sisterMAG Issue 1 - English Version by sisterMAG

Dining Room Living Room

Wine Rack

Kitchen

Diele

Hallway

by XX

Dining Room

Living Room

Granny's 90ties Traditional but modern decoration of a birthday table

116

Viva la Utopia Concepts of Design by Jerszy Seymour

118

Literary Walk through Berlin Mitte

124

Life in Pictures Malene Birger's private appartment in Copenhagen

Interview: Eva Milner The singer/songwriter of HUNDHUNDREDS talks to sisterMAG

101

Mother & Son Interview with the opera singers Renate & Daniel Behle

106 109 110

Startup Spotlight: EyeEm

111 112

Monique Valeries Product Feature Adopt a museum! Initiative from Jenni Fuchs Blogwatch Museums Visiting Fr채ulein Klein Living Feature by Yvonne Bauer

Kitchen 36

Corn and Flour Bread Feature by Susanne Schanz

The Spice of Life Interview with Anjali Pathak

60 66 72 76

Wine Rack 134

Winemaker's Column Monika Abraham talks about her life as winemaker

138 140 142

The Wine and the Design

145

Blogwatch Wine

Indian Recipes by Anjali Pathak Kitchen Lyrics by Frl. Text Clementine Cake Startup Spotlight: JUNA Juice Warm and cozy Soup Feature by Tami Hardeman

Startup Spotlight: Corkbin Not intended for export A trip to the wine of Piemont

01 /1 2

Diele Wardrobe

Pool

Studio

si st er M AG

Office

Hallway

by XX

Wardrobe 212

Outdoor Jackets Feature sisterMAG Fashion Shoot around the practical jackets

228 238

StyleNotes

246

The Hand-me-Downs Jaclyn Giuliano shows daytime and eveningwear with a story

Relaxed in Canada Fashion Feature with elegant Leisure Wear

251

Street Muttis Hauptstadtmutti.de shows stylish mothers on the streets of Berlin

Alles über meine Mutter Beatrice Behlen shows fashionabfashionable snapshops of her mother

261

Blogwatch Vintage

244

Pool Studio 158 160 163

148 153

The DIY expert preamble Startup Spotlight: MyOma.de TUTORIAL: Wir nähen einen schmalen Rock

Startup Spotlight: Niceone ZUMBA An exaggerated fancy hype or an effective fitness programme?

Office

169

myOma-Column Oma Hildegard beantwortet Fragen

Augmented Reality: Fashion meets Technology

171

History of Knitting The short story of needle and thread

20 24

Daughters running business

Blogwatch Knitting

27 29

Startup Spotlight: Gimmebar

Six steps to organisation Basic principles of project and time management

177 179

DIY Tour London A three day tour through the British capital

„Today it's all about qualifications“ Voice Apps – Chatting on all channels

01 /1 2

Dear Digital Ladies! We - like many of you - have eagerly awaited this moment when sisterMAG finally launches. You have supported us immensely with your encouragement during the last few months, some of you are even involved as contributors, others have lend a hand for the design of the cover skirt or the translation of texts. It's exactly how we envisaged it - sisterMAG is a magazine for us, i.e. for all the widely interested, ambitious, well educated and independent women who are interested in all the exciting things both in the digital as well as in the analogue world.

Started with the objective to think magazines in a new way, a variety of diverse ideas and concepts influenced the development of this issue. For example there are no classical magazine categories but you move through rooms of the sisterMAG apartment which was designed only for us. Therein all topics are waiting one is yearning for - a well-stocked wardrobe and a will-filled fridge. However, we were brave enough to explore new rooms: in each room you find an interesting startup, a young company which introduces itself. In the kitchen the reader

st er M AG

of sisterMAG not only prepares a pithy bread but also informs herself about the world of wine. sisterMAG is no plain glossy but goes deeper with articles about a new generation of women in established family businesses, with detailed interviews that leave room to get to know the interviewee better and travelogs off the normal tourist tracks. For ourselves a tour through the issue is like a reunion with old friends, new buddies, never-seen Internet acquaintances because the many articles and translations, photo series and tours, recipes and interviews would not have been possible without the xxx contributors. We count with a smile all our relatives who we asked for help for this issue. For this reason and the name of our magazine we decided for the main topic "family" for the first issue. You are not bothered to much with it, it is more the red thread, a kind of guide through our flat - for example when we interview the singer Eva Milner who forms a band together with her brother, when Beatrice Behlen fashion researches old photos of her mother or in our leading office article in which we

Hallway

examine daughter succession in family businesses. The first issue is now finished and we are looking forward to your feedback, to

your questions and suggestions, critic and praise. Have fun while reading these first 250 (!) pages and don't be afraid: we have many more ideas for the second issue!

Toni & Thea

Photo: Angela Kohler

01 /1 2

contributors & Helpers Text

Photos

Monika Abraham

Yvonne Bauer

Beatrice Behlen

Christian Burmester

Christoph Blaas

Dasha Caffrey

Nadine Brendel

Jaclyn Giuliano

Robert Eberhardt

Tami Hardeman

Felix Forberg

Evi Handgr채tinger

Jenni Fuchs

Cris Santos

Victoria Kau

Silke Zander

Eleanor Mayrhofer

Susanne Schanz

Sandra Wolff

Rahel Zoller

Kathi Zegers Nina Stoltz

Hallway

symbols

translation Sarah Müller Karolina Golimowska

In all features you see the unmistakable Pinterest-"P" you will be redirected to our sisterMAG pin boards where you can find the pictures of our articles – for repinning and archiving!

Sandra Wolff Antonia Neubauer

Styling Clara Kirchner

The symbol with the little arrow shows you, that there is a download, e.g. for a recipe or tutorial. Pictures with this symbol are video links. They will take you to an external site.

Eva Neubauer Monique Valeries Julia Walter

Cover Claudia Herrmann Anna Schmalfuß Tamara Handgrätinger

On pages showing this sign we look at new and young companies – startups. A recurring category in our magazine.

The little glasses show you the category "Blogwatch". You will find different blogs and websites regarding a special topic. The editors are however not responsible for contents of external websites.

