Archivi tag: Deutschland

Food

SPLENDIDO Magazin, the Food Magazin!

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“Focus on your true strength and find a niche. Don’t do it for the fame or your ego but for the matter. Convey value, ideally timeless value. Know what you’re writing about and don’t ever be seduced to become superficial or careless because the internet is quick and trashy. Be tyrannical when it comes to detail. And then: keep posting.”

 

Splendido Magazine, why did you start?!

Mercedes is mainly a writer, Juri is mainly a photographer. But for Splendido we switch roles all the time – sometimes Mercedes is behind the camera and Juri writes, and the next day it is the other way around. We are used to working together for years now and thats because we got to know each other while working together as freelancers for newspapers and magazines. But Juri started the blog that later became Splendido on his own at first, that was in 2015. He has always been a great cook and just started writing down what he was cooking. Since Mercedes loves cooking too and we both enjoyed cooking and eating together from the moment we first met, she got envious of his blog pretty quickly and was allowed to join. Eventually we decided to focus our magazine on Italian cuisine. Not only because it is the one cooking style we prefer and always come back to. Also it is a food culture with an almost infinite amount of local traditions, recipes and specialties to explore. Plus we have an apartment in Lombardy, Northern Italy, where we live up to about six months a year and travel a lot throughout Italy to learn more about Italian food and to find great spots to eat and shop local specialties. Pretty quickly we saw the interest for the blog grow bigger and decided to professionalize it.

 

Artischocken_Lasagne_02

 

How did you start and what kind of work/preparation behind Splendido?

After we decided to professionalize Splendido in 2017, we hired an agency to help us with the visual concept and the programming of a website that resembles no longer a blog but a profound magazine with a look and feel that fitted our needs and intentions. The new website went online in the end of 2018 and immediately it was well worth the hard work and money that went into it. The website is growing steadily since and by now it really became a job rather than being a nice hobby. We put a lot of work into the content of our website and work constantly on growing our audience. But it is still worth every minute of it, because a) we get to cook, eat and travel a lot and b) there is no better feeling in the world than being a creator and work on the behalf of your own business.

Zwiebelmarmelade_02-2048x1366

What’s so special in it?

A lot of people tell us they love not only our photos and recipes, but especially our writing. We try to write from a very personal perspective and we don’t just give instructions on how to cook something but always tell a little back story about a recipe too. Be it some witty or funny thought about life and cooking or some interesting fact about Italian food. Also we rarely give exact quantities in a recipe but rather encourage the reader to trust his own gut and develop his own sense and intuition for tasting and quantities.

We love the Italian principle of „quanto basta“, which means: no one can tell you how much of an ingredient you really need because you have to feel and taste for yourself whether its enough salt / flour / egg for your taste and also for the circumstances you’re working in.

 

How do you get inspired?

We travel a lot, read a lot, talk to people. Especially while on the road and when eating out in restaurants or visiting farmers. One of our favorite things to do is also to go for huge walks in a city like for example Milan and look at every single restaurant menu in the streets. Thats when we always come up with new recipe ideas or simply ideas for new combinations of ingredients. But inspiration can really hit you anywhere. We just launched our fashion collection (shop.splendido-magazin.de, we also ship to Italy), and therefore we collected photographs of Italian typography in the streets which we now worked with to design T-Shirts and Caps.

Ei_Raviolo_02-1910x1274

 

Where does your passion come from?

Good question. I guess we have both always loved food, loved Italy, loved traveling and look at the world and learn about traditions, cultures, design and daily human life in general, but also loved being artists and follow our talents in the fields of writing and photography. We have always been searching for some platform to combine all of these things in a fruitful and focused way so that it could also become an independent business and source of income for us.

 

Difficulties you had to face and goals.

The goal is definitely to grow and to be able to keep exploring Italy as well as our own capacities. We have a lot of plans for the future, our fashion collection was only the beginning.

 

Suggestions/advices to someone who wants to start a blog?

Focus on your true strength and find a niche. Don’t do it for the fame or your ego but for the matter. Convey value, ideally timeless value. Know what you’re writing about and don’t ever be seduced to become superficial or careless because the internet is quick and trashy. Be tyrannical when it comes to detail. And then: keep posting.

 

Projects for the future?

Many.

Follow Mercedes and Juri here but also in FB and Instagram
Fashion Designer

ATELIER HAAS

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The Road is Devendra

 

A conversation with young clothing designer Lisa Haas, 27 years old and currently based in Munich, who wants to bring back the awareness to the original hand craft and loves to create common projects as the above video. 

