction as well, because every “Fitting Tales” edition is constructed around a new theme. Her choice of themes proves her sense of contemporary relevance and humour: “000 Anarak – wundervolles Faltenland” (000 Anorak – wonderful land of creases) was the first theme of the designer’s “textile publications”, as she calls them. There followed themes such as “Diebstahl & Verlust” (theft and loss), “Rasant rasten & Couch Camping” (racy resting and couch camping) or “Urbansinn – Großstadt-NEUrotik im Metropolenmassiv” (urban sense – city NEWrotic in the massive metropolis). The 36 year-old’s designs are feminine and are characterised by handling materials in a complex way. Stetter combines elements of classic ladies’ fashion with her own innovative cuts – but the main thing is that her fashion is always well thought-out to the finest detail. Anyone who would like to can “read” every button and every pocket – but all items of clothing are effective as fashion products even without the story that goes with it. A dedicated universe For the theme “Talenttier – ein Zoo der Einzigartigkeit” (talented animal – a unique zoo) for instance, which opened at the end of 2008, brightly-coloured drawings of strange and beautiful creatures adorned the black-painted walls alongside geometric three-dimensional objects. Installations made from items of clothing united with graphic wall elements to form characters that appeared almost alive. |
|
|
||
|
As well as their own brand, “Fitting Forward” also offers space for fashion by other designers, and as such the selection of brands as well as the flexible interior fittings and temporary wall decoration are subject to constant change and are adapted to suit the current theme. The shop, which has an area of 45 square metres, is located outside the Hamburg shopping districts, attracting not so much passing custom as a local and international public with a particular interest in new and innovative fashion.
A feel for fashion and contemporary charactert She started as a tutor at her former university in Hamburg teaching fashion, since then she has lectured at the Zurich University of the Arts in the field of Style & Design. But up-and-coming designers in Germany don’t have to miss out on Bitten Stetter’s feel for fashion and contemporary character either: she currently lives in her hometown of choice, Hamburg, where she lectures at the private establishment AMD. Nina Trippel
has a diploma in Design (university of arts) and currently works as a freelance editor, author and copywriter in the field of Fashion and Design for various German and international clients. Translation: Jo Beckett Copyright: Goethe-Institut e. V., Online-Redaktion Any questions about this article? Please write to us!  online-redaktion@goethe.de
April 2009 |
|