Imprint

sisterMAG Address Sasstraße 22, 04155 Leipzig eMail mail@sister-mag.com Editor in Chief & Art Direction Theresa Neubauer Strategy & Marketing Antonia Neubauer Conception & Drawing appartment Claudia Herrmann Cover Claudia Herrmann, Anna Schmalfuß, Theresa Neubauer Cover Model Tamara Handgrätinger Logo Design Jim Leszczynski Final editing Anna Schmalfuß, Theresa Neubauer Contributors of this issue Monika Abraham; Yvonne Bauer; Beatrice Behlen; Christoph Blaas; Nadine Brendel; Christian Burmester; Dasha Caffrey; Robert Eberhardt; Felix Forberg; Jenni Fuchs; Jaclyn Giuliano; Karolina Golimowska; Evi Handgrätinger; Tamara Handgrätinger, Tami Hardeman, Claudia Herrmann; Victoria Kau; Clara Kirchner; Eleanor Mayrhofer; Sarah Müller; Eva Neubauer; Verena Röthlingshöfer; Cris Santos; Susanne Schanz; Stine Schiller; Anna Schmalfuß; Nina Stoltz; Monique Valeries; Julia Walter; Sandra Wolff; Silke Zander; Kathi Zegers; Rahel Zoller

Ads Theresa Neubauer eMail ads@sister-mag.com

st er M AG

Hallway

01 /1 2

e c fi f O

Office

L von NADINE BRENDE

augmented reality :

Fashion meets Technology From Marketing Buzzword to a better Fashion Experience. Are you also sometimes annoyed about full shops and time consuming queues in front of the changing room or checkout of your favourite store? Time saving is definitely one of the main reasons for the current eCommerce and Online Shopping boom. If there wasn’t one big disadvantage: the absent possibility to try on the desired piece in real life. How many times have racked our brain in front oft he computer at home and asked ourselves: does this cut or colour suit me? How does the size turn out with this label, small or large? Who already ordered online at Asos, Zalando and Co. knows the returns process well. Until the desired piece in the right size and colour is safely stored away in one’s cupboard, it can take weeks. The supposed advantage of saving time it thereby gone. Besides the continuing hype topic Social Media, Augmented Reality belongs to the favourite buzzwords of the advertising and media world since 2010. The market research institute Gartner grants the technology a revolutionary role in its

“Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2010“ and perceives it as one of the most important evolution stages in the information technology. But what lies behind it? Augmented Reality, subsequently AR, describes the virtual extension of the real world with digital, computer generated information. Core characteristics thereby are interaction possibilties in real time as well as the 3D perception of content. Initially developed for the use in an industrial and military surrounding, the further development of the technology also enables a commercial usage for example in Marketing. Although the economic expectations for AR as well as its role in the advertising market are discussed controversially among experts, the trend was already adopted widely by the fashion industry. Fashion labels like Benetton, Otto, Adidas or Hugo Boss enable virtual product presentations or changing rooms through AR and thus introduce a new area of shopping of the 21st century.

01 /1 2

Augmented Reality - the basics Thanks to their technical abilities mobile devices like Smartphones become more and more the central medium for AR applications besides desktop computers. This is due to the fact that they fulfill all prerequisites to project the virtual data in the real world: Software, Hardware, Webcam or camera and screen as well as â&#x20AC;&#x201C; like in the case of Smartphones â&#x20AC;&#x201C; integrated location based technology. The hardware is loaded with a software program, a so called application and enables the processing and output of data through online access. The camera serves as observation window and interface for the visualisation of AR. This is done through the live integration or layering of information in the video picture. Another main component for the visualisation of AR are the so called marker which are needed for the localisation of the user. Marker can be compared to fixed points in the real world. They support the orientation of the AR system and initiate an action to show a virtual object. The referencing can be done in different ways two forms of AR are distinguisehd:

Marker-based and Marker-less AR. In the fashion sector large amounts of data have to be processed for a realistic representation of a product. This is at the moment only possible with the first option in combination with a desktop computer and a webcam. Marker-based AR uses individually developed patterns or pictures. Those are identified via image recognition by the AR application so that the relevant content can be assigned accordingly and shown visually. The dimensionality is produced through the perspective and positioning of the marker. Marker-based AR is used mainly for the integration of virtual 3D objects in the inspection window of the viewer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this means in the fashion sector that user can try out a piece of clothes or accessories as realistically as possible. Everything a user needs who is interested in buying is a Webcam and spatial vision. With AR in the virtual fitting room Zugara was one of the first eCommerce shops who launched a virtual fitting for clothes room via an AR application and moreover enables the invitation of

Office

friends to a virtual shopping tour based on a live stream. The Webcam records a picture of the client and calculates the figure. On this the pieces of clothes the client choses in the shop are projected. Also the German direct shopping retailer Otto connects AR and Social Media in an innovative way and offers an ‘augmented’ fitting room in its Facebook shop. Besides clothes companies more and more eyewear companies like Ray-Ban, Glassesdirect or Mr. Spex occupy the trend with similar concepts.

Virtual product experience in the real world AR can be used as well to give clients a better understanding at the POS of how a product works. This is achieved best via Marker-based AR to demonstrate the use in a real-life situation. A well-known example is the Cosme-

tic Mirror designed by Shiseido for the acquisition of new customers in Japan. The face of the user is scanned so that make-up versions and other cosmetic products can be tried in real-time.

The sport brand Adidas already recognised the trend in 2010 and carries the target group with 3D effects from the computer at home in the augmented reality world. Sneakers equipped with a marker functions as controller into the virtual Adidas world when the Webcam is directed at it. The fashion brand Benetton origined in Italy tested AR in several campaigns, lately in all catalogues of the Benetton Group. Markers were placed in the so called ‚Interactive Catalogue’ issues. If they are placed in front of a webcam, one can see a clip of 90s from the last fashion shooting.

01 /1 2

AR und Fashion - Top oder Flop? One thing is clear: an emotional product presentation of fashion items via AR is fun and can lead users to try out products playfully and particularly in the case of virtual fitting room save time. The presented examples provide a first impression of the overall possibilities or in which direction this technology trend is heading to especially in the fashion and consumer goods industry. At

the same time they also illustrate some teething problems. The disadvantage in many cases still is the complexity of the applications, since the products must be visualized very detailed. Because of the high-definition graphics strong processors, a broad connectivity and data as well as a large display are needed. Some concepts also lack in relevance and value for the user. Success will have those applications that are intuitive and meet a specific need of the user or provide useful additional information. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not the technology itself that counts, but the added value. Augmented reality has the potential to lead a creative playground for technology lovers into a real product and emotional experience.

Office

01 /1 2

Daughters Running the Family Business This year there will be nearly 22 000 family businesses that are facing a takeover, estimates the Institute for Middle Class Research. In 90 % of the takeovers, age is the decisive factor. Keeping the company within the family by passing the business legacy onto the children, is the dream of most business owners and works out about half the time. For a smooth and successful transition from one generation to the other, a clear and solid succession plan preparing the new owner for the new challenge needs to be put in place long before the actual takeover. Today, one company out of two is handed over to a daughter – and numbers are still growing. sisterMAG presents two prospective female company owners.

