Archivi tag: Colour Mix of Africa

ISULA DESIGN

“Sometime ago I was forced, for health reasons, to stay locked up in hospitals for a long time and from there I realized the importance of being alive and staying in the open air, watching the colors of a sunrise or a sunset, feel the wind that caresses your face just for a minute and enjoying the scents that only the nature of this land can give you, even from a window.”

 

Tell us something about you and Isula Design!

My name is Francesca, I live and work in a small seaside village in the district of Sassari (in the North Sardinia). I like everything that has color, form and tradition. I am a nature and animals lover, I live with the fact that I love my dog Sunshine, who taught me to love his world!

I love to walk by the sea as well as in the countryside and  I like stars, the moon, the sun, but also rain and melancholy. I consider myself a very (perhaps too) sensitive and emotional person, full of life. I like to smile and the smile on the face of the people I come close to sends me endless positivity! I am a natural and colorful food lover, as fruit and vegetables are. I think that in life there is always a lot to learn from other people, with humility and respect.

I graduated two years ago as a seamstress / modeler at the School of Art and Fashion in Sassari, for me a dream that came true and I want to continue creating with my style “SardAfrican”, because every woman wants externalize what’s inside, being free to feel colors and by being unique!

Can you tell us more about the ISULA PROJECT?

The project Isula design and the choice of the name was born out of this land, Sardinia, that is very close to me. It is my island that commands my heart, which offers different colors and shapes, but also distant Africa, which is also close in a sense!

Where do you find the inspiration?

The design of the clothes like the colors chosen for the fabrics are a reflection of a deep sense of belonging to my island, endless source of my inspiration. In each piece I try to interpret, with great respect and modernity, the ancient traditions of Sardinia and the bright colors and distinctive landscapes that this land gives to me. Mixing my Sardinians immense passion with the ancient soul and freedom of the African continent, the wonderful and colorful countrywomen, my collection becomes a perfect combination of ancient traditions and modernity, memories of deserts and unreachable mountains, open seas and splendid colors.

Each dress is the story of a mood, each color a feeling. Each collection is an old music.

Where was your passion born?

The passion for the art began as a child, growing quickly with a strong aesthetic sense towards clothing. As a teenager, I began to wish for a look that could fully represent my personality. Finding no garment that reflected my desires, exploded in me the urge to create by myself the wardrobe of my dreams.

Without ever having sewn, driven by a lively inspiration, I bought my first piece of cloth and alone, with the sewing machine of a dear friend, I created my first skirt. Driven by this magical inspiration, I created a garment after the other, with no experience, no pattern, just by looking, touching the fabric and getting carried away by instinct. My friends, affected by the visionary forms and evocative colors, asked me to create dresses for commission.

As if I had done nothing all my life long, I began to study by myself all methods to tailor, to improve day by day the quality of my clothes.

The requests came from people like me, who wanted to wear one of my dresses, out from the usual style, and they increase more and more and at some point it came natural the creation of a brand that identifies perfectly with my style.

I had the impression that nature plays a really important role in your world and for your fashion…

Oh yeah, I love to talk and listen to nature! Sometime ago I was forced, for health reasons, to stay locked up in hospitals for a long time and from there I realized the importance of being alive and stay in the open air, watching the colors of a sunrise or a sunset, feel the wind that caresses your face just for a minute and enjoying the scents that only the nature of this land can give you, even from a window. I think there is no better place to take photos for my clothes and feel in tune with it!

What does your logo represents?

The logo represents for me eternal freedom.

In fact the inspiration comes from the Egyptian key of life, which is also known as the Ankh, or the Egyptian cross Ankh. It is a T cross crowned by a circle, an oval and in some representations, by a snake that twists (the serpent is the symbol of wisdom and if chasing its tail forming a circle is a symbol of eternity). The form of the ankh remembers a key and that is also the reason why it is called “Key of Life” or “Key of the Nile”. Symbolic representation of life and survival after death, but it has been interpreted as a free butterfly, with Sardinian spikes.

The message is therefore to feel free, colorful, feminine, rich in tradition, but above all unique and special wearing my dresses!

