Young adults with migration background and fashion

Fashion Talk made an interview on fashion with Bülent (Turkish background), Rocco (from Slovenia) und Sergej (German-Russian background) on their experiences with fashion in Vienna/Austria. The three young adults (all 18 years old) were asked to identify the differences between fashion items in their personal surrounding in Germany and those in Vienna/Austria. Fashion Talk partner Karin Drda-Kühn (KDK) from Association Culture and Work did the interview - and was surprised what the young men found out:

KDK: Was there anything different or special in fashion in Vienna? Did you see different or the same clothes as in Germany?

Bülent: Pretty the same, there were not many differences. It is the same as in Germany, you can clearly see at the clothes what the people are, as in Germany.

KDK: May be the differences are not in the clothes but with fashionable things like shoes, jewellery, scarves, hats?

Sergej: No, not really, all stuff which we know from Germany. May be some of the shops have other names but the stuff is the same. Especially from chains. We were at some chains and it is really the same which is somehow strange because this is another country.

KDK: So there was absolutely nothing new for you in fashion items?

Rocco: I could not see differences in the clothes, but there was this shop with the iPhone cases, this was really different, a shop full of cases in all colours and many different patterns, we made a picture from the shop window:

Sergej: I wonder what they are good for because they make the iPhone bigger in the pocket, but there were so many young people in the shop so we went in to have a closer look. Yes, they look good, Bülent bought one.

Bülent: Yes, I bought one, not so expensive, it makes the iPhone in a way special, I like it.

KDK: Was anything else exiting for you which had to do with fashion or fashion items?

Rocco: There was this advertisement at the metro station, which was really funny when I found out, first I did not understand it. It looked like Superman in cinema, but it meant something else…

Sergej: It has something to do with cleaning the roads, it is written that those who broom the streets are heros, this is how some guys explained it to us. It was so funny because first I thought this is an advertisement of a special group of people and that they can be identified by orange T-Shirts under their clothes.

Bülent: It’s really funny, a kind of garbage fashion, but you have to understand it.

Rocco: There was something else which we did not understand, this was this street lamp with a knitted wrapping:

Sergej: It was at a staircase to Mariahilferstraße. May be this is also a fashion item, but not for people but for street lamps. Who knows, at least a lot of people were watching it.

KDK: So in the end you found some examples of fashion which are different to what you know?

Bülent: Yes, in a way, but there was another thing, there were street musicians, not my style of music, but their outfit was cool, they wore blue boiler suits and helmets, very strange for musicians.

Sergej: This was cool, we wondered what it was good for and some guys who were listening said it’s just for getting visible and extraordinary. Good way to rise attraction, no doubt.

KDK: But getting better visible is something which has a lot to do with fashion, don’t you think so?

Rocco: Yes, of course, but may be not with boiler suits and helmets, but the guys were really cool with the music and the costumes, really.

(The interview was done and translated into English by Karin Drda-Kühn)

Report Germany - Berlin special

As we have two partners from Germany in this project, we are pleased to deliver an additional report: a Berlin special. It describes how fashion is integrated in teaching the subjects German Language and Social Studies.
It is written in German and is available for download by clicking on this image:

Summaries of country reports

According to the application and the agreements in the kick-off meeting the individual country reports have been written in the national language of each individual project partner. However, the project team agreed on writing a summary of the report in English. The collection of these summaries is available as separate document.

Please click on the image below to download:

Country report Austria

The country report from Austria is ready! For downloading please click on this image:

Lisbon - fashion study

During the project meeting we, the project team, asked our target group members to do a research in Lisbon downtown. 

Their task was to discover fashion items and to analyze if there are significant differences to the actual fashion in their home countries.

Furthermore we asked them to take pictures (and ask for allowance to publish) and to summarize their work in an article. 

The result is available for free download.

The travel to Lisbon

The travel was not too far for me, nevertheless I took some notes and pictures. 

I felt somehow watched by CIA and got nearly afraid, but some moments later I could watch the very special design done by the portuguese railways, their seat and the sun.

Next time to be afraid was not too far from Santarem - the "gothic capital of Ribatejo".
A travel mate was dressed in black, but it was especially his ring which cought my attention.
After asking for permission I took a picture and thought by myself refering to my friend google: "Gothic fashion is a clothing style worn by members of the Goth subculture; a dark, sometimes morbid, , eroticized fashion and style of dress" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fashion)
 Sometimes things really fit together!

The next pictures are from a gift shop in Oriente railway station in Lisbon. 

Did I mention that soccer is very important in Portugal?
The upper items are from the clubs in Lisbon ...

 ... but very near to the floor, on dog's legs height there would be a selection of Porto's soccer club merchandising articles.
Okay, just fine as this is in Lisbon - have to check the arrangements in Porto next time :-)

Later in the evening the project team came together for a welcome dinner and some street sellers had quite funny items to try (and buy) for us. I took some pictures - but I am even afraid to ask for publishing permission :-)
So this stays for imagination!

Fashion Talks - exhibition in Berlin opening in October

I am rather fascinated that there will be an exhibition in the Berlin Museum for Communication with a similar name as our Fashion Talk project: Fashion Talks. This is the announcement:

Fashion is all around us. We can play with fashion, follow fashion or rebel against it. Fashion is for both standing out in a crowd and belonging. It is fast, sometimes loud or subdued, and rushes to and fro between ‘in’ and ‘out’. This show looks at how we deal with fashion individually and as a group and at the messages we convey with the way we dress. What style codes dominate today’s youth culture? What identities are behind them? How do manufacturers serve their target groups and thus influence the market? Everyday pieces of clothing, such as jeans, are on display to show not only that subtle changes in cuts, patterns and finishings change dress codes, but also how the complex and intricate system of fashion works.

Fashion Talks will start October 7th, 2011.

Have a look: http://www.mfk-berlin.de/nc/ausstellung/vorschau/details/events/1917/p1/detail.html

We should cooperate - in a work shop? A competition? An action? Ideas are more thn welcome!