Datenblatt | Streetware – Saved Item

Feldarbeit

barbara caveng — Sun, 02 Jan 2022 14:53:13 +0000

Aïcha Abbadi

CW 36 + 37

Field Work

In close proximity and yet in an entirely different world, an offsite fashion show is in the making on Tempelhof Field while an art and fashion fair is taking place inside the former airport.
Taking place within the city’s fashion week time frame, STREETWARE’S open air catwalk nonetheless operates within another temporal reality. Its clotheshorses on wheels are scattered in between families on picnic blankets gathered for a kite festivity, models walking undeterred through the paths of rollerbladers and skaters. Voices are muffled by the wind as different sources of music are transported in waves across the field. A van with three police officers stands by and quietly observes. The models are made up of performers, students and local neighbours. They are gettng changed, wearing outfits styled for them but in which they also had a say. The youngest, Marianna, is only one year old. Her mother, Sara, is also excited about her own first time modelling, although she notes that if she would continue doing it, she would have to buy herself a mirror, as she does not own one. Some finishing touches of hair and make-up are being added and the choreography rehearsed. Friends brought as support are waiting in anticipation, the first passersby curiously stopping in their tracks.

Learning about the concept behind the show, made up entirely by STREETWARE items, conversations about their own clothes unfold within the public. A group of friends and siblings, following sustainable stylist Mo Latif’s invitation, discusses the special bond created by garments shared with one another and passed on to someone close.

“I don’t know why but it actually makes me happier gettng it this way than buying it new.”

“Also because you have a connection with the person.”

“A deep connection, deep connection – she’s wearing a part of me, bringing a little part of me every day.”

In conversation with front-row guests .

Even though most of the show’s guest at first describe themselves as not very knowledgeable about fashion, it turns out that among them are former models, fashion designers, stylists, costume makers and sewing enthusiasts. Many are wearing garments which they have sewn or altered from second-hand pieces themselves, although one confesses to a passion to online shopping and trying out new styles found on online blogs. For those having moved to Berlin from abroad, the city has created a shiS in mindset, described as having a more conscious approach to fashion, with swaps and second-hand pieces part of the experience of living here.

One skater, at first irritated by the models in her way, becomes enthusiastic as she learns more about the background. It turns out she used to be a fashion designer but stopped working in the industry many years earlier due to its lack of fair practices. Not far away from her, another designer, VICENTE relates that it was at around the time she stopped that he really started. All the pieces he makes are one-of-a-kind, from up-cycled materials, which he has done so from the beginning.

Manuela Coelho presenting, poltical haute couture‘ by Ruth Faith Nalule | Geneviève © Anja Grabert

Manuela, modelling “the dress” from Uganda, relates a special connection to the garment which she describes as carrying the baggage of history and containing a piece of all corners of the world. Coming from Mozambique and having seen the consequences of textile waste firsthand, wearing the dress means more to her than just presenting it: she wishes to create awareness about the social and ecological consequences of fashion, as well as set an example for her children. Since growing up in wartime Mozambique, she has always been tending to garments, tailoring and repairing them to make them last longer, passing along those values in the family. Her daughter also walks in the show and as Manuela passes on the dress to her, it becomes a symbolic statement of passing on the future to the next generation.

Laura Marie Gruch | Manuela Coelho | Geneviève presenting, poltical haute couture‘ by Ruth Faith Nalule © Anja Grabert

As the catwalk show comes to its finale in a tableau with everyone involved, it generates even more attention. Those distracted up to that point with their own recreational activities, quickly note down further information as they learn the shown pieces are made available for rental the week after. The VESTITHEK, located in Neukölln’s Helene-NathanLibrary, on one of the top floors of a shopping arcade and well integrated between shelves filled with books and music albums, follows in the tradition of clothes lending libraries which have emerged in various locations. Among the first professionally run ones in Europe was Lånegarderoben, which opened in Stockholm in 2010. While most of them operate in individual shop spaces or community centres, the VESTITHEK’s integration into the municipal library opens up the concept to new publics. Appearing as if it had always been there, it merges old and new habits, starting a discussion by merely being present.

Regenbogen-Zehensocken | Unter Palmen

barbara caveng — Sat, 07 Aug 2021 15:55:28 +0000

Rainbow Toe Socks | Under Palm Trees

Aïcha Abbadi

CW 21-24

“Eeew, those toe socks, with such li
“Have you ever tried them on?”

“No, actually… It is really the aesthetic that repulses me.”