 

When did you start with fashion and why?

There was no clear starting point but I always felt drawn to creating things with my hands. That started at a very early age – drawing, paper crafting, crocheting… and never stopped to this day.

It happened naturally that I ended up in this field.

The passion about creating and realising your own ideas from a picture in your head until it comes alive in reality is what keeps me going. During my teenage years I started to teach myself how to sew. This resulted in designing and sewing my own graduation dress for school, although back then, I didn’t have much experience with pattern cutting. There was just this strong wish and belief to get this red dress done. And with a little help it worked out in the end.

Looking at that dress now makes me smile… but we all start somewhere. This is important.
Then things moved on from there. I did my first internship in my hometown and had the chance to do another one at Puma in London, to find out whether my wish to study fashion design after those experiences would prevail. It did.
I started with fashion because I truly love the handcraft. The ability of creating things by yourself and experiencing the whole development, every step, from start to finish causes a deep connection to what you are doing. That is a wonderful process and feeling to me. Expanding the knowledge on your craftsmanship in order to prevent it from dying out feels even more important nowadays. Actually, I prefer to say clothing design instead of fashion design, because to me that adds value to it.

Dreams.

One of my biggest dreams is to go abroad again to work with an international team in an interdisciplinary studio. The exchange between people within a team and the common work on a project towards the same goal makes me feel the special energy coming alive. Also this environment doesn’t need to be within fashion only. It is about creating the network.
At the moment, I am enticed by the opportunities of clothing design of work wear for restaurants, hotels, etc. You create clothing for real people who work there. Still, there is a minimalist and timeless design approach customized for each client, with the goal of making the uniforms personalised for every employee.
Another dream is to work as a costume designer for dance companies and music artists. I have a strong connection and love for dance, as I’ve been dancing myself for years. Here, creating clothing comes again with different challenges, this time combining customisation for each dancer while allowing optimal performance, i.e. movement.

My goal is to spread my enthusiasm with my fellow workers through the work and projects as well as the time we share together. Basically, contributing to the creative field with my work while also being able to gather people to learn and create together and thereby giving something back.

What to do to pursue goals?

Right now, I am focussing on connecting with people it would be great to work for and with. I am always open to collaborations. Currently, it feels like a transition phase. Simultaneously, I’m creating ideas and realizing outfit projects I have had in mind for a long time. I’m also working with people within the network I built up here in Munich.

time(is)less_LisaHaas_6_by IsabellaHager-mintime(is)less_LisaHaas_3_by IsabellaHager-min

Inspiration.

Stories around people and feelings that certain situations create inspire me most. This method is also how I approached my graduation collection “Time(is)less”. The concept is about the perception of time nowadays with regard to deceleration. Keywords are, amongst other things, protection and restriction. This resulted in creating some kind of ‘armour’ protecting you as a second layer. At the same time, this piece might narrow your own field of action because you wear it on top and it is not always possible to put it on fully by yourself. To me, this is a way of translating feelings into clothing. What does the wearer feel? It is my main question when creating.
Colours and textures are a source of inspiration too. Often, the fabrics are there before I really know what it is going to be. It is interesting, as sometimes the fabric just ‘tells’ what it should become. When there is a certain colour combination that attracts me, my eyes begin to sparkle. No matter where I find it… in the streets, in the landscape, in rooms, in pictures. I take photographs, sometimes some notes as well and come back to it when needed. Over time, this has resulted in some kind of photo library, a personal collection of inspiration.
Talking about this leads to another form of art that I enjoy: collages. With small cut out pictures from an existing world another new world is created. For this, I am randomly collecting newspapers and magazines to look for interesting images I can use any time later on.

Motivation.

I remind myself why I started this in the first place. It is sewing. It is gaining knowledge about the handcraft and learning within the field of aesthetics. Being capable of performing a certain task. I am also happy to spread my knowledge.
Obviously, you might reach a point in life where you rethink what you are doing right then. At that time, it may seem difficult but this hardship may bring a lot of (hidden) opportunities with it. You need to keep going, trust in yourself and listen to that inner voice. Even if the next chapter you are about to embark on isn’t clear yet.
Also, I try to reach out to other disciplines. A huge passion of mine is cycling with my racing bike. Long distance trips or climbs in the mountains always help me clear my mind and I return re-energised for new projects.

Difficulties.

