NEWCOMERS and nominees

a rather oriental look by Manuela Baumgartner, I had to think of opium caves, for some reason ...

... you can say what you may, in terms of PIZAZZ, the annual festival for fashion & photography is probably the most striking event on the Vienna fashion scene, as it comes complete with some glimpses at the REAL fashion world out there (even though the DRAMATIS PERSONAE are very similar to those at competing events such as the Vienna Awards for Fashion and Lifestyle or the annual MQ Vienna Fashion Week). Last week, Marios Schwab came to Vienna for the kick-off-event and I was lucky enough to meet him for a long interview, but that's another story. What I wanted to tell you, right here and right now, is that the nominees for this year's AUSTRIAN FASHION AWARDS were also made public, and there is, IMHO, at least one surprise and one new appearance. But first of all I'll give you the complete list and would like to congratulate all nominees: for the Award sponsored by the Austrian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, George Bezhanishvili (no stranger to readers of ParisVienne...) will compete with Manuela Baumgartner; for the Fashion Award of the City of Vienna, it's meshit (do read that "mesh-it", and not "me-shit", which is not what Ida Steixner and Lena Krampf had in mind) vs. Diptych (Ali Zedtwitz and Valerie Lange); and for the Award for international PR, it's Christina Berger vs. Michaela Buerger.

more by Manuela Baumgartner ...

Now, two things - I find it very interesting to see a new name appear on the list of nominees and potential award winners, and that is Manuela Baumgartner. She studied at Vienna's University of Applied Arts under Raf Simons and Véronqiue Branquinho and graduated in 2008, which was followed by her getting some work experience in London, at Marios Schwab's eponymous fashion label. Always good to see that the Vienna fashion scene isn't completely ebbing off, and that there are new labels appearing on the city's fashion scene (I mean, of course there are always new labels, but some of them seem to be more into producing nice lookbooks and organizing launch events than about making interesting fashion that is more than sloppy floppy drapings that look like heaps of cloth thrown onto a mannequin, if you know what I mean ...). On the other hand, and I know that it's not always been very easy for hard-working and very ambitious Michaela Buerger as part of the extended Austrian fashion scene, I find it a very good signal that the name of this designer, who has lived and worked in Paris for years where she built her own label, who is represented by the same showroom as Marios Schwab and Peter Pilotto, who is successfully collaborating with international brands like Maison Fabre for gloves, Anne Valérie Hash for select knitwear, and Vienna's Mühlbauer millinery, is about to break into a sphere where some official recognition may be hers. At least that's what being a first-time finalist for one of the country's most important fashion awards could stand for, no? ...

and even more by Manuela Baumgartner ...

... le festival de la mode et de la photographie de VIENNE (et ouais, pas Hyères...) va avoir lieu en juin, mais pour être sûr que tout le monde est averti, une soirée spéciale a été organisée la semaine dernière au cours de laquelle le public intéressé a pu assister à un défilé de Marios Schwab (un jeune homme particulièrement charmant d'ailleurs, que j'ai eu la chance d'interviewer le jour avant...) ET les nominés pour les AUSTRIAN FASHION AWARDS 2011 ont été faits publics. Ce sont donc GEORGE BEZHANIsHVILI (que vous connaîtrez sûrement) et MANUELA BAUMGARTNER pour le prix du ministère de culture ; MESHIT (Ida Steixner et Lena Krampf) et DIPTYCH (Ali Zedtwitz et Valérie Lange) pour le prix de la ville de Vienne ; et MICHAELA BUERGER et CHRISTINA BERGER pour le prix "presse internationale". Félicitations à tous ! Et deux remarques : d'un côté, je trouve rassurant et positif qu'il y ait encore de nouveaux noms qui apparaissent sur la scène de la mode viennoise, je me réfère tout concrètement à Manuela Baumgartner, qui fait son entrée dans l'engrenage viennois (une fois dedans, on est normalement recyclé à l'infini ...). Et je suis tout aussi content que MICHAELA BÜRGER, dont j'apprécie, vous le saurez, particulièrement le travail et que je considère comme la créatrice autrichienne de mode féminine avec de loin le plus de visibilité et de poids à l'échelle internationale actuellement (il suffit de penser à ses collaborations avec la maison Fabre et avec Anne Valérie Hash, ainsi qu'à la collection réalisée pour Mühlbauer, et au succès de sa propre marque...), puisse finalement se réjouir d'un peu de reconnaissance en Autriche où on n'a pas toujours réagi de façon très chaleureuse à son travail. Peut-être les AFA 2011 vont marquer le début d'un changement, finalement. Il serait grand temps, je trouve ...

some glimpses at Michaela Buerger's first accessory collection for men for fw11 - wow!

... sebbene l'annuale FESTIVAL DELLA MODA E DELLA FOTOGRAFIA a Vienna si celebri nei primi giorni di giugno, l'evento di lancio ha avuto luogo la settimana scorsa - ed venne completo con sfilata del marchio MARIOS SCHWAB, il celeberrimo austriaco a Londra. A questa occasione e ovviamente come prima tappa di WARM-UP sono stati presentati i nomi dei nominati a questa edizione dei AUSTRIAN FASHION AWARDS. Felicitazioni a tutti, eccovi la lista dei nominati, seguita da due piccole osservazioni: i finalisti per il premio di moda del ministero della cultura sono George Bezhanishvili (già così spesso menzionato su ParisVienne...) e Manuela Baumgartner; i nominati per il premio della città di Vienna sono i labels MESHIT e DIPTYCH, ambedue fondati da un duo di stiliste: Lena Krampf e Ida Steixner per meshit, Ali Zedtwitz e Valerie Lange per Diptych; e poi c'è il premio per INTERNATIONAL PR, le finaliste sono Christina Berger e Michaela Bürger. Auguro il meglio a tutti i finalisti, ma volevo ancora raggiungere che sono contento che vediamo ancora, qualche volta, dei nuovi nomi apparire nel contesto viennese, cioè il caso di MANUELA BAUMGARTNER che, dopo aver studiato all'Università delle Arti Decorative a Vienna, ha fondato la sua griffe nel 2009. E poi, il caso di MICHAELA BUERGER è tutt'altro: lei, per me, è senza dubbio in questo momento la stilista austriaca con la più grande presenza internazionalmente, e non sarei sorpreso se lei ce la facesse di diventare davvero grande un giorno. Da quando ha cominciato a lavorare in Francia nel 2006 (mi pare), si è imposta con la sua propria collezione ma anche grazie ai progetti (continui) realizzati per maison Fabre, Anne Valérie Hash e Mühlbauer a Vienna. Il fatto che lei è appena stata nominata per me rappresenta una prima tappa ad un più ampio riconoscimento anche in Austria ...