Size Guide
It is now 100 years ago that the German art and design school Bauhaus was founded. Its name became synonym to a strong ideology, a lifestyle, and a practise. As for today’s generation of artists and politicians, the sense of the world being in crisis was prominent for the Bauhaus generation. Many had lost their assets, family or friends during the first world war. The survived lived for the “here and now”.
The urge to create a new unity, full of hope and youthful experimentation, was established among several Bauhaus women. Looking back at them it is amazing to learn how they pushed their boundaries and created new ways of living and thinking for the upcoming generations.
Although women were already allowed to practise professions with various educational and social backgrounds, and their wardrobe offered a more relaxed and comfortable fashion, the roles of the different sexes were still very conservative in the 1920’s.
It was by far not an equal society. And the Bauhaus, although more open and revolutionary, was not an exception: The weaving workshop was the (only) official space for female artists and designers. This is where Gunta Stölzl worked as the workshop leader and developed her innovative technique and expression. Her sense of color and rhythm is an endless source of inspiration for us. The female weavers emerging from her classes have been highly appreciated both by the Bauhaus and later generations.
Marianne Brandt was another revolutionary of and within Bauhaus: She managed to make her way to the leading position of the male-dominant metal workshop. She was one of the many Bauhaus artists who really needed to fight for her personal expression due to the gender-specific roles that were still predominant in Bauhaus. But with her work in product design, collage and photography, she became a successful artist despite the oppressions layed on her due to her gender.
Ideals of harmony and connections of physical practice with mental wellbeing can be traced back to Gertrud Grunow. As a musician and educationalist, she was a specialist in vocal pedagogy and formulated theories on relationships between sound, colour and movement. Among other activities, she taught courses in the "theory of harmonisation" at the original Bauhaus in Weimar, where she was the school's first female teacher. Her teachings have a lot of connection to the ideals of an individual, free physical identity and a new self awareness that is somewhat iconic for Bauhaus artists.
Our “Sand and Ideals” collection, particularly its bold colour blocks and straight-cut lines are inspired by the geometrical and balanced aesthetics of female Bauhaus artists. With the combinations of several recycled textiles, the collection brings to life the ideals and playful experimentation of those influential designers and artists that worked for gaining their artistic freedom of expression 100 years ago.
With Sand and Ideals, we want to honour the ancestors of modern fashion and design who pushed borders and created a revolutionary way of life. The collection wants to support both hope and good intentions for new, sustainable and respectful approaches in life.
Text: Mila Moisio
Further reading:
https://www.bauhaus100.com/
Baumhoff, Anja: Gunta Stölzl
Baumhoff, Anja:Women at the Bauhaus – a Myth of Emanciapation
Ackemann, Ute: Body concepts of the Modernists at Bauhaus
Weavers: Photograph by Lux Feininger.Art work, Gunta Stölzl: https://butdoesitfloat.com/Do-not-keep-saying-But-how-can-it-be-like-that-Nobody-knows-how-it
Photos from Paimio Sanatorium: Laura Oja