“

As a management assistant, Jessica Kulitz Sometimes, is completely involved you just have in the operations of her to fight your parents’ enterprise. way through Her father owns ESTA to earn your Apparatebau, one of respect. the leading manufactuJessica Kulitz rers of vacuum suction technology. For about 40 years, ESTA has been producing dust removal and filtration systems for the elimination of dirt, wood chips and welding smoke resulting from manufacturing processes. The export department including the development of new strategies to sell the company’s products on the Brazilian market is just one of Jessica Kulitz´ responsibilities while studying Family Entrepre-

“

er M AG

neurship at the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen. The 26-year-old has two brothers and two sisters but the question of who is going to be the next successor has not been answered yet: “Each one of us has the freedom to make their own choices which is necessary given the burden of responsibility that we would have to bear,” says Jessica Kulitz. According to her, gender is irrelevant in this matter: “You just have to proof that you are suitable for this job.” The company was not an issue in her childhood. “However, surely but slowly it has changed over the past years.” Gradually, her parents taught her more and more about their business. But she

Office

by FELIX FORBERG

translated by SARAH M

ÜLLER

cannot confirm that her brothers were subconsciously more supported by her parents than her: “Our parents always focused on our individual strengths and interests which gave us the opportunity to develop ourselves to the fullest potential.” Her parents never pressured her always following their credo: “Do what you do best.” She herself has not decided yet whether she wants to spend her entire career working in her parents’ business or whether she would even want to be the next manager of the family-owned company. “My parents would definitely welcome my decision if I chose to take over our family enterprise.” The family business is very important to Jessica Kulitz: “It would be wonderful if it stayed within our family.” The entire family especially the children are very essential to run such a family business: “If worst comes to worst, it all comes down to us.” Speaking for herself as a woman she feels fully valued and accepted in her parents’ company: “Well, I am the

Jessica Kulitz

manager’s daughter after all.” However, as the councilwoman of the city Ulm, she has made quite some different experiences: “In politics you have to fight harder as women,” says Jessica Kulitz not thinking much of introducing a set women quota to German enterprises. According to her, it is just a matter of time until more women aspire to leadership and management positions: “Companies cannot be run without women, but sanctions alone will not guarantee an increasing number of women in high positions either, as it is sometimes simply hard to find qualified women in male-dominated areas. Sometimes you just have to fight your way through to earn your respect.”

01 /1 2

For a long time Julia-Carolin Schmid was not aware of the fact that she herself would become at some point a prospective successor: “I did not know that my parents were entrepreneurs until I turned 18,” she remembers six years later. Her mother is an associate of the listed R. Stahl AG and both of her parents are associates of a real estate company. It still has not been decided yet to whom the U. Frey GmbH & Co. will be handed over to. Both, her younger sister and younger brother could also be the successor. “It is our own choice if we want to take over the family business management or if we don’t. If we decided not to, each one of us would still be able to pursue his or her own interests. We would just have to hire an outside manager to run the business.”

Answering the question whether she would want to run the U.Frey GmbH is not her first priority at the moment. For right now, she just wants to focus on her studies. First, she studied Corporate Management and Economics at the Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen. Now, she is doing her Master’s

st er M AG

“

degree in Family Leading a Business Managebusiness is ment at the Univerbasically a sity Witten/Herdematter of cke and works at the management same time in anoskills. Eitther quite large faher you have mily business. “But them or you before that I have already worked in don`t. Julia-Carolin Schmid my parents company to see what it is like.” She does not think that her parents would be disappointed if she decided against the succession: “We should not take on a task only because we think we have to. Leading a business is basically a matter of management skills. Either you have them or you don`t.”

“

Her parents’ company was not an issue at the beginning of her childhood: “Our parents wanted us to develop ourselves freely.” Despite her reasonably well-off parents, Julia-Carolin Schmid had a modest and well protected childhood. They did not receive any pocket-money: “Whenever we needed a new pair of pants, our parents bought

Office

them. But if we needed money for the movies or any other leisure activities, we had to earn it ourselves.” Today, she is grateful for the way her parents raised her: “They taught me and my siblings how essential common values are and that money and one’s personal status are not the most im-

portant things in life.” She did not know right away about her parents’ entrepreneurship: “At the age of 16, I overheard my parents talking about stocks. When I asked them what stocks are, my father told me to picture a house with a toilet and a toilet brush inside which basically embodies a company’s stock.“

01 /1 2

“"Today it is all about qualifications“ Born in 1939, Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Brun-Hagen Hennerkes has been a specialist for family-owned companies for over 30 years by now. Ten years ago he established the Family Business Foundation, is author of numerous papers about problems occurring in a family business and wrote the standard work “The Family and its business”

uu Prof. Hennerkes what are the biggest problems that come along with a company succession? One of the biggest problems is the succession plan which has to be implemented long time before the actual takeover. However, this is seldom done successfully. Sometimes, a succession plan is not even an issue until the death of the founder or manager-inoffice. Unfortunately, only a few businesses survive the transition process and are successful in passing on the owner’s legacy. Often, it is the senior generation’s fault that does not allow the junior generation enough room to grow and develop which later results in an unorganized and uncontrolled handover without precise transfer plan. From my own experience, it takes about eight years until a succession process

st er M AG

is completed – starting with the identification of the new owner and ending with the death of the senior manager. Moreover, a concept for the retired generation for the time right after the handover is also of extreme importance. I witness it all the time how the “old” managers keep their office at the company and show up everyday. Instead of giving strategic advice to the new team to relieve them a bit, they interfere on a regular basis in the daily business of the new managers. uu What role does gender play in company succession? I think we are experiencing a major change right now. The number of daughters who are taking over a family enterprise will be increasing. Soon, succession will not be a gender spe-

by FELIX FORBERG

translated by SARAH M

Office ÜLLER

Women are important to run a family business but even more important for a well functioning family. According to surveys, women are nowadays more often considered as a prospective successor than in the past: Today, already one business out of four has women on its board. I did not say “is headed by a woman” on purpose. The more members a company’s board has, the more women are to find on the management level. But feProf. Dr. Dr. h. c. Brun-Hagen Hennerkes male managing directors are still very hard to find decreasing with cific question anymore. Instead, a study conducted by the Family Business the size of the family business. Merely Foundation showed that 55 percent one business out of twenty with a turof the children of entrepreneurs said nover of half a million dollar ought to they were very much in favor of a suc- be headed by a woman. Yet, it can gecession when asking them about their nerally be said that there exist no lonfuture plans. Only 14 percent did not ger any prejudices to or doubts about want be actively involved in the busi- women’s management skills. Today, it is all about qualifications. In contrast to ness’ operations. specific programs in corporate groups uu Does today’s society still have rethat promote women into top manaservations about daughter successigerial positions, there is no need of ons? What was the people’s opinion in “mentors” or an outstanding career to the past? get a woman to the very top of a family

