Graduate collection and winner of the ESMOD Prix Créateur 2008 Tarané Hoock / Photo: Stefan Kraul, courtesy ESMOD Berlin
Tom Felber for ceative face Magazine
On Friday July 11, 2008 the International Fashion School ESMOD Berlin celebrated its 2008 Diploma Class with a terrific fashion show at ARENA in Berlin. 24 students presented their graduate collections under the theme "ME, MYSELF & WE". An international jury chaired by the star-designers An Vandevorst & Filip Arickx, A.F.VANDEVORST from Antwerp had assessed the showcased collections on day before.
The Collection of Hope which had been successfully showcased at the BREAD & BUTTER Barcelona two weeks ago and which will be presented during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at the ‘Showroom Meile Unter den Linden' headed the fashion show. The subsequent presentation was a firework of 24 different students' collections. The audience saw impressive women's fashion, cool men's wear and charming children's outfits. Finally An Vandervorst and Filip Arickx announced the winner of the 2008 ESMOD Prix Créateur - Tarané Hook.
The theme of the show "ME, MYSELF & WE" was a reflexion between Egoism and Altruism. "ME: The graduating collections are a eulogy to a new kind of hedonism, but also to a return of a certain form of asceticism celebrating egoism as an individual value instead of accepting the collective idea of the manic day-today chaos of our urban life. MYSELF: In Reference to the comeback of an individual and sophisticated urban chic a lot of the presented items are unique pieces with a minimal cut, discreet details and overworked textile structures. &: Futurism, Avantgarde & Extravagance are not forgotten and the references to Contemporary Art, Photo and Architecture are sub-tile homages to Mondrian, Calder, Gabo, Balla, Pei & Blumenfeld, very individual and exclusive artists. WE: The Team of ESMOD Berlin encouraged the students of the promotion 2008 in the affirmation of their personality choosing egoism as a social value and as an antidote against the moral crisis, self-consciousness against collective lack of interest, engagement against a general disorder." The motto of the show was much more than just a title - it was a statement by ESMOD Berlin and its students, not only for this evening.
ESMOD Germany belongs to a network of 17 ESMOD schools around the world. Both founders of ESMOD Germany, Silvia Kadolsky and Dorothea Beisser first opened ESMOD Munich in 1989. Five years later ESMOD Berlin opened its doors. In France ESMOD (École superieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode) started 167 years ago. In 1841, Alexis Lavigne, the French inventor of the couture mannequin and the supple measuring tape, was the first person to open a school in the world of fashion. Over a century and a half later, ESMOD has developed a high level of training that is equally technical and artistic. The criteria of students' profiles are more and more complete, computer skills, full knowledge of new textiles, and the development of different cultural materials through marketing skills including an international aspect. At the end of the three-years graduate program, students present a personal collection to an international jury compiled of professionals from the Textile - Apparel sectors. These professionals determine if the student obtains the ESMOD diploma.