What is the purpose of fashion nowadays? If you can speak of purpose… In which way do we need to produce today? These questions became more and more present over the years since the beginning of my studies.
For me, it starts with raising the perception and value of clothing in society again. There needs to be an awareness of how long it actually takes to realize a single garment, how much work and time is invested, in order to prevent it from being thrown away carelessly. The value of clothing has decreased over the years, but I also think it is slowly increasing again. We need to shift our minds and attitudes towards the worth of clothing.

My personal style is minimalistic and reduced with some details you only notice with a second, closer look. Taking inspiration from menswear and combining it with feminine shapes shows the interaction of contrasts, which I am fond of.

Even though it’s been a couple of years since I created ‘Time(is)less‘, it is still relevant today – how are we using our time nowadays and how is it influenced by society and the system’s rules?

To carry on this thought I came back to creating a timeless wardrobe representing yourself, as I still believe that clothing is a protection for yourself and your personality, that can make you feel comfortable – because unfitted, impersonalised clothing can achieve quite the opposite. Through defining your personality and the clear vision of what you want to wear in order to feel being yourself automatically leads to buying less but selected garments of good quality that have a long term space in your wardrobe. This is what I am focusing on in my work right now. Another challenge is to only make use of all the fabrics I collected over the years.

There is a love to create an outfit for someone, be it a wedding outfit and concert outfit for a cellist. My wish is to allow people to feel like themselves when wearing their outfit, it encourages them in what they are doing because it fits perfectly and underlines their personality.

My take on these issues and the future of clothing design:

Be aware of what you have and use what is already there. I believe that personalised clothing, i.e. especially made for someone, will increase its value to the owner. The awareness of how long it actually takes to create a garment needs to be transparent to consumers again to avoid the cycle of buying cheap clothes just like that and throwing them away uncaringly as soon as there is the slightest damage that could easily be fixed by someone with the most basic knowledge of sewing. To me there is magic in repairing things. Not only clothing. It shows that you care about them. Hence, I want to share not only that magical feeling with others but also give them a means of achieving this by sharing my knowledge and experience in the field.

VIDEOS – Styling by Atelier Haas

“The Road is Devendra”
“Amy Ayanda – Visitors”

Photo credits by Isabella Hager, Manuel Nieberle, Simon Freund, Lisa Haas

Atelier Haas

Donatella

Shops

ReSales Secondhand & more

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Easy to guess, ReSales Secondhand is a shop in which is possible to buy used clothes. We visited and went to buy in some shops in Germany, some of them in Munich, others in Berlin, but you can find some more in other German cities.

The concept is very basic: to buy these kind of clothes and accessories is ecological and sustainable, a way to help the environment.

Usually the shops are very big, with a section for men, one for women, for children, some items for the house and some accessories. Every shop is a little bit different from the other. From shoes to ornaments it’s possible to find almost everything, depending on the store. As we already said when we talked about a similar store concept, this is a wonderful and easy way to buy pretty stuff spending a little money, not bad! 😉

As it is written on the website, “The production of clothing and shoes causes a high burden on the environment. For the production of textile fibers, the garment industry requires ever larger amounts of energy, water and oil. Already in the production of a single T-shirt about 2,700 liters of water are consumed. Pesticides and fertilizers bring nature out of balance. Cotton plantations are treated with crop protection agents up to 25 times during the growth phase. The CO2 arising during the production and finishing process of textiles is also included in the ecological negative balance.”

You can do something to help save the Earth!

In the shops you can find every size, a lot of different brands -also designer clothes– and good ideas for presents. We suggest you to stop by if you look, for example, for christmas gifts, it is always good to give something special and environmentally friendly!

 Buy second hands products

– to save money

– to respect the environment

– to change more often your whole wardrobe 😉

Stay updated and find more information here

Pictures are from www.unsplash.com – https://pixabay.com/it/. Images are for illustrative purposes only.

Donatella

Food

PIZZERIA MIMMO e CO.

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When you travel a lot sometimes it’s difficult to find good places to eat where you’re not only satisfied but can actually feel spoiled and happy like a child. If you happen to be in Munich, don’t lose the chance to visit Mimmo!

Below are the comments of people who have already eaten at Mimmo’s restaurant, just to give you an idea of what he is capable of…

“I went there a couple of times and I had two great experiences. Finally, I found a nice pizza in Munich, the service is great and very friendly (and not expensive at all). I will go back for sure”

“In addition to a perfect pizza you can find very nice people working there: what makes Mimmo special is the hospitality and friendliness. Very highly recommended for anyone who would like to be thrown in an Italian environment and have a good meal. It could be useful to have a reservation for the weekend.”

