Henning Jurke & Roaring Twenties


Designer Henning Jurke
- Have you always been interested in fashion?
- Before I decided to do fashion design I studied at the Köln International School of Design in Cologne. It was very conceptual and abstract and fashion design was no part of the curriculum. But during that time I realised that I want to be a fashion designer. After my intermediate examination I transferred to the Berlin University of Arts to study fashion design.


- What is your first memory related with fashion/creation?
- When I was in Cologne I started to create simple accessories like handbags, belts or t-shirts. I embroidered these pieces and gave them away to my friends and family. But the moment when I was caught by the fashion world was when I found the fanzine Mode Depesche. It was a very well researched magazine with interviews and reports about Viktor & Rolf, Jean Paul Gaultier, Hussein Chalayan, Peter Berlin and Stefano Pilati.

- Do you have any special rituals before you start to create?
- Not really a ritual, but I love fun fairs and to go there. The luminescent booths and rides, the smell, the atmosphere and there is also the world behind the decorated back boards. I guess this is the origin of my inspiration.

- What is your favourite piece from collection? Do you or your friends wear your designs?
- I don't have a favourite outfit but there is one “hate piece”. It is the pink foil coat. It was so terrible and difficult to quilt the padded foil and to sew it. I had to make the coat for two times because the first version was broken as a result of the fragility.

- Share the inspiration story/image behind your recent collection.  Where do you seek for inspiration?
- The menswear collection “Celebration” describes the arc of suspense from anticipation to melancholia. An important inspiration is the novel “Party at Jack‘s” by Thomas Wolfe. He pictures a dinner party during the Roaring Twenties in New York. It is his particular image of a party that my collection tells about. “Celebration” is inspired by festive evening attire and also influenced by women’s wear of the 20th. The collection characterizes the arc of suspense of a party: starting with anticipation and daydreams, fading to the party evening and finally to the closure of the celebration. What remains are memories, feelings of melancholy as well as of aspiration and luck.

- Your graduate collection “Celebration” was showcased during Berlin Fashion Week SS13 and Hyeres 2013 festival. How was it?  Have you got useful advice?
- The presentation during Berlin Fashion Week in Spring Summer 2012 was part of the fashion show of the Berlin University of Arts. It was a good stage to show my work in a very professional way. To be selected for the Hyères festival was like a dream came true. It was a wonderful experience. The people who organize the festival are so kind. They really want to support you in your way as a fashion designer.

- Do you have ideal customer‘s portrait before you start to create the collection?
- I want to create images and stories with my collections. My work is more like an essence of the inspiration I had. Of course I have a customer in my mind who could wear the pieces. But until now there was no need to think about a specific customer because the collections were too small and not very commercial.

- Tell us more about fashion and art platforms in Berlin. What does it mean to be young designer in Germany? Do you have any difficulties while being young designer?
- It is still a problem that fashion is no part of culture in Germany like it is in France or Italy. Maybe that is the matter why there is not so much high-quality support and appreciation for a young designer in Germany.

- Your hopes and plans for near future?
- I hope to find a job as a designer in a fashion house.


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