01 /1 2

business as impressively demonstrated by Käthe Dassler, Grete Schickedanz, Irene Kärcher or more recently Nikola Leibinger-Kammüller, Bettina Würth, Annette Roeckl, Brigitte Vöster-Alber, Johanna Ahlmann and Ingrid Hofmann. uu What kind of challenges do women have to face when taking over a family business? What do they have to struggle with? Men in leading positions most often have an encouraging woman at their side, especially in respect of the family management. Women however do not have this kind of support as a top manager. Most of the time they have a husband who is equally successful in his job. But this is all the more reason to pay even more respect to a woman’s performance and achievements as a top manager dealing with an already high workload that adds up by working long hours and on the weekends plus at evening events. To find a way of com-

si st er M AG

bining work and family life is therefore hard and challenging. uu What is your opinion on a set women quota in the field of business and economics? A legally forced women quota is simply nonsense. It would be an unjust treatment of all men that might be more qualified and it would be a violation of article 3 of the German Basic Law – the fundamental principles of equality before law. Furthermore, a set women quota could have a negative influence on family businesses being in a competition with large corporate groups that are financially much more attractive to the small number of highly qualified women than family-owned companies. Given the still very small number of women on management boards, I would like to remark that the limited number of mandates per supervisory board member could turn out to be an obstacle.

Office

GIMME BAR u Who are you? Where are you based? We are located all over the world and universe, including but not limited to: Denmark, the UK, Canada, San Francisco, and Brooklyn, NY. u Explain in your own words the idea of your company! We want to create the API of you. All your content in one place. Owned by you. Controlled by you. Shareable with any person or app. We want it to be simple for you to save the things you love and create. u What was the inspiration for your idea?

The idea came to Tyler in a dream that coincidentally also involved an entire tribe of pandas high-fiving one another. u How did you come up with your companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colours? There werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough awesome sites out there using pink so we went for it. In general we keep things pretty simple though. Not too colorful. u What does differentiate Gimmebar from other Social Bookmarking sites? Booksaving instead of bookmarking. Bookmarking is remembering where something is. Booksaving is stashing it away forever. You can do this with text, images, videos, full screenshots and even articles & recipes.

01 /1 2

uu How can user use Gimmebar in everyday life â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for personal use and (especially) in a professional sense? Basic law of the universe: If you see something, save something. If you find anything you would like to save forever, collect it with Gimme Bar. Professionally, you can organize graet content into public or private collections for team mates, clients, or bosses. There are a billion and one uses that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve counted out so far. uu Main food during starting up phase? Brooklyn Pizza & Brooklyn Ale

Save the Web

Organize your stuff

Share with the world

Discover New Goodness

si st er M AG

Office

by KATHI ZEGERS

Voice Apps – Chatting on all channels

Chatterbox, gabbler, blabber – the female ability to communicate has fired more than one man’s imagination to metaphorical peaks in the course of time. Envy? Yes, maybe, although current studies show that men use the same amount of words per day than women.

Nevertheless women often have the image of an eight-armed multi-tasking monster who paint their toenails with one hand, at the same time talk with their best friends on the phone about the day, who post current news immediately on Facebook and along the way send an SMS to their boyfriends. Prejudice or cliché thinking? Maybe, but there is no doubt about one thing: women master mobile communication multi-tasking par excellence and in times of smartphones this is even more true with a multitude of communication apps. One of the best known representatives among all mobile messaging services is the SMS killer “What’s App“. Besides unlimited text messages, pictu-

res and files can be shared over the internet connection of the smartphone. Alternative services are “PingChat“ or the good old “ICQ Messenger“, and also Facebook offers a new Messenger with an optimised chat function enabling the transmission of pictures on smartphones. However who – speaking with a practical stereotype – wants to sit with freshly painted nails on the couch and still sends the hottest news to their best friends, has to

01 /1 2

make a decision: either blowing and drying as much as possible or exercise in patience. Who doesn’t want to do both, or who simply doesn’t like the auto-correct function of the smartphone, should have a look at the new Voice Messaging App “TalkBox“. TalkBox enables the recording and sending of voice messages with one finger tipp. The principle is as easy as the messaging services itself and is similar to old Walkie-Talkie conversations in the 1980s. In private chats voice messages can be exchanged. The great plus: mood comes through voice. In contrast to messaging services whereby icons must be used to convey a certain mood or missunderstandings through auto-correct errors have to be clarified, TalkBox uses only voice. Another add-on: TalkBox can also be connected with Facebook and Twitter so that any voice message can be posted

si st er M AG

immediately. This can be creative birthday greetings posted on a Facebook Wall or a live recording from a concert, a spontanous interview or quote. Whether the voice message is used as an alternative for an answering machine or for creative snippets – TalkBox is quick, nearly real-time and emotional. TalkBox is available for iPhone, Blackberry and Symbian free of charge in the respective AppStores. More information: http://talkboxapp.com

Office

ER F O H R Y A M R O N A E L E by

Six steps to an organized life Understanding the Basics of Project and Time Management Project and Time Management is not a topic one typically associates with ‘creative’ types. The stereotype is that creatives are disorganized fountains of ideas and any attempt to manage them will stifle or block creativity. Right-brain versus left-brain, analysis versus exploration, creativity versus structure and order; Many people think these ways of being are in opposition to each other. My experience has told me otherwise: rather than working against one another, these modes actually support each other. Think about the successful creative people you know. Aren’t many of them focused and methodical? Don’t a lot of them seem to have some sort of strategy or plan that they are working from? Working with a project management and time management structure is critical for realizing your ideas and being productive. Developing focus and structure is not difficult or impossible. It just

takes a little understanding of some basic principles, an understanding of your own natural working rhythms and learning some new habits. There about a zillion productivity, time management and project management systems out there. But more or less they have the same six core components, which are:

GOALS

Defining Goals your objectives, what you want to accomplish

SCOPE

Developing Scope – What you’re going to do to achieve those objectives

ESTIMATE

Estimating – How long it’s going to take

PLAN

Planning – When are you going to get this stuff done

01 /1 2

EXECUTE

REVIEW

Executing – Getting it done, productivity Reviewing – Periodically reviewing and assessing your goals, scope, estimates and plan