“Be prepared to be transported to Italy the minute you step through the door of Mimmo E Co. The staff is Italian, a lot of the diners are Italian, the ambience is Italian – in fact it feels like you are eating in a family kitchen in Sorrento, not a restaurant in Munich. The food is simple Italian fare at its best with generous portions and good seasoning. The standard menu features all the usual classics with daily specials adding a bit more variety. My friend had a delicious linguine with swordfish, cherry tomatoes and olives – and I had dish envy all night! Prices are excellent value and the green salad was a proper salad not just a few limp lettuce leaves. We were too full to try the desserts but they looked scrummy. Make sure you leave room!”

“The pizza combined with the super friendly service makes it to an amazing place!”

“Tried this place for the first time after seeing all the excellent reviews in TripAdvisor- I actually live just around the corner from this place… Great place! Food is lovely; Augustiner beer is the best choice, friendly and great service!! I visited twice in a space of one week and each time I enjoyed my dinner very much! As it is already mentioned, Pizza crust is not as thin as I expected- it’s fluffy, and very filling but you can tell its made of good ingredients. Highly recommended”

“I found out this restaurant on TripAdvisor, and it was like being back to Italy for a dinner. I’m Italian, I’ve eaten thousands of pizzas in my life but I really loved Mimmo’s creations! I’ve tried Bresaola, Quattro stagioni and Rustica so far: all wonderful. Also tiramisù is good. The place is cozy, the staff very kind and Mimmo is supernice!
I totally recommend this restaurant, especially to those who want to taste pizza for the first time.”

“We got in early and it was a good thing, because Mimmo filled up right away. Great little neighborhood pizza place. It seemed like everyone knew everyone, except us, being travellers from Canada and being tipped off by TripAdvisor reviews. The aroma coming from the kitchen was outstanding. The staff was warm and attentive. We enjoyed some good wine, a couple excellent salads and a couple pizzas each. We left very happy. Pleased as well that we had a 1.5km walk back to our hotel, which we definitely needed.”

“… a perfect dough, the best quality Italian ingredients, baked in a wood fired oven… totally scrumptious. It is an absolute treat to have Mimmo’s pizzas, whichever one is chosen (one of my favorites is with prosciutto, parmesan and rocket/ rucola).

It is also a delight watching Mimmo making a pizza base, throwing the dough into the air and catching it while singing a familiar Italian tune.

Mimmo E Co(rina), the couple that runs the place with love and dedication, real Italian flair and friendliness, make you feel welcome and at home. “

“Habe den Laden gerade vor kurz entdeckt und bin mega begeistert!! Die Pizza ist der Hammer, Mimmo und Corina sind sehr sehr freundlich, einfach super sympathisch! Und auch die anderen Gäste waren sehr entspannt. Alles super! Das ist die beste italienische Pizza die ich in Bayern gegessen habe. Man merkt das hier ist alles schön kross, frisch und gut. Ich komm schnell wieder!
Fazit: Pizza, wie sie sein sollte! Dessert: Super!!”

“Всегда приятно отведать отличной пиццы. Нам показали это место местные друзья.
Очень понравилось пальчики оближешь! Немного прогулявшись от вокзала попадаешь в приятное (не пафосное) заведение.
Притом вкусно все и пицца и паста и десерты! По себе знаю что сложно угодить компании
(6 человек) и что бы все были в восторге.
Попробуйте будет вкусно “

“Accoglienza, professionalità, bontà, gentilezza, si mangia da Dio. Io l’ho trovato per caso, non pensavo di trovare un ristorante di quel livello.”

“Locale accogliente, moderno, con forno per le pizze a vista, insomma un ristorante Italiano “contemporaneo” e non il solito “pasta&pizza” un po’ datato che sovente si trova all’estero. Personale molto gentile ed attento (parlano tutti italiano), menù con buona offerta, tutto buono! Ha la fama di essere il locale che serve la migliore pizza di Monaco e ci credo! Lasciate un posticino anche per il dolce perchè non è da meno. Prezzi adeguati ed assolutamente contenuti. Appena fuori dal centro, ma facilmente raggiungibile (meglio in taxi), non dimenticatevi di prenotare perchè rischiate di non trovare posto! Se siete a Monaco ed avete nostalgia della cucina di casa… questo è il posto giusto! Da provare.”

“Servizio eccellente, locale molto accogliente, Mimmo e Co simpaticissimi!
Quindi diffidate delle imitazioni…e prenotate sempre e solo da Mimmo e Co! “

So, our experience was totally the same, you step inside and Mimmo smiles from the kitchen as you open the door and yells warmly at you in Italian: “Welcome, have a seat, what pizza would you like?”

