WHOMADETHEM WHOMADETHEM

WHO MADE THEM is a fashion collection by UdK (University of the Arts Berlin) design graduates Johanna Bose and Raphael Guillou.

"who made them?“ - the question that turned into the theme of our collection, is asking about the people we worked with, their contribution, their skills and their working conditions. Their special proficiency has shaped our work. 16 outfits. 8 womens and 8 mens. A crossover of handicraft and industrial production, male and female. Hand-embroidery done in India, Nepalese carpet manufacturing, camouflages and Ernst Haeckels >Kunstformen der Natur<. quilting, collages and QR-codes.

Characteristic for the current situation in the fashion business is that clothes are almost exclusively produced in low-income countries, but are consumed and designed in the western industrial world. Even though the whole production process of a piece of clothing can be spread out over many countries, you will not find any traces of the origin in the material or the shape of the garment. You can‘t tell where the item is coming from, who made it or how it was made.

The proof of origin "made in“ does not refer to local handicraft traditions nor does it show any sort of national characteristics in the production. The appearance of a garment won't reveal anything about its origin. Fashion companies are highly interested in propagating the brands name, but rarely
care about manufacturing facilities or living- and working conditions of their employees.

In our collection we put the form and material differences of industrial and manual manufacturing into focus. The mostly anonymous process of the making of cloth is turned into the subject of social and thereby emotional experience. Instead of the "made in“ label there is a QR-code, a
code that cannot be read by the human eye, sewn into each garment. Once scanned, the code leads to the website www.whomadethem.com that holds information in form of pictures, videos and texts about these pieces. The pictures and videos show the work of Indian embroiderers in Mumbai Nepalese rug manufacturers in Kathmandu, as well as a german Quilt-craftswoman from Brandenburg and a Jeans-tailor from Berlin.

We are convinced, that an appreciation for handicraft is almost impossible without the knowledge of their characteristic qualities. A better understanding of the production method is therefore the first step to a conscious and sustainable dealing with clothing.

The collection with the title WHO MADE THEM combines questions about aesthetical, social and economical relations, that define the making of clothing today. Not abstract, but concrete, for every single piece.