ISULA DESIGN

FRANCESCA COLOMBINO

Donatella

NOH NEE, Dirndl à l’ Africaine

In Munich, Glockenbackviertel is the most famous neighborhood where many fashion designers and artists in general are based. Historically the favourite location of gays (which is often still a synonymous with creativity!) it is nowadays the best place to find new trends and enlightenment.

Now, imagine the colour and power of Africa, mixed with the deep tradition of Germany: this is Noh Nee[1], a shop close to Sendlinger Tor (Sendling Gate), in the south of the historic old town area of the city.

When we met in Glockenback to talk about Noh Nee, we were overwhelmed by the passion and energy of Rahmée Wetterich, one of the founders of this business. She started to tell us about a new App for tourists in which also Noh Nee is involved, and went on talking about the amazing recent experience in Brussels (Ethno Tendance Fashion Weekend Brussels 2014). Noh Nee is also in the “Museum der Kulturen” in Basel until 2019[2].

So, Noh Nee is really everywhere, or better said, in every place it should be.

The project is more than clothes, it is more about the mix of cultures and the passion for fashion, the influence of Africa with the lightness of the improvisation: we can say it because Noh Nee was somehow achieved by chance, the result of a great passion for creation, in particular for fashion.

The heart and head of the project is Marie Darouiche, the one who designs the clothes, since she has always been dealing with fashion, the person who decides to melt the tradition of the dirndl with the style from the ’50. This was made possible and started through the project of “Colour Mix of Africa”, an idea (and an exposition) that comes from Rahmée, her sister (as she explained us, it has nothing really to do with colours but about the influence of different cultures).

Now, just try to imagine an expensive kitchen and some multicolored dresses spread everywhere and the feeling you have everytime you bump into something completely stranger: you become curious and you get excited. That is how I imagine the reaction of the people who were there and met for the first time (without knowing it) at NOH NEE. It was 2010.

Since 2011, Cornelia Hobbhahn also became part of the project. At the moment Noh Nee does not mean only dirndl, but also slacks, shoes, coats and more… The manufactoring is in Passau (the “Three Rivers City”), Bavaria.

The magic of the dirndl is that it does not matter how big or tall people are, a dirndl fits everyone! It is easy to realize it just by looking at the many photos that Rahmée keeps in the shop; pictures sent by people who got married with a Noh Nee creation, or went to a gala, or simply to Oktoberfest…

Let’s talk about textile. Maybe some people think, as myself, that they come from Africa… it is not really true! I mean, they are african samples but most of them come from Holland. More than 100 years ago  the first prints came from Indonesia to Europe and since then they are constantly edited: some themes are already 150 years old. There are circa 270 colours.

The fabric is really special, hard and difficult to work, unlike what we see, for example, everywhere.
Often many of them come from China, and are not original (Rahmée gave us a tiny tipp: you can recognize the original one because it is printed on both sides. The colour, in a manner of speaking, goes through the textile).

Furthermore, they revisit the textile they buy from them to create new designs through a process of development. Marie always has to find new ideas and patterns to match everything.
As Rahmée said, when they go to purchase the textile, in the same moment she has one in her hands she already knows if it has potential, and what it can be used for.
She talks about “visualize”, a kind of seer who can see into the future of fabrics.

Everything is special and privileged, also the wonderful pieces that they found are limited… and that is also another reason why they are so unique.

Explanation for such big success? It’s the right solution for people who are looking for a new fashion style to wear again, or for the first time, such a traditional dress like a dirndl.

The format of Noh Nee is different because it is new, powerful, multicultural and gives emancipation to this bavarian (but not only) costume.

But, above all, it worked because of the passion they put in it: to hear Rahmée  is like seeing a ball of fire, not only because of her enthusiasm and competence, but because she loves the project and she puts extraordinary effort in it.

It is easy to be infected from the feeling of love she feels when she talks about Noh Nee!

Noh Nee, literally “a godsend”, is also engaged with a project called: “Education for Girls in Benin“.

The shop is in Hans-Sachs-Straße 2, Munich.


[1] http://www.nohnee.com/

[2] https://www.dropbox.com/s/pwpl8e2q3nrpr02/0143_VideoNohNee_FinalCut-DEF_1.mp4?dl=0