And while you are appreciating the mozzarella melting deliciously in your mouth, or while you are losing yourself in a marvelous and almost erotic Spaghetti alla Carbonara, he will ask you if everything is all right with the dinner.

…OH, DAMN… YES, definitely so much that you would hug him!

Thanks Mimmo (and your staff) for this special and bighearted treatment, clients can always recognize when you do your job with real passion and love.

Keep it up the good work!

www.pizzeria-mimmoeco.de

Pizzeria Mimmo e Co., Kapuzinerstr. 6,  80337 München

Telefon: 089 – 76 70 15 45

Highlights

SAMUEL SOHEBI

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             He started his professional adventure with the best statement ever:

“YES, I CAN DO IT”

Name: Samuel Sohebi

Profession: Celebrity Stylist & Owner of the shop Kult By Samuel Sohebi

Born in Munich in the 1988 and started as a Stylist for Philipp Plein.

He started his professional adventure as a fashion stylist with the best statement ever: “YES, I CAN DO IT”. Even though it was a new experience for him, he is convinced of the fact that you must be able to sell yourself even when you are not able to do something, and just GO FOR IT.

He started with Philip Plein, and from there the people and the press started to notice him, by taking pictures and talking about him. He has worked with Naomi Campbell in Ibiza, the Russian Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Glamour in Russia. He has prepared several campaigns for jewels and perfumes, and also provides styling services in Cannes for L’Oreal during the Film Festival event.

Furthermore, he has worked for Penelope Cruz and her sister Monica, to prepare them for the red carpet.

Of course, social networks played a big part on his success, people are always interested in which party you are going to, and which people you are hanging out with; you always have to keep the public informed and keep the magic alive.

In comparison to other stylists who start as Magazine editors, he started by styling models at events. For Sam, styling is not something you can learn; it’s a talent, something you do with passion and that needs inspiration. You have to combine the magic of the creation of the designer with the personality of the celebrity you work for.

In 2012 he opened his shop, Kult by Samuel Sohebi. The dresses he sells are purchased personally by him from around the world, especially from Italy (Bologna, Florence, Milan) and famous designers. Samuel cares not only about the quality or the brand of the dress, but about the aesthetics.

He realizes that not every woman can afford a designer dress since they can be expensive, but also, since every woman does not have the size of a model, he tries to mix and create a combination of the most beautiful dresses, taking into consideration that every woman needs to feel like a princess but in her own skin. There is no pressure to sell, every client must feel free and feel at home.

Something that always surprises him is when some famous women in the fashion or showbiz industry ask for his opinion on their look, and the best compliment for him is when clients come back to tell him about the event, show him pictures of the dress, how well it fit, and how satisfied they were.

What is the difference between a styling job for a magazine and a celebrity?

“In the first case, there is a story to tell the public, while in the second case, you dress a woman that wants to look and feel sexy. She wants to be the star under the spotlight and her goal is to get into the magazine or blogs in the best way possible. In order to do a great job as a stylist on the red carpet you have to study the trends of the moments, you need to know who is the designer of the moment.”

What are the difficulties of this job?

“Attitudes. A lot of attitudes are not coming from models or celebrities, as you could imagine, but from the staff, managers, photographers, who in some cases don’t know anything about fashion.”

Fashion in Europe and USA:

“I will like to move to New York to work as an intern for Vogue. I wouldn’t mind starting from scratch by doing trivial things like delivering coffee and making copies as long as I am doing what I love and taking steps to get where I want to be. In Germany fashion faces hard times. Sometimes you feel there is no progress like everything is moving in circles, and this is the unpleasant sensation I feel every time I come back from Milan or Cannes. In America it’s totally different, there is a lot going on and coming out and as a young man I know that professionally I can really grow up fast.”

WATCHING, LAUGHING AND TALKING ABOUT SOME OF SAM’S PICTURES:

4 men walking in suits

This photo depics Sam, his brother and two of his best friends headed to a sale event for the shop. It’s an unusual photo in Munich, where women love to be fashionable but it s more difficult to see guys walking like this along the street. The pic was taken with a simple phone but looks great and it captures a great moment for Sam.

Chanel Iman with a light blue dressabito lungo azzurro argenteo

They met each other at Elie Saab backstage in Cannes back in the 2009; Sam went to Iman because he noticed her cool tattoo on her back, from there they started talking and exchanged contacts to be friends. Sometimes Sam brings her dresses, she is really an easygoing and simple person. The dress she is wearing is from a Prêt-à-Porter dress (Versace).

