Paula Selby Avellaneda
They call him The Hunter, but his bait is not boar but fashion, and his taste is quite exquisite: Bernhard Willhelm, Gareth Pugh, Marcel Ostertag, Raf Simons and Romain Kremer are on the rags of his fine boutique in Prenzlauerberg.
For the upcoming Berlin Fashion Week he wants to recreate the iconic 80s fashion collective The Antwerp Six by inviting 6 new promising design talents from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts to his showroom to present their unique collections.
We talked to Rene Schopf, one of the men behind The Hunter about Berlin, fashion and fashion in Berlin. Read on for the interview and more details.
Why Berlin?
It’s a great city. I just fell in love with it.There is a great creative energy here. It’s a place to realize one’s full potential and to be an individual.
What are your favorite places in Berlin?
I love Schneeweiß as they have the best Wiener Schnitzel. I also like to go to Cupcake and Basil. You’ll find me often at the Volkspark Friedrichshain or at the Badeschiff. At night I like to go to Berghain, Weekend, and Picknick or to some fashion parties.
Would you like to live some place else?
As I have already lived in Vienna, New York and London I really just see myself in Berlin at the moment, but I could imagine to have a second home in Paris.
Although you studied fashion at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna you decided not to become a designer. Why?
There are already so many fashion designers on the market. This is really nice because you have a really big selection to choose from. But the constant fight for your existence and the struggle to survive is just too hard for me personally. I still like to design, but just out of passion and not to make money with it. Maybe some day I will. I’m always eager to do new things and there are many ideas in my head.
Internationally, Berlin’s fashion scene often gets looked down at. What is Berlin to you in terms of fashion?
I see a lot of potential in Berlin to prove itself. But the city as well as the whole German market really needs to open up more. I think the style of Berlin’s inhabitants is quite interesting. There are many individuals out there that make every day exciting. And I see potential in some smaller labels to become something big.
Who are the most promising designers from Berlin?
For Berlin Butterflysoulfire and JuliaandBen are really promising. They haven’t been around for too long but you can already see great development in their work. For Germany I can see Marcel Ostertag as the next shooting star on the international fashion scene. He has a quite oppinionated style but is very open at the same time. I like that.
Rene Schopf
The New Antwerp Six
with the collections by Eva Dunis, Fred Hornof, Glenn Martens, Lion Blau, Paula Selby Avellaneda and Setareh Mohtarez.
01.-08.07.2009, 11-20h
The Hunter Berlin
Winsstr. 42
10405 Berlin
