AFA Modepreis der Stadt Wien & departure: BRADARIC OHMAE
Yesterday I had the pleasure to meet Tanja and Taro, the designers behind
Bradaric Ohmae. After a conversation about drinking Weißer Spritzer or
non-alcoholic drinks, we also talked about different fashion scenes in
Vienna and about the DIS magazine (Taro showed it to me, you should probably
check it out too).
You presented your first collection “Pictures Seen” in 2011 after
working for labels such as Balenciaga and Chloe. How was it for you guys
to start something by yourself? What unexpected problems were you
confronted with?
Tanja: You know it was kind of a funny story, more spontaneous than
planned. We came back to Vienna after working and so we applied for the Unit
F funding and eventually we got what we wanted and we didn’t even have two
months to create something out of nothing. That’s how our first collection
developed. We didn’t have to think about selling something afterwards. It
was just for the show, so we could do whatever we wanted to, use fabrics we
wouldn’t use now, etc.
Also “Picutes Seen” in 2011 was very experimental in cuts, fabrics
and silhouettes. What has changed for the label since then?
Tanja & Taro: Yeah, as we said, we could do whatever we wanted to do.
Now we have certain points we have to think about before creating and
producing. We have to focus on how we spend our money when it comes to
production and promotion, but we also need to think, for example, practical
details on our clothes to satisfy our costumers.
And would you say you both work creative? Or do you split
work?
Taro: Well, I guess, Tanja is more the controlling person, while I focus on
the technical things. But of course there are things we do together as well
and we always have an overview.
Tanja: Yeah, I always know what Taro’s working on and he always knows what
I’m doing, I guess it wouldn’t be a teamwork otherwise.
So would you say that it’s easier to work as a team?
Tanja & Taro: Definitely. If you can trust each other.
Taro you’re from Japan and Tanja, you’re croatian. How is it to
combine such different cultures?
Tanja: Actually it’s quite normal for us. We like to mix cultures and make
new things out of them. Since we’re both not from Vienna, we take our
cultures and mix them with the Austrian culture as well. The results are
quite funny sometimes.
Are there any very extraordinary ways you find your inspiration, do
you have any muses?
Tanja: The point is, everything can be an inspiration, you can see
something on the street and it can be inspiring. You know, we see so many
things, we get so much information from everywhere, it’s like a lot of
bubbles we’re trying to combine to one big bubble.
Haha okay. So last question, who would you like to dress in the
future? Is there like a perfect consumer, a celebrity?
Taro: I guess, there is not really one kind of a person or a particular
celebrity. It’s about the way of thinking. We want our consumers to
understand our things, have the sensibility to value our details and our
fabrics. We want people who are searching for unique things, who understand
the importance of quality and details.
questionnaire © Jonathan Jewgenij Pardus & Eva Zar
text © Eva Zar
photos © Eva Zar
