DECORATIVE and dirty (kind of)

one word for this collection: amazing!
George Bezhanishvili in collaboration with Franziska Fürpaß

... after being the last to comment on the HETZENDORF PERFORMANCE BATTLE, why not do the same thing for the FASHION SHOW OF VIENNA'S UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED ARTS - be the last one to comment...? Here we go, then ... après avoir été le dernier à laisser son petit commentaire sur le "combat" conçu et réalisé par les étudiants du département de mode associé a l'Université de Linz mais situé à Vienne/Hetzendorf, je me suis dit que je pourrais bel et bien faire la même chose pour le défilé du département de mode de l'Université des Arts Décoratifs - être le dernier à trouver des mots ... penso che sono stato l'ultimo a fare il suo commento sulla "gara di moda" concepita dagli studenti dell'istituto di Hetzendorf, mi sono detto, finalmente, perché no ripetere la stessa cosa riguardo alla sfilata dell'Università delle Arti Decorative - essere l'ultimo a scrivere qualcosa ...

George Bezhanishvili (graduate collection)

... well, the show was very decently and professionally organised, in a way that you rarely see in Vienna. The budget must have been quite remarkable, too. My overall impression is that, quite surprisingly, the show was much less imbibed with the Bernhard-Willhelm-spirit than last year's, when the then new professor maybe felt like he had to prove something (or students were so in awe of him that they decided they all wanted to be like him...). Well, and of course, there were some good, and a few excellent, even outstanding collections. Why not start with George Bezhanishvili? Right, why not? I already pointed him out as "Vienna's new fashion star" on ParisVienne and even as a guest contributor to Hint Magazine two years ago, and never changed my mind since then. As a matter of fact, I think that working together with Franziska Fürpaß on both the Femme Maison womenswear label and the George Bezhanishvili menswear label has led to amazing results, enabling both of them (I also particularly appreciate Franziska's talent, a point I equally made in the write-up of the 2009 show for Hint) to prove and strengthen his talent. The collection was strong, the presentation was powerful, the silhouettes were astounding, the colours blasting, the catwalk show quick and impressive. Ten points out of ten. No, wait, eleven. And Mr. Bezhanishvili, hopefully alongside Miss Fürpaß, should definitely find his place in the fashion world. Which means, of course, that he should do it outside of Vienna. And you know what, I'm even optimistic both of them will realise just this - with George recently being granted a scholarship for an internship abroad, that may become a wee bit easier ...

gorgeous and classy: Milena Heussler (4th year, to be watched out for)

... première remarque : le défilé de la fac a été l'un des mieux faits et plus professionnels que j'aie vu ces derniers temps à Vienne, tous les festivals et semaines de la mode inclus, donc décidément : chapeau pour ceci (le budget doit avoir été impressionnant, tout de même). Puis, concernant les collections des étudiants, il y en avait qui étaient tout à fait remarquables : chapeau, encore une fois ! Pour l'impression générale, je dirais que le défilé a été de loin moins BERNHARDWILLHELMISÉ que celui de l'an dernier, sera-ce parce que Monsieur Willhelm a compris qu'il ne faut pas que la signature du prof transparaisse à chaque prix, ou parce que ses étudiants se sont émancipés un peu plus ? Qui saura le dire ... ? Bon, la plus impressionnante, plus cohérente, et ouais, pourquoi pas le dire, la meilleure collection de la soirée a été présentée par George Bezhanishvili, qui a encore une fois réaffirmé son talent tout à fait extraordinaire. Et je dirais même, depuis qu'il travaille avec Franziska Fürpaß sur aussi bien la jeune griffe FEMME MAISON que la collection signée "George Bezhanishvili", l'esthétique a maturé, l'effet de l'ensemble étant tout à fait extraordinaire ... allora, primo commento, uno che riguarda l'insieme della sfilata - è stato un evento impressionante, molto professionale, compatto. Poi la presenza del professore Bernhard Willhelm è stata meno evidente che l'anno scorso, non so se perché lui si è ritenuto un po' nelle preparazioni, o se gli studenti hanno realizzato che non si tratta di rimodellare ad ogni costo il lavoro del professore. E tra le collezioni, ci sono stati degli esempi davvero bellissimi, prima di tutto direi la collezione di laurea di George Bezhanishvili, realizzata insieme a Franziska Fürpaß, un duo con un grandissimo talento che si è affirmato recentemente anche nel loro lavoro sulla griffe di moda femminile FEMME MAISON ...

