Jana Sander - AMD Akademie Mode & Design
World of Flowers and Willows (Karyukai) – AMD Akademie Mode & Design
At the age of 16 I attended fashion school “Hetzendorf” and there I was also taught how to actually create and make fashion. During my studies I was able to build on and deepen my already existing knowledge and master the art of fashion design. As of now, I recently graduated from the university AMD-Berlin with a Bachelor of Arts in fashion design and remain open to future plans. I have always considered fashion as a way to express myself. It allows me to reinvent myself everyday and that is what I love and have always loved about fashion. Not only have I mastered designing and crafting fashion, but I have also found my individual and unique style of presenting fashion, which is ever-evolving – just like I am. One of the driving forces behind my creativity is most definitely my wild and slightly childlike streak. It keeps me creative even during times of corona and other difficult misfortunes. I believe that every design and every creation can be understood as a birth of my innermost thoughts and beliefs. It always embodies pride, ambition, and yet remains fragile. Karyukai: This collection’s title World of Flowers and Willows (Karyukai) describes the world of geishas and so does the collection. It aims to give people an idea of the life of a traditional geisha. I have been inspired by various rites but also their history, and with that in mind thus consciously took part in a feminist discourse. It is very important to me that I emphasize that my point of view is that of a white woman who grew up in a Western society. My video and photoshoot are stagings that deal with the objectification of the geisha as she basically only is subject to the desire of the heterosexual man. Since one of the traditions that particularly inspired me is the tea ceremony, I created a portrait which is an artistic translation of my feelings during the intensive examination of the topic. The geisha in the teapot: she is an object and can be seen from outside the glass teapot, however, she sits inside and cannot get out. Does she want to break out? Does she just want to be? Does she only want to be seen or does she want to be recognized as a human being in all of its nature? Only she can tell us what she wants.