Rundholz
Throughout Europe, the Rundholz fashion label is well known, with loyal clients building on their wardrobes each season. Often black and layered, the Rundholz signature beautifully combines art with highly wearable clothing. However, rather than brazen advertising campaigns, the names behind the company, Carsten and Lenka Rundholz, have gathered a large tribe, all revering the couple’s highly individual signature. “I would say the typical Rundholz customer is confident, independent, and often loves art and culture. She has her own taste and wants to be special,” says Lenka. “She (our customer) also defines femininity in a different way. I would say she is an interesting woman,” she adds.
While both Carsten and Lenka are across all facets of the Rundholz business, Carsten is credited with the design, while Lenka fine-tunes and deals with the operational side of the German-based company established in the early 1990s. “We started designing clothes in 1992 (in the middle of a worldwide recession), mainly because Carsten wanted to create a look I would lover to wear,” says Lenka, who started her career as a display and visual presentation artist, while Carsten as a graphic designer.
The duo now has numerous Rundholz boutiques in Germany, including Berlin and Dusseldorf, together with Antwerp in Belgium. And although they show their collections in Paris and their clothes are worn by some of the most stylish women in European cities, their home is shared between Berlin and their countryside abode in Germany. “We love major cities such as Hong Kong, Berlin, Antwerp and New York. But we also have a real affinity for nature, as do our customers,” says Carsten. “Many of them wear our clothes in the countryside as well as in the world’s metropolises,” he adds.
Unlike French or Italian fashion, which often tends to be tight and body conscious, the Rundholz labels: Mainline, Dip Collection and Black Label are more likely to be layered and looser than mainstream fashion. However, this silhouette has evolved over years, even decades, more subconsciously than orchestrated. “It’s (silhouette) wasn’t deliberate. Today the world is so transparent and linked that it gets more and more difficult to distinguish country-specific characteristics,” says Carsten, who points out that Rundholz across the various collections comes in a broad size range from XS to XL. “And some designs are one size for all,” adds Lenka, who picks out from the clothing racks some of the more form-fitting styles to make her point.
However, whatever silhouette is in mind for each collection, the strict fashion timetable requires the couple to be continually contemplating future designs, a number of which are inspired by contemporary art. “Some of our ideas or experiments can start as early as a year-and-a-half before they are presented on the catwalks,” says Lenka, who sees the design process as taking a series of small steps towards building each collection.
Each Rundholz store, whether in Berlin or Antwerp, carries different clothes so cater for that particular market. And while each store has its own individual charm, it’s the latest store in Berlin that wins the ‘architectural accolades’. Set in a heritage precinct, in a neighbourhood dotted with embassies, the Rundholz boutique features a pristine white façade, loosely delineated with window frames and a large glazed front door. Only the black clothes set in the doorframe provide a clue that this is a fashion destination.
Carsten and Lenka purchased the half-finished building and had a firm idea of what they wanted to achieve. “We both wanted to have a flat and clean façade that appears exactly like a white sheet of paper. The sliding glass entrance door was a compromise (amongst the strict German building regulations). But if the façade was completely white, you really wouldn’t be able to look into our shop,” says Carsten.
Even after two decades, Rundholz never want to find itself of being in the position of being bored. “We still need the thrill and excitement that goes into creating each new collection. I still wear Rundholz myself, clothes that I enjoy wearing,” says Lenka. And while some designers have only recently turned to recycling, the deconstructive approach to fashion has been inherent in their collections well-before sustainability became a buzzword. “This deconstructivism is part of our personal style and design. It’s a stylistic device that makes Rundholz unique and recognisable,” she adds. And more likely, some of these deconstructed designs will take the form of some of the label’s most iconic pieces; the drop-crutch trousers, the bubble dresses and the Rundholz frock coats, the latter slightly evocative of the Victorian period. And while women have been fortunate to wear Rundholz for years, men seeking a different look can see a new Dip menswear collection for the European autumn of 2016.
While coming up with new ideas and having the motivation to create may slow down some creatives, for Lenka and Carsten, the great challenge that lies ahead is to ensure fair working conditions for everyone involved in the production chain of fashion. “It starts from the cotton picker to the sewer through to the sales assistant. Customers should be aware of the consequence of cheap products, for the workers, as well as for the environment,” says Lenka.
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