Milena Heussler, Cobra Commander vs. Eminem?

... another collection that I really loved was 011 by Milena Heussler (4th year), who, in my opinion, is a hot tip for an excellent graduate collection to come our way next year ... puis j'ai adoré la collection de Milena Heussler, étudiante en 4ème année, un nom à retenir pour l'année prochaine à mon avis ... tra le altre collezioni sono stato impressionato dal lavoro della giovane Milena Heussler, studente del 4° anno, il suo nome, nella mia opinione, può esser ritenuto per l'anno che viene ...

truly lovely: light colours by Taro Ohmae (3rd year),
one of the astounding young Japanese designers in Vienna

... Taro Ohmae and Takahiro Ueno are two Japanese students in their third year at university who have amply proved their ability to beautifully work out how colours can function in a collection ... deux étudiants d'origine japonaise, et tous les deux en troisième année, ont également retenu mon attention, il s'agit de Taro Ohmae et Takahiro Ueno, les deux ayant prouvé qu'ils savent utiliser la bonnte quantité des bonnes couleurs ... due studenti giapponesi, Takahiro Ueno e Taro Ohmae, tutti e due nel terzo anno di studi, mi hanno convinto con il loro talento di utilizzare dei colori, finalmente, dei colori a Vienna, ptete immaginare ? ...

more Japanese power: Takahiro Ueno (3rd year), more than convincing

fun with Isis Flatz (2nd year)

... excellent, too: Ken Kumagai, another Japanese student (2nd year) and Isis Flatz (2nd year), colourful and witty, but just right, never exaggerated, and that's definitely good to see in Vienna after long years of mournful purism ... des étudiants en 2ème année, j'ai bien aimé les couleurs et l'humour de Ken Kumagai et Isis Flatz, juste ce qu'il fallait, pas d'exagération (comme on la connaît de leur prof, par exemple ...) ... tra gli studenti del secondo anno, ho trovato interessanti le proposizioni di Ken Kumagai (un altro giapponese...!) e Isis Flatz, ancora una volta, colori, umore, ma mai troppo, mai esagerato ...

final proof by Ken Kumagai (2nd year): the Japanese are good with colours

cut-up cosplay or so? ... Anna-Sophie Berger (left, 4th year)
received two awards for her collection,
her work I show next to Caroline Pretterebner's (2nd year)

... well, and of course there were so many other students' collections to be marvelled at, I can hardly mention all of them. All in all, the show definitely proved that there's enough fresh fashion talent around in Vienna for the next few years and that quite obviously, students from abroad also have the town on their fashion radar. Anyhow, if I may just give everyone a little advice: continuing that Viennese tradition of the past few years and launching your own label immediately after university without gathering further work experience or giving a career as an assistant designer at some bigger fashion brand a try is maybe not the cleverest thing to do. Just a thought ...

Luciano Raimondi's diploma was maybe a Kate Middleton aftermath (left),
Markus Binder (3rd year) received one of the numerous awards

... et voilà tout. Beaucoup de collections, énormément d'étudiants, et avec un talent tout à fait extraordinaire remarquable la plupart d'entre eux. Je pense que Vienne se maintient comme capitale prometteuse dans le contexte international, et puis, peut-être, un jour, le chemin logique que fera un jeune créateur issu d'une des facultés viennoises ne sera plus de lancer sa propre marque immédiatement après avoir diplômé, on verra ... eccovi tutto ciò che volevo dire, ovviamente non posso menzionare i nomi ed i lavori di tutti gli studenti, comunque sono ottimista che Vienna si manterrà come una delle città europee con un impressionante ambito per la moda, e non sono della stessa opinione di uno dei miei colleghi che mi ha detto, "ma perché mostrare e dare tanta visibilità al lavoro di studenti che non hanno mai presentato una collezione a Parigi" (appunto perché non l'hanno fatto!), una cosa solo: lanciare il suo proprio marchio immediatamente dopo essersi laureato, questo è un cammino che non consiglio a nessun giovane designer - sebbene sia stata la soluzione tipicamente viennese degli ultimi anni ...

that's Lisa Maria Kreiter's diploma, "Hyphen"