Samuel on a catwalk

We jump back to 2009, the first year of life of the shop Kult by Samuel Sohebi and his 24th Birthday. He decided to launch this event, and while organizing by himself for the first time in his life, he realized how difficult it is to prepare an event for 600 guests, and manage the staff including photographers, models, and the press. But he took this event as an investment to let people know him, his job, his passion, and his shop, and you know how social networks of course do the rest by sharing the event, pictures, tags, hashtags, that is the way people get to know you faster and search for your name around… who is this guy? Just click on it.

Be always ready.

Sam and Redfoo moment LMFAO

The pic was shot in Cannes in 2013. It was 10 am on a beautiful sunny day and probably Redfoo from LMFAO partied all night long in the same distinct and colorful outfit, and as he was not interested in sleeping, he decided to look around for someone to play tennis with. Guess what? Sam is always in the right place in the right moment, you know that thing called… TIMING! Even though he was not able to play the game, he always finds a way to be over the top. And by the way, who would say no to LMFAO?

Mr. Bentley and Sam

The name of his dog has a reason!

Once, he worked for P. Diddy during an event promoting his perfume UNFORGIVABLE cologne by Sean John and the White Party, which took place at Nikki Beach in Saint Tropez. He remembered how P. Diddy’s family members were all absolutely nice to him; with his mother being the funniest woman in the world, and P. Diddy himself being one of the coolest party people ever. While Sam was having the best working experience of his life, the only person that was repeatedly rude to him without reason was the guy holding P. Diddy’s umbrella. His name was Mr. Bentley, that’s why he decided to Name his dog after him!

How did he get this job?

It was faith; Sam was in Saint Tropez when he met a guy he knew from the US who was kind of desperate because the stylist he wanted for the event was sick. He needed a replacement, so he just asked Sam if he knew a good stylist? SERIOUSLY?

At this point, we all know that Sam tends to have perfect timing, so he just suggested himself, and took the chance to show what his mama gave him! In every game played something unexpected always pops up, and in Sam’s case, he was able to meet Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton and received the chance to work with them.

Hotel Room with Model

sam hotel modelThis shot was taken in the room of Costes Hotel in Paris. It was a dress fitting for Alessandra Ambrosio and Sam needed to find a model the same sizes as her to see if the dress would fit her well.

In this picture you can see everything; Sam in the back, tired and doubtful about whether the client would like his choice or not, the model in front of the mirror, and last but not least, a dog, fearless of what is happening in the lives of the people there, as he hatches happily out of the window.

Alessandra Ambrosio loved the dress and we can totally understand why.

Samuel and Andre’ Leon Talley (Vogue)

This pic was shot at a Chanel event at Gran Palais. Sam designed the white fur bag is grabbing in the pic, André Leon came to him to ask who was the designer of the bag and Sam was surprised to receive his attention. For Sam, André is a really good advisor when it comes to the professional life.

moment

You are free to follow him and his celebrities here – SAMUEL SOHEBI FACEBOOK PAGE

Highlights

Jesús Cañadas

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“As you can see, there have been many changes in my life in the last twelve years, but one thing has always remained the same: my passion for literature. I have been reading for almost as long as I can remember. At some point, I also started writing my own stories.”

 

Let’s start talking about you, who is Jesús Cañadas?

I was born in the south of Spain in 1980, in a small city called Cádiz. I lived there since I was 23 years old. At that time I left to study in Venice. I was going to leave for just one year, but it turned out that I never came back. Since then, I have lived in 13 different cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Osaka, Lecce, San Sebastián, Göttingen, Frankfurt… right now I spend most of the time in Berlin. As you can see, there have been many changes in my life in the last twelve years, but one thing has always remained the same: my passion for literature. I have been reading for almost as long as I can remember. At some point, I also started writing my own stories.

When did you start writing and how did it happen?

I guess these things just happen. I have been a huge fantasy / horror fan since I was a teenager. You start day-dreaming about writing the same stories that touch you in any way. Then you imitate your favorite writers and, needless to say, you write crap. You spend an indecent amount of time writing crap, until one day something switches in your head and you understand how to write something that is neither plagiarism of those authors nor crap. That is the beginning. After that you have to learn how to write for real.

I wrote my first crappy short story when I was fifteen, I think. Luckily for the whole world, it has been lost for ages. I spent the next twelve years trying to figure out what makes a good story. Writing a novel seemed too far away for me. I used to tell myself I was not ready yet. Until one day, while I was living in Göttingen, I said to myself: “You stupid fuck; when do you know you are going to be ready? Come on and give it a try!” The result was my first novel, which I finished in Osaka: “El Baile de los Secretos.”