Let’s look at each one of these steps in a little more detail: Goals are the ‘Why’, the objectives and reasons you are doing what you are doing. These are the foundation of everything you scope, plan and do. Scope is the ‘What’. What kind of projects, activities and deliverables are required to meet your objective? What do you need to grow your mailing list? Scope items can be anything from regular guests posts, to traffic boosting activities like SEO optimization to redesigning your website’s home page to more prominently feature you’re mailing list subscription fields. si st er M AG

Estimation is the ‘How Long?’ How long will it take you to write two guest posts a month? Are you going to spend a month doing nothing but SEO optimization or is it an ongoing, weekly activity that you will do for 3 hours twice a week? Will it take you a day, a week or a month to redesign your home page? If you’re hiring someone to do it, how much time will you need to allot to overseeing the work? Planning is the ‘When’. If you have a goal around increasing revenue, presumably by a certain date, what needs to happen beforehand and when? When do you need to have that homepage redesigned to start reaping the benefits of increased sign-ups? When do you need to launch a store on a new online marketplace to start seeing an uptick in sales three months later? Executing is the ‘getting it done’ part; sitting down (or standing up) and actually working. In order to execute you need to understand how and when you

Office

work best and set up processes and habits to support yourself in producing your best work, and producing as much of it as you can. Reviewing is about the need for assessment. If you don’t ‘come up for air’ from time to time you may not realize if you need to adjust, change or even abandon some of your original goals, or do some re-planning. Course correction is part of the process. Once you understand these six steps, you can put them into practice. Doing so will not only help you be more

productive, but will help bring order to the chaos of all the things you are trying to do, as well as help you track your progress, and gain a sense of accomplishment. Implement these steps in a way that works for you. You can use digital tools, paper and pencil, whatever you are comfortable with. You don’t need to be strict or rigid about. Work through the six steps, and over time you’ll develop and refine a process that you will soon discover you won’t want to live without!

01 /1 2

hen

Kitc

CORN CORN & O FLOUR FLOUR

As soon as flour and yeast combine and delicious bread creations are formed, everyone is delighted. Susanne Schanz from la-petite-cuisine.blogspot. com shows us her ideas regarding bread and brioche and styles all recipes in our sisterMAG colours: Beige, Green and Anthracite.

st er M AG

FOTOS | STYLING | REZEPTE: SUSANNE SCHANZ

Kitchen

01 /1 2

BAGEL

ZUCCHINI-BAGELS WITH SHEEP‘S CHEESE RICOTTA CREME AND ROCKET

si st er M AG

Kitchen

by XX

01 /1 2

BRIOCHE

BRIOCHE MIT CARAMEL CREME AND PISTACHIOS

si st er M AG

Kitchen

01 /1 2

端ch ene itch KK

KERNE

GRAINED CRISPBREAD

CIABATTA

PESTO-CIABATTA & CONFIT OF ROASTED ONIONS AND GINGER

Kitchen

PESTO-CIABATTA

for 2 breads

First dough 3 g fresh yeast 90 g spelt flour, Type 630 Main dough 5 g fresh yeast 2,5 tbsp warm milk 1 tbsp olive oil 10 g salt 275 g spelt flour flour for working oil semolina pesto (see below) 4-6 slices Parma ham

hand basil leaves pine nuts garlic clove Parmesan, grated olive oil

Purée basil leaves, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic and olive oil in a mixer into a smooth paste. ONION CONFIT 300 g onions 2 tbsp cane sugar 2-3 tbsp olive oil 1 TL ginger paste 1 TL Essig salt + pepper Cut onions in half and cut into very thin slices. Put slices onto a baking sheet (covered in paper), sprinkle with sugar and oil. Roast in your oven at 180°C/360°F for 20 minutes. Put onions into a bowl and mix with ginger and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

Let the yeast rise in 125 ml warm water on the day before. Carefully mix in flour. Cover and let rise for a day. On the next day let yeast rise in milk for 10 minutes. Mix with the 125 ml warm water, oil and dough from previous day. Strongly knead the dough on a working surface for 2-3 minutes. Let rise again in a greased form for 1,5 hours at room temperature until dough is fluffy and slightly sticky. Divide dough in half. Cover a baking sheet with paper, sprinkle semolina on top. Put the dough halfes on baking sheets and flatten out. Spread with pesto, top with ham and let rise again for an hour. Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F, put a little bowl with water at the bottom, put in baking sheet on the 2nd rack. Bake for 25 minutes.

PESTO 1 25 g 1 45 g 55 ml

/1 2

ME EN HL

GG RO

WEIZEN MEHL

DINKEL MEHL

DUNKLES WEIZENMEHL

KAMUTMEHL

Kitchen

BAGEL (S.38)

for 10 bagel

Pre-Dough 3 tsp sugar 2 tsp dry yeast 2 tbsp dark wheat flour, Type 1050 350 ml water Hauptteig 500 g dark wheat flour 1,5 tsp salt 100 g zucchini, grated 3 tbsp light sesame 3 tbsp black sesame Mix together sugar, yeast and flour for predough with 350 ml warm water. Let rise at a warm place for 10 minutes. For main dough mix flour and salt. Add liquid predough and grated zucchini to this main dough. Mix with dough hooks of your mixer, then knead with your hands into an elastic dough. Transfer dough into a greased bowl and let it rise at a warm place until dough has doubled in size. Knead again and divide dough in 10 equal pieces. Form a thick flat cake from each piece, then “drill“ a hole in the middle. Put bagel onto a lightly oiled pan, cover and let rise for another 10 min. Boil water in a big pot and let the bagels blanch/seeth for 2 minutes. Transfer back to baking sheet, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake at 180°C/360°F for 20 minutes.