(Conversation at the opening of the Dresserie)

With the borrowing-space “Dresserie” in Fuldastraße and the swap installation “En Plein Air” at Körnerpark during the Festival 48 Hours Neukölln, the limitations between artistic intervention and “customer”-oriented fashion service become blurred, engaging with the public with and against preconceived expectations. This becomes apparent in how visitors approach both settings. The Dresserie, temporarily located in an art gallery, is approached as a conceptual work by the gallery’s regulars and some neighbours familiar with its changing installations.

Random passersby are often still intrigued by the borrowing concept or in the hunt for a bargain. A woman pastor leaves the Dresserie with silver lace-up shoes. A couple disagrees in their sartorial experimentation – despite the possibility of returning the pieces, they leave empty-handed. Another couple immediately picks pieces they are eager to keep – a tailored blazer, flowing lycra pants, long Bermudas in a thick grey cotton jersey. Reactions to individual pieces are strong and clear-cut: personal preferences are well established.
sind fest etabliert.

A lack of sizing diversity became noticeable – the pieces discarded on the streets are often rather small. At “En Plein Air”, neighbours noticed and fixed this issue by adding larger sizes to the laundry racks in the sun, for others to swap. Found pieces from the tours paint the scene – a round in the aPernoon heat brings forward a trace of children’s sun caps. Conversations among visitors range from sustainable consumption to the value and care of clothes during the times, but also impressions of the neighbourhood itself.

An accumulation of clotheshorses under potted palm trees in Berlin-Neukölln – for some the usual neighbourhood atmosphere, for others an irritation that invites further questions: on art, the social, craft, the artisan and the found object.

While the ragpickers purposely wander to find clothes, at times, it appears that the garments find the ragpickers instead. While reorganising the pieces on the laundry racks of “En Plein Air”, Jule finds her favourite top from childhood. No longer in her possession, it may be its twin, or perhaps the very same piece which found its way back to her? With a trained eye, Stella spots a staff sweater from a cooperative supermarket peeking out from under a car. On an earlier tour, elsewhere, a neighbour had told us he had found the one he was wearing, from the same supermarket, on the streets as well and tie-dyed it with bleach for further personalisation.

A shared feeling of visitors at both the “Dresserie” and “En Plein Air” was the desire to “shop” again, post-pandemic, but without the bad conscience. A neighbour reserves a red bathrobe and blue velours sweatpants for a later swap, returning from his “palace” overlooking the park with a bag of shirts and jackets, as well as a tray with coffee. The accumulation of wealth breeds misery, he muses about an acquaintance of his – what he pursues instead is less ownership and more neighbourly exchange.

Aïcha Abbadi in company of a festival visitor // all photographs ©paolo gallo

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Spiel und Ordnung

barbara caveng — Thu, 27 May 2021 21:11:56 +0000

Aïcha Abbadi

CW 18-20

Play and Order

You told me that you make hats.
Peaked caps.

And how long have you been doing this?
3 years.

Did you once have longer hair?
Yes.

And since when are they not as long anymore?
Since 3 years. (laughs.)

Aïcha Abbadi in dialogue with Hatim Alyafi

While the caps were not the reason behind Hatim’s separation from his hair, the decision
was certainly facilitated by them. They had over the years become a permanent but
transformative headdress, something to play with to alter outward impressions.
Something that immediately catches the eye, yet unfortunately doesn’t cover the ears in cold weather, the reason why
even Hatim swaps them for knitted hats from time to time.

What is the quality that makes a piece of clothing a cherished plaything
and when is playtime over? As Franceska goes through the pile of clothes selected for loaning
at the Dresserie, she feels an instant attraction to more than one piece.
A yellow dotted dress with a light blue soft knit jacket.
With antcipation, she envisions them as complete looks which she could see herself wearing every day,
combined with hand-made accessories and perhaps some rubber boots?
Playful materiality and a sense of cheerfulness are important,
an elegant functionality and overall positivity.

Even more than the visual impression alone it is the imagination that leads to the play with
clothes, what emanates from individual pieces.
In the storage room as well there are different categories, with some pieces allowed to leave the space with committed STREETWARE
wearers, while other pieces are expected to return. Still others are prepared for further processing.
One of these piles is made up primarily of dark grey, blue and black pieces,
much cotton and polyester, coats, trousers and cut-up thights,
but also a bikini top. There are pieces in many sizes, but apparently they do not qualify
anymore for play.