I guess that was pretty much it. I have not stopped ever since.

Which kind of writer are you?

Until the present day I have written three books: “El baile de los secretos”, a dark fantasy heavily inspired by early Tim Burton’s works or films such as Pan’s Labyrinth, was published in 2011.

Then came “Los nombres muertos”, a sort of classic adventure novel starring H.P. Lovecraft himself, where he is forced to travel around the world to find a book that does not exist. That one was published by Penguin Random House in 2013. It will be translated into Portuguese and published in Brazil at some point in 2015.

My third novel “Anochece” could be described as a murder mystery with a strong fantastic component. It will also be published in Spain in 2015. I am currently writing my fourth novel, from which I still cannot tell you much. But this much I can tell: there is fantasy, there is horror, there will be blood!

As you can see, fantasy is my favorite genre. It is not the only genre I read; I actually do not advise to read only one genre. But no matter what I write, some fantastic element ends up finding its way into the story. However, even though you can find monsters, demons, cults, nazis, cannibals, giant squids and whatnot in my stories, I think at some level they all deal with one simple topic: family.

Hobbies – Interests – Passions

People usually think that authors have intense, amazing lives. The truth is we are regular ordinary folks who wake up, sit in front of the computer with a coffee mug for a couple of hours and then go to work. The amazing things happen inside my head, but from outside it could not me more boring. My interests are most ordinary: I like travelling, I consider myself a decent cook, I am also a big cinema fan… … Hello? … We are in an interview! WAKE UP!

Where do you get the inspiration to write? How much of you and your life is in your books?

Literally everywhere. It can be a film, something I read in a book, a comic, maybe a conversation… actually, all of the latter together. Everything mixes in your head and lays there for hours, days, whatever. Then you go jogging or do the dishes and, bam! you get the idea. However, the idea is not the problem. The difficult part is sitting your ass down and turning that amazing idea into an amazing story. That part is hard as fuck; that is why writing has much less to do with inspiration as it has to do with work.

Everything from me and my life is in my books. I am part of all the characters, even though something it is incredibly difficult to control them.

Can you “describe” us how it works when you write?

Exactly as I explained before: boring. I wake up at 7.00 a.m. I pee. I make coffee. I am grumpy and feel like shit and complain about everything and my back hurts and I ask myself what I am doing with my life and why I don’t sleep more. I drink coffee. I feel better. Much better, actually. It is 7.30, so I better start hitting the keyboard. Then I write for two hours. Sometimes I hit 2.000 words, sometimes I do not even reach 400. Sometimes every single sentence sucks and I fell that I do not know how words match together anymore. But other times, and this is why I everyone writes, the story is alive and you feel like it comes through you, that you are really just a channel. This state of mind is called “the flow” and it is almost like a drug.

I also have a day job, so at 9:30 I stop and pretend I am working. I work from home, so this is not difficult. I will spend the rest of the day thinking what happens next in the novel. After work I will try to read at least other two hours. I keep a notebook close to write down any idea.

That is basically it: Wake up. Write. Repeat.

What do you miss from Spain? How is your life in Germany; what do you like more and what would you change?

Even in this question I am boring, you see? I miss the food, the sun and my friends, just as every other south European living in Germany. However, I cannot complain: I have a good job that leaves me enough time to write. I enjoy life in Berlin; I would not change it for any other city in Germany. Plus, my writing career is going pretty well: my second novel was shortlisted for every single fantasy award in Spain, plus it has been translated. Critics have listed my name among a new wave of writers that people should pay attention too!

As I said, I cannot complain. Nevertheless, I do complain, for complaining is a part of a Spaniard’s identity: I wish I had more time to write and more opportunities to visit my family in Spain. And I wish winter were not so cold in Germany!!

Let’ s talk about your last book: feel free to promote it!

Well, I can gladly promote my last book: “Los nombres muertos” (The Dead Names).

Website

Donatella

Fashion Designer

KILENZ

Galleria

“You have to be passionate in what you do, every plan needs more time than what you imagined at the beginning.“

 

 

Kilenz is Hanna and Anna’s delicate concept. It was a warm afternoon of summer when we decided to have a friendly chat with Hanna, 28 years old from Munich, in order to get to know their brand better. After 6- 7 years of studies and traineeships in several ateliers to gain experience, she pursued her dream with a friend, the other Anna, a former fellow student. In 2012 they launched Kilenz in a cellar in Munich, mainly friends and family were coming in, the main strategy was organizing parties to entertain and attract new clients and get known, was really though attracting more clients. In April 2014 they moved into the current atelier in Glockenbachviertel, since then their growth has been fast and stable.