SHEEP‘S CHEESE RICOTTA CREME WITH ROCKET (S.38) 40 g sheep‘s cheese / feta 40 g ricotta 1 tsp hot mustard 1 flat tsp curry salt pepper 1 tsp olive oil rocket 1 EL white balsamic creme

per bagel

Mash feta and mix with ricotta and other ingredients except rocket and balsamic creme. Spread creme onto bagels, top with rocket and sprinkle with the balsamic creme. BRIOCHE WITH CARAMEL CREME AND PISTACHIOS (S.40) for 2 large, 4 middle or 8 little baking forms 15 g 1 tbsp 3 tbsp 250 g 100 g 2 0,5 tsp

fresh yeast cane sugar warm milk wheat flour, Type 550 melted butter eggs salt

fat for the forms 1 egg yolk 1 tbsp milk 30 g unsalted pistachios, chopped 40 g white sugar

01 /1 2

100 ml 4 tbsp 4 tbsp 0,5 tsp

heavy cream milk evaporated milk (sweetened) marine salt

Dissolve yeast and sugar in milk. Mix with flour, butter, eggs and salt and knead a dough – use dough hook of your mixer first, then finish by kneading with hand. Cover and let rise until dough has doubled in size. Preheat oven to 200°C/290°C. Grease forms. Divide dough into fitting sizes for your forms. Either form 3 balls or put one large and one small balls onto each other (see picture). Let rise for another 10 minutes. Mix egg yolk and milk and brush brioches with mixture. Change oven temperature to 180°C/360°F and bake on 2nd rack (from top) for 20-25 minutes. Toast pistachios in a pan. Heat up heavy cream and milk seperately. Melt sugar in a pan. Add heavy cream to sugar and mix very well. Caramel begins to form and harden. This will melt again under heat and constant stirring. Add milk. Stir again and gradually add evaporated milk. Let caramel thicken under constant stirring. Pour caramel cream over brioches, top with pistachios and coarse salt.

si st er M AG

CRISPBREADS (S.45) for 2 baking pans, ca. 16 crispbreads 60 g kamut flour 60 g rye flower, Type 1150 120 g oatmeal 80 g sunflower seeds 20 g buckwheat 50 g flaxseeds 1 tsp Himalayan salt 2 EL olive oil 500 ml warm water garnish as you wish, e.g. rosemary or coarse salt, chopped dried nuts or poppyseeds etc. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let it rest for 5 minutes. Cover baking sheets with paper. Using a spatula, spread the dough thinly onto baking pan. Top with garnish or leave dough as it is. Bake at 180°C/360°F for 50-60 minutes. Cut into slices after 15 minutes (!), then bake them further. Otherwise crispbreads are too hard for cutting. Tipp: Best to bake batches seperately.

A CAFFRE H S A D : s to o F R E U A Text: THEA NEUB

Kitchen

The Spice of Life sisterMAG talks to Anjali Pathak – Brand Ambassador of Patak Foods about food, life and family

All the good stories begin with a cold winter morning – as does this one about chef Anjali Pathak who today lives in North London, her family originally coming from India. When sisterMAG arrives a tad early on her doorstep, the lively woman with long black hair, dark eyes and a wonderful velvety voice is not quite ready for us. After a very warm welcome off she is again, a whirlwind of energy in a vibrant pink dress. Anjali Pathak is the brand ambassador of Patak’s Foods, a brand of curry spice pastes, sauces and ready meals. The

company was started in 1957 by Anjali’s grandfather L.G. Pathak and his wife. Today Patak’s is over 50 years old and has expanded heavily, exporting to about 45 countries and pioneering the advent of Indian food across the world. Food has therefore always played a huge role in Anjali’s life. I started from a super young age, because my family are in the food profession. I decided that I wanted to go into that field too. It is all I know, I grew up in this amazing kitchen full of spices: all of these wonderful things my mom would be experimenting with at

01 /1 2

home. Although the life of my mom seemed so tempting I was very much drawn to the profession of my dad: travelling the world, bringing home exotic gifts for his children. So I ended up taking a lot of business choices for my university. I had always wanted to join the family business, whether it was in management, strategic planning or product development. However after university I went backpacking around the world and noticed how obsessed I was with food. I needed to go into food and I needed to do it right away. So I started doing food journalism in LonIf yo u ask someone to don, which was a pick up a knife, anyo- great experience, ne can chop. But can but I didn’t work yo u chop something closely with the food. properly, can yo u I didn’t feel I was in chop something fast, the kitchen enough

can yo u chop it the way it needs to be chop ped, all unifo rm and the same size?

and that’s when I realized I wanted to do more cheffing, so I began working for product development in our family business. This was really exciting – working on every single thing that goes into our jars. Over the years we have developed certain concepts and structures, and after working in development for a while it felt like I was only changing flavours and I wanted more. So I moved into Public Relations involving a lot of travelling and promoting our brand. This is when I decided I needed to get a formal chef qualification – I attended Leiths School of Food and Wine in London, where I learnt about French and British cuisine. I think you need to perfect the basic skills in school, and be taught by a professional. All my Indian skills I picked up from home – learning in our own kitchen ever since I was a little girl.

Kü

Moving on to her Indian heritage, Anjali tells us about her favourite memory which includes her very first kitchen gift she received from her grandmother. A little child-sized rolling pin. At the age of four years she was in the kitchen helping to roll Indian breads – chapattis – for dinner. She was told: “If you can roll a round chapatti, you’ll get a good husband!” It took Anjali about 15 years to roll a round one! She laughs and tells us that she is now 30 years old and still not married, so she doubts it means anything. Her kitchen, we are sitting in during the interview, does not have any of the stereotypical purple walls with Indian ornaments – on the contrary we see blank white surfaces and techy equipment. However as soon as Anjali puts on the fire and kindly offers us a home-made

Chai Tea, the room changes a bit. The little pot instantly effuses the flavours and aromas of cardamom, cinnamon and ginger. You can now imagine her experimenting with flavours and recipes in this space. Properly trained in British and French cuisine we want to know which foreign cuisine she likes best. Hard question to answer! Oh, too many! It’s all of them … but I truly love Asian cuisine. I love Thai food, Chinese food, Malaysian, Vietnamese … I love all of those cuisines because the flavours are similar to Indian ones. I recognise them, they are from my palette. Furthermore we often went to Asian countries on holidays when we were growing up. It is only since I’ve grown up and started experimenting with food that I understand the nuances of French cuisine more.

01 /1 2

recipes in my way, with the ingredients that I have. But in the end I always do an Indian twist! Even if I borrow cuisines from other parts of the world, I usually stick a bit of Indian-ness in there!

