Jonathan Vierbaum - Hochschule Pforzheim

Kinder der Erde – Hochschule Pforzheim

“Children of the Earth” is a collection that will probably interest you only moderately and won’t change a damn thing.  So why am I telling you about it? Don’t ask why, but why not? An underrated question, in my opinion. And as we all know, people love their own opinions no matter how irrelevant or unreflective they may be. Anyway, I originally wanted to call the collection “Son of the Earth,” which in hindsight would have been pretty self-centered. But it is about me, in a way. Me as the key player. Designer and consumer rolled into one. My physical body as the starting point and the goal. The be-all and end-all, yin and yang. So why not just blast that f***ing sh*** business model in my head to the f***ing moon and just make clothes exactly how I feel like it. That’s “Children of the Earth.” Eat or be eaten. My grandma always said I’d eat the hair off her head. And I’m going to eat, damn it, however and whenever I feel like it. But let’s get back to the collection. I’ve already given it some thought, so I might as well be kind enough to share it with you now:

What if emotional value for objects (e.g., clothing) can arise through appreciation and a slower pace in the creative process? (How) Can we counter the sheer volume and flood of impressions and the fetishization of images? What happens when we, as creators, adopt a different understanding of the designer’s role? What would that look like from the perspective of sustainability?

These were some of the central, highly philosophical questions I grappled with for this collection. Have I arrived at a satisfactory answer? What do you think? I believe these questions were at least framed in such a way that everyone can have the pleasure of grappling with them themselves to find a suitable answer. Whether that answer is satisfactory is up to you.

Now I just have to get a few words of “craftsmanship propaganda” off my chest. I love this f****** s***. I highly recommend you start something where you know right from the start, okay… it’s going to take about 100 hours before you see the light at the end of the tunnel. In the process, you’ll get to know yourself in a whole new way. And you’ll get the unique opportunity to violently tear your eyes away from the screen of your choice, the one you’re usually glued to. If you can’t do that, you might want to seek professional help. Jonny (the resident idiot) sent you, you could say.

Finally, I’d like to personally congratulate you on making it through this rambling text and leave you with the following questions: Are you living the way you truly want to, from the bottom of your heart? How much hedonism can our society tolerate? Or wouldn’t we all be better off with more of it? Let’s say hedonism is yin and consideration is yang. Cool, right?

Jonathan Vierbaum dreams of a sustainable fashion industry and wants to play a key role in bringing about change in the fashion industry. He’ll laugh smugly when the fast-fashion industry gets its just deserts. He aspires to work as a creative patternmaker in a studio, bringing big ideas and concepts to life and, together with his friends, designing things in a way that’s completely different from what’s currently being done. Jonathan is firmly convinced that both pattern construction and a deep understanding of textiles form the foundation of a good fashion house, and he has a deep love for both. Jonathan tries to find validation more and more within himself and doesn’t take himself too seriously. He chose the role of the fool early in life and is firmly convinced that it possesses great power to expose current injustices and win people over to a cause. Jonathan Vierbaum is a fool, a craftsman, a child, a designer, a collector, and a poet. He believes that sustainability and the fashion industry are at odds with each other and are even mutually exclusive. Anyone who claims otherwise is either a hypocrite or naive. We have enough clothes to last us for decades. So why does he still design clothes? He believes that doing nothing is not an option. Through his work, he can raise awareness and uncompromisingly do what he believes is right.

Fotografin: Nadine Mihai