Currently Hanna Wolf is leading Kilenz alone since Anna Hinterdobler left the business at the end of last year.

Let us talk about your marketing strategy.

The promotion of the brand happens most of the time by word of mouth, people have a look at the windows and come in, sometimes we produce small handouts and other times we throw nice parties so that our clients may have a drink, get to know the place, being intrigued by the product, the downside of this strategy is the small budget available, it is not easy to do everything we’d like to.

Second of all, it would be great to be a green company, regrettably it’s really expensive. More important: it’s hard to get the desired materials in organic or fair trade quality. The fact is that I really care about this issue, my mother who had an organic shop had a significant influence on me this is why environment is important to me.

How did you start to work together with Anna?

We started working in different companies but the fashion world is not an easy world, that’s why we decided to try to push ourselves beyond our limits and create something together. We spent half year thinking and discussing about the project, in January we started and in April the opening occurred presenting our first collection. Usually we work independently, each one of us on its own, in a second step we merge the ideas and it is definitely thrilling how they always fit.

Why the name Kilenz?

It means 9 in Hungarian: we started 9 years ago, me and Anna met 9 years ago. We changed the name a little bit, “Lenz” in German means Spring, we also tried to find a combination of different things that makes the name sound original.

Generally you opt for a static photo shoot, why?

I prefer to keep it simple and easy. I love it pure and straight, it shouldn’t be too much.

What are the people in Munich looking for?

Some people don’t know what they are looking for and most of the them don’t know what they’ll find by us. They come because they need a dress for a special day so we try to give them what they need, we showcase several options, starting from the colors for instance. We can customize everything or just details but we always stick to our style. We usually need around 6 weeks to realize a dress, but of course it depends on the specific case.

Do clients really realize how long it takes to make a dress?!

Usually they try to get earlier what they want! The first appointment is just to decide what the final desired product should be, after that my research focuses on the fabrics needed and eventually their purchase. In the following phase they come in to wear it on so we can start to make the right adjustments. Around 2-3 appointments are necessary to get the job done.

Which kind of customers come here?

They are so different: it could happen to be my neighbor or a princess!

It’s always exciting to find out the result of the combination of our style and their style. At the end of the day what matters is that we have both to be happy. If I think that the dress is not suitable for the customer, I just say it and we proceed only to produce something  that both we appreciate. It is a collaboration; if I do something that I don’t sincerely approve to be worthy, then at the end of the day nobody will be content.

From which fashion designer are you inspired?

I really love Dries van Noten. He is still independent and I think that this is great, he is really cool and successful. The whole concept is good, you can always notice when the clothes are from him.

How do you think you can inspire somebody?

“Less is More”, I want to show that simple things can be the right option. Fashion is often too much, too overloaded. A lot of people would look better if they rather choose the “Less”. I try to suggest to some of my friends for example, by telling them what they could try on, sometimes a person doesn’t understand alone what look is better for itself.

What would you say to somebody who show a dream like yours?

You have to be passionate in what you do, every plan needs more time than what you imagined at the beginning. Work very hard for a long time and later maybe you’ll get famous. I think that you need at least 4 or 5 years to see some results. It’s always a risk but you have to try. If you have a lot of money it can be easier, but otherwise you need a lot of creativity and work.

Our families strongly supported us, not financially but by doing for us everything they can, all the way until now they did everything necessary to make our dream happen.

What do the people say of your job?

Most of the time they only see the brightest side: they think that our job is amazing, they envy the fact we are able to spend our time doing something so creative, but they don’t realize the downside: for example, the struggle with the money, at the end of the month we have to count every penny because we don’t have a real salary, we need time and patience to get there.

Do you have time to travel? Where do you get your inspiration?

Unfortunately I don’t have so much time to do it as often as I would like. I often take my inspiration from the daily life, my environment and the people. Traveling is a way to get more and more inspiration, but anyway what I design is what I would like to wear and what my customer could actually wear in the daily life.

Any project for the future?

I would like to expand the brand and take the basic collection in more cities but what it is important for me is to lose not the contact with the reality, we like the glamour of the international world of fashion, yes, but our main goal is to have always real people wearing our clothes, I won’t ever sacrifice the connection with our regular customer.

To get more information, please visit: http://kilenz.com

The shop is in Jahnstraße 52,  Munich.

 

Donatella