I’ve started to cherish British cuisine as well. I think it has changed so much over the years and is finally starting to get its fame again. I always got a very negative response when I told people that I cooked something traditionally British. But it really isn’t that boring, because it is mainly about seasonal produce and getting the best out of the ingredients. As an example: making a slow-cooked roast and maximising those fantastic meat and roast flavours. In London you can experience some amazing – British – restaurants. I like to eat there, learn and come home and experiment. With my training from cook school, I can bring home the experience and think about how I can do the

st er M

Of course we have to ask Anjali for some of her twists and turns. She tells us about Christmas in Manchester with her family, where she is responsible for cooking and preparing the big feast. Our eyes become big and our mouths water when she enthuses over Indian-inspired meats, gravies and side dishes. Her family needs a bit of flavour in every dish, they expect spices in their food, because the palette of their mouths is trained to have a little bit of excitement going on. Finally she jumps off her chair to get the so-called ‘spice tin’: an unimposing silver round box. Only when she lifts the flat lid, we suddenly see the colours of Indian spices, whole cinnamon sticks and unknown powders. These tins, she tells us, always come with an upside down lid to store all the bigger spices, such as bay leaves, whole dried chillies, cinnamon, cloves, black cardamom or star anise. These will last about six months or even longer depending on how fresh they were when you bought them. Beneath this upside down lid we spot seven round tins – only about half full with powders and seeds. That’s because

Kitchen

spices actually don’t last very long at all. After you buy them you should only grind as much as you need. They’ll only stay fresh for maybe three to four months, having the maximum flavour. Then they start deteriorating, losing a lot of aroma. I usually keep my spices as whole as possible. When cooking I just open up my tin and think to myself – ‘What could be interesting in here, what am I feeling like, what didn’t I have for a while’ – and just play with the whole palette of spices. Of course you need an understanding of flavours and spices to know what to use. For example coriander seed – this will taste very different to the coriander leaf, which is incredibly fresh. When the seed is cooked through it adds a bit of nuttiness, has a lovely texture and adds quite a strong vibrancy to a dish. That’s why I like to add coriander even to something that isn’t Indian, because it is the one spice that will transform that flavour. I love black pepper as well – an amazing spice! In India it is one of the oldest spices, which was used for trading. You use it at the beginning, unlike in the west where it is used to season at the end often accompanying salt. Another tip Anjali shared was that salt, sugar and even a bit of lemon juice is how you lift a lot of the flavours.

Cumin seeds taste fantastic in breads. In Europe it is used a lot in cheeses as well. I always have roasted cumin seeds in my tin. They are lovely to just sprinkle on top to give a little bit of extra warmth in your mouth. It has a fantastic flavour if added to salads, in snacks … just in anything you need a little extra something and are not quite sure what you’re looking for! Turmeric is also one of the most important spices medicinally . I call it a wonder-spice, since it is said to have fantastic healing properties, for example helping in the cure against cancer. If you need to be healed, have some turmeric in your diet – it works inside and out! And finally chilli – of course everyone knows chilli. One recognises it with Indian food. But before chilli was imported,

black pepper used to be the main source of heat. Thus chilli is quite new to the Indian palette, it only came into the country in the 16th century which is not that old considering how long Indian food has been around.

Our thoughts are spinning with all these familiar names, but at the same time unknown flavours and we ask Anjali to point out her favourite ingredient. After emphasizing the qualities of Coriander – both seeds and leaves – again, she talks about garlic which is definitely not a just an Indian ingredient but is internationally known. Although it doesn’t belong in many dishes she uses it to spice up things a little bit. However spices and flavours should accommodate different situations. Being able to do that, Anjali says, characterizes a good chef. What else is typical for a leader in the kitchen we wonder: The character of a chef, having a good temperament, is incredibly important. And we shouldn’t forget the food aspect {laughs}: he or she should be able to cook for all different kinds of palettes, use seasonal products, be versatile and most important be eager to always learn more. I have met chefs who think they know absolutely everything. But there is always a new ingredient! Especially with today’s possibilities of the internet, communication and globalizati-

st er M AG

on, we can access the whole world, borrow ideas and make something amazing. A good chef should be open to that concept and willing to push their boundaries. Last but not least I think it is important to be kind to other people in – and out of – the kitchen! Respect for one another goes a really long way. We cannot help but wonder whether she has idols or role models who stand for these ideas. Laughingly she admits that from a chef’s perspective she admires Jamie Oliver, because of what he has done for food, because of his inspiration for modern British cuisine and his easygoing attitude. She then speaks highly about her own mentor Grand Masterchef

Kitchen

Hemant Oberoi, an Indian chef who took her under his wing, offered her great restaurant experience and taught her a lot about regional Indian cuisine. All this experience now helps her working as a chef and food consultant. As brand ambassador for her family business she can combine her outgoing and lively character with being creative, cooking and telling people about the flavours of India. Much more her thing than working in accounts, although she did a Maths, IT and Business major at university. Today she loves the creative sides of her life, for example when thinking about new recipes. But where does she take her inspiration from? How does she come up with new recipes? Like most creative people I need to be in a certain mind set to come up with new ideas. However I am surrounded by food all day, in my stocked pantry, in front of my fridge, at the office. There are so many ways to get ideas: things Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen on business trips, on TV, in food magazines or on the web spark inspiration. I do a lot of research, go to local markets and try to use products that are in season. Sometimes I use an ingredient I have never used before, sometimes I experiment how I can do things a bit more Indian or incorporate a new spice. Afterwards I try it out on my partner. Since my

palette is quite trained, I want to be sure that everyone can pick up my creations. In her food she easily combines her family heritage with the modern world. And you can tell, that her family means the world to her. They are my life and the soul of everything I do. I owe everything to my grandparents and parents. My dad is still involved in the business and so my mentor isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t too far away! Since we are brand leaders in many countries we are able to show our passion for our business and our brand, and share our Indian family recipes with them However, as much as we still want to be authentic, I spend my time thinking My family about how we can bring classiis my life cal food into the modern era and the soul and make it more exciting. of everything My parents have been increI do. dibly supportive of all of my ideas, which I think is great for a generation that isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t used to being like that. Most people find it difficult to get their parents to change but mine are very adaptable. I love them for being as kind and as open as they are with me. You can tell how deeply Anjali feels, when she tells us about growing up and we have a lot of laughs when Anjali starts talking about her two older brothers, one living in London at the moment, the other one far

01 /1 2

away in Dubai with his family. No sister, perhaps a sister in spirit, we ask. Indeed she tells us about a dear friend in London who is as foodie as she is, although not professionally involved with the food industry. However they go out to dinners, are both into wine and cheese, know the same chefs – hence their personal lives are very much intertwined because they spend so much time together. As slim and lean as Anjali sits in her kitchen, we cannot believe that her world so heavily evolves around eating and food. She laughs and admits that she is lucky she can enjoy even the delicious, but super heavy meals of Rajasthan, one of her favourite places in India, which makes you feel like a princess. Perhaps it lies in her genes. Her mother used to be a model, was the face of Coca Cola in India, and you can just see how her daughter got some of the potential in her as well. Anjali however admits that although she is proud to be compared to her mom, she doesn’t aim to be the same: I like to be individual and do things nobody else has done before. So perhaps it was good to have brothers who also did very different things in life. Perhaps there would have been too much competition with a sister.

si st er M AG

TASTY ROASTIES

Roast potatoes provide the perfect side dish to a fantastic feast. I love to add a bit of spice to everything so these taste great lightly spiced with a twist of lemon. 1kg potatoes, skins left on and cut into large bite size pieces 4 tbsp vegetable oil 2½ tbsp Patak’s Mild Curry Paste

(or see tip below) 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped 1 tbsp plain flour ½ bulb of garlic, broken into cloves

In an ovenproof dish mix together the vegetable oil, Patak’s Mild Curry Paste, half the coriander and flour. Toss the potatoes in the spiced marinade and add the garlic cloves. Roast in a preheated oven (190°C/375°F/ gas 5) for 35 - 45 minutes until light and fluffy. I like to stir them halfway through. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining coriander before serving.

