Based on the fictitious inhabitants of Ethiopia in year 2012, fashion designer Karin Wuthrich merged Inuit tribal clothing, African body art and European patterns to produce a monochromatic collection filled structurally (pleated) lapels.
Designer’s statement:
If one were to ask the philosopher Wittgenstein what is actually possible in history, he would answer: ‘What is thinkable is also possible.’ What if the course of history could be changed in order to allow something new to develop? In my fiction I joined Inuit with European and African tribes together in the Ethiopian capitol of Addis Abeba in the 17th century to create a new culture. I then tried to imagine what this Addis Abeba would have become if the city had developed into a modern metropolis. My women’s collection shows the clothing of the fictitious inhabitants in the year 2012. Angular forms and padding recall Inuit clothing. African body art determined new silhouettes; richly embroidered European clothing inspired my prints. Materials like flowing silk, technical fabrics, leather and wool support the differentiated effect. Each article of clothing has its own history of development and is part of the traditions of my fictitious world.
