23 June 2017

Vienna Insight: Weber + Weber presented AW17 with dance performance at concept store 'strictly Herrmann'

Yesterday, Austrian design label Weber + Weber invited to the men's concept store 'strictly Herrmann' at Taborstrasse 5 in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Vienna. The store is a new men's only (Herrmann is a word creation and means 'SirMan') shopping location in the city. It offers a wide range of products from sporting goods like a classical gymnastic ball in leather (last image on this page, right), technical gadgets, books, games, cosmetics, perfumes, accessories such as cufflinks or fashion. Weber + Weber used the occasion and presented the upcoming AW17 capsule collection - inclusively the label's first ever women's wear.

Fashionoffice asked Christian Weber of Weber + Weber about the reason why he and his partner decided to create a women's line. The reason was the design of outfits for four female roles and four male roles of the dance performance 'Hamlet' after the play by William Shakespeare. It was a lucky coincidence for the men's wear label to step into a new field. 'Hamlet' by the company imPerfectDancers is a free interpretation of Shakespeare's plot and is narrated by the so-called 'Girl In Clinic' who is addicted to the story with the prominent saying "To be, or not to be: that is the question."

fig. above: Christian Weber of the duo Weber + Weber is standing in front of the women's wear FW17 of the capsule collection 'Felted Art' at the men's concept store 'strictly Herrmann' on 22 June 2017. In his hand, he is holding the Weber+Weber Journal No. 7 'Felted Art: Hamlet'. The image in the middle shows video screen and image (by photographer Oliver Topf) concerning the 'Felted Art' FW17 presentation together with the imPerfect Dancers Company. Picture right: Men's wear 'Felted Art' capsule collection FW17.

The design of the outfits for women can be described as almost gender neutral and differ only through some of the items' pattern lines which are accentuated partly by raw crochet-knots-like embroideries. Tailored jackets like one in red loden (loden is felted wool) with black over-dyeing which adds a leather appeal to the fabric differs from the men's jacket of the same material only by the narrowly cut that enhances elegantly the female silhouette. The red-black jackets are worn by Hamlet and Ophelia. 'Felted Art' Fall/Winter 2017 was already shown at the imPerfect Dancers Company 'Hamlet' performance at Teatro Verdi in Pisa (Italy) in May. Yesterday, one of the dancers performed at 'strictly Herrmann' on occasion of the presentation of the collection in Vienna. On 22 July, the dance company will stage 'Hamlet' at the Salzburg Festival opening celebration in the streets of Salzburg. The dance-theatre-fashion event will happen at the shopping street Sigmund Haffner Gasse in the old city of Salzburg.

fig. below: Men's concept store 'strictly Herrmann' founder and CEO Claudia Rauhofer offered for the 'Felted Art' presentation under the motto 'Fashion in Motion' refreshing 'Waterdrop' microdrinks. Waterdrop is a new sugar-free vitamin-superfood-aroma powder in cubes with empowerment qualities. The microdrink solution was developed to be added to still or sparkling water. It's brand new and counts already to the chic beverages in Vienna. The sustainable, very light PaperFoam packaging received recently one of 'The Dieline Awards 2017'.

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