The processes of STREETWARE are a continuous alternation between play and order,
enthusiast discovery and careful selection and planning. As the laundry racks
the walk through the streets becomes a performance with intrigued public.
Before the big staging however, they remain in orderly rows,
as the clothes themselves, ironed and folded, waiting for
their grand entrance.

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Auszüge der begleitenden Forschung: STREETWARE im erweiterten Mode-Kontext

barbara caveng — Sat, 22 May 2021 22:39:08 +0000

Aïcha Abbadi

Selections from the embedded research: STREETWARE in the expanded fashion context

The garments and interactions of STREETWARE contain a wide spectrum of complex connections, personal thoughts, feelings and memories. Aïcha Abbadi accompanies and documents these processes, exploring multi-layered meanings of textile and fashion experiences, from personal perception to global, historically established structures.What is being overlooked? What do we remember? What do the garments themselves and our interactions with them tell us about commonalities and differences, convictions and contradictions?

Fashionable rags are an exchange between past and future, here and there, ephemerality and timelessness. They are a response and a questioning of the complexity of our collective social fabric, juxtaposing arbitrariness, personal philosophy, structural inevitabilities and moral dilemmas.

For the duration of this project, selections from the research will be presented here: personal impressions of the different participants, observations on the found pieces and interactions, their relevance and position in the wider, expanded fashion context.

Quotation by Jan Markowsky

Some people often want to wear only black. But I was always rather a friend of bright clothes.
[…] Once I got a white, still shrink-wrapped shirt from the donations clothing store - because I always stay clean - not everyone got that.
[...] But then I once accidentally spilled pea soup all over my light-colored clothes.'

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FEELING AND (THE ABSENCE OF) COLOUR

barbara caveng — Sat, 24 Apr 2021 23:18:00 +0000

Aïcha Abbadi

CW 16

FEELING AND (THE ABSENCE OF) COLOUR

'I was always attracted by that box of costumes, carnival costumes.

And most of the time my choice was actually for the princess costumes,
with these beautiful embroideries and shining colours.

[…] we didn’t have the mirror in that school during that playground hour.

[…] It was this sense of beauty of the flowing from my waist down to the ground.

[…] how I could change my shape by moving with that costume.

[…] Maybe I was still keeping the trousers underneath.

[…] I think we were not allowed to undress totally.'

Kdindie

'Some people often only want to wear black. But I was always a friend of lighter-coloured clothing.
[…] Once I got a white, still shrink-wrapped shirt from the donations clothing store - because I always stay clean - not everyone got that.
[...] But then I once accidentally spilled pea soup all over my light-colored clothes.'

Jan

„I pick only things in the right size. Things that match my gender, practical items I can wear on a bike.
[…] The first item I found were very comfortable trousers/sweats – my favourite, long, grey, – very German!
I wear them all the time. How it feels is important. But I would never otherwise have chosen them in a shop.
[…] When I wear them I turn into a grey person.“

Daniela

'After a performance, I put on these grey knitted things. To get back to myself.'

barbara

'I was missing something to black the outfit'

[…] Now I feel comfortable. With the black and white over it.“

Kdindie

'I didn’t understand myself in that Mickey Mouse T-shirt.'

barbara

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Datenblatt | Streetware – Saved Item

Feldarbeit

Aïcha Abbadi

CW 36 + 37

Field Work

“I don’t know why but it actually makes me happier gettng it this way than buying it new.”

“Also because you have a connection with the person.”

“A deep connection, deep connection – she’s wearing a part of me, bringing a little part of me every day.”

Regenbogen-Zehensocken | Unter Palmen

Rainbow Toe Socks | Under Palm Trees

Aïcha Abbadi

CW 21-24

“Eeew, those toe socks, with such li “Have you ever tried them on?” “No, actually… It is really the aesthetic that repulses me.” (Conversation at the opening of the Dresserie)

“Have you ever tried them on?”

“No, actually… It is really the aesthetic that repulses me.”

(Conversation at the opening of the Dresserie)

Spiel und Ordnung

Aïcha Abbadi

CW 18-20

Play and Order

Auszüge der begleitenden Forschung: STREETWARE im erweiterten Mode-Kontext

Aïcha Abbadi

Selections from the embedded research: STREETWARE in the expanded fashion context

Quotation by Jan Markowsky

FEELING AND (THE ABSENCE OF) COLOUR

Aïcha Abbadi

CW 16

FEELING AND (THE ABSENCE OF) COLOUR

“Eeew, those toe socks, with such li
“Have you ever tried them on?”

“No, actually… It is really the aesthetic that repulses me.”

(Conversation at the opening of the Dresserie)