Anjali’s Tip

If you can’t find Mild Curry Paste then use your own spices. I suggest 1 tsp smoked paprika, ½ tsp garam masala and a good pinch of sea salt.

Kitchen

Tasty Roasties DOWNLOAD

01 /1 2

si st

Spiced Roast Chicken

er M AG

DOWNLOAD

Kitchen

SPICED ROAST CHICKEN serves 4-6 1.5-2kg whole chicken 2 tbsp of vegetable oil 2 tbsp butter 3 tbsp Patak’s Balti Paste 1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped ½ carrot, sliced 1 celery stick, sliced 1 tbsp fresh coriander, roughly chopped 100 g onions, sliced 1 tsp black pepper, coarsely crushed 1 lemon, sliced into quarters For the India Style Gravy 1 pint chicken stock 2 tbsp plain flour 1 tbsp Patak’s Balti Paste 1. In bowl mix together the butter, Patak’s Balti Paste, garlic, coriander, and black pepper. 2. Rub the chicken inside and out with the spiced marinade. It tastes great if you carefully loosen the skin and rub some under the skin as well. 3. Cover and leave to marinade in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or overnight if you have time). Bring back to room temperature before cooking. In a large roasting dish lay out the onions, carrots and celery and toss in the vegetable oil. 4. Lay the chicken on top. 5. Stuff the lemon into the cavity of the chicken. 6. Place in a preheated oven at 190°C/375°/gas 5 for 90 minutes, basting with the juices from the tray every now and again. If the skin is starting to burn simply cover loosely with

some foil. 7. Remove the chicken from the roasting tray and allow to rest whilst you make the gravy. 8. Place the roasting dish on the hob on a high heat. Once the onions begin to sizzle skim any fat that has risen to the surface. 9. Stir in the flour and cook for 5 minutes. 10. Slowly whisk in the hot chicken stock, a little a time ensuring there are no lumps. Add the Patak’s Balti Paste (if using) and continue to cook until the gravy has thickened to your desired consistency. 11. Serve the spiced roast chicken with plenty of Indian style gravy. Simply delicious.

Anjali’s Tip

If you can’t find Balti Paste then add your own spices to the spiced butter. I love to use ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander seeds and ½ tsp chilli powder.

STICKY SQUASH AND BROCCOLI

I love squash and this fantastic recipe adds sweetness and spice to liven it up. You can use any of your favourite in season vegetables. 750g butternut squash, cleaned and cut into bite size pieces 200g broccoli florets 75g red pepper, cut into large chunks 4 tablespoons olive oil 2 cloves garlic, chopped ½ tsp roasted cumin powder

01 /1 2

1 red onion, cut into large chunks ½ tbsp lemon thyme, chopped (or any fresh herbs) ¼ tsp black pepper, coarsely crushed 2 tbsp Patak’s Brinjal Pickle (see Anjali’s Tip) juice of 1 lime 1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped good pinch sea salt

1. In a roasting dish mix together the olive oil, garlic, black pepper, roasted cumin powder, Patak’s Brinjal Pickle, lemon thyme and the juice of ½ a lime. 2. Toss in the butternut squash, red pepper and red onions and coat well with the marinade. 3. Sprinkle over a good pinch of sea salt and roast in a preheated oven at 190°C/375°F/ gas 5 for 15 minutes. 4. Blanch the broccoli for 1 minute in a pan of boiling water and drain. Remove the roasting butternut squash from the oven and add the broccoli, giving it a good stir before returning to the oven to cook for a further 5 -10 minutes. 5. Squeeze over the remaining lime juice and serve garnished with fresh chopped coriander.

Anjali’s Tip If you don’t have Brinjal Pickle then squeeze over some honey instead.

si st er M AG

Kitchen

Sticky Squash and Broccoli DOWNLOAD

01 /1 2

Kitchen Lyrics

Clementine cake with icing sugar grid, honey-vanilla-drops and a layer of cream Winter is a friend of mine. In a way I like all of them: the blossoming of the spring, the blace of colour in the summer and the transition that resonate in the fall. But my favorite is the silence si st er M AG

of the winter. Like a great sea the winter swims in the world. Pureness, vastness. Slow things down. Let things go - leaves blow away. What stays, goes away. Winter allows us a wider view

Kitchen

T X E T . L R F s a li a Z T L O T by NINA S and leaves behind a colour mix of grey and blue. A wonderful grayish blue. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t think winter is forlorn, I think it is refreshing. And: winter is able to stir up the joy for life like a tender break to take a deep breath. Breathing in concert before everything sounds. Life in winter shifts from exterior to interior. There is rarely something more beautiful than to look from the inside outside. To stand at the window, to see the sky valid. Sometimes nothing comes, sometimes rain, sometimes snow. The light is tender and a little bit gloomy. It disappears quicker than usually. It seems to be painted in watercolors. Seldom clear, always a little bit blurred, enchanted. And in this light an orange barges in. Rich, energetic fruits with a fine-pore skin: the clementine. They are the sun in the winter. The push, the luster, the glamour. They are my winter - combined with the balance. Their game of acid and sweetness a cue. The balance not to be lost in winter. The recipe for this cake sneaked into my winter (thanks to Nigella Lawson) some years ago. Filled stomach and

heart. Came again and again and won. Just became MY winter. I was fascinated by the way of preparation: the cake consists of only a few ingredients. The protagonists are definitely the clementines which disappear completely neck and crop in the cake. They are cooked - so smooth until they resolve nearly like butter. This procedure takes two hours - and these two hours are the best thing at the cake. A kind of indulgence sentiment, a soft fog. The unique odour which develops while cooking generates at the same time a pleasant heat and the feeling something is boiling in the middle of the winter, in this winterly quietness. Eventually the skin bursts - and then it is time. Watching and making follows. The clementine become puree. However before this is happening, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ll go back a step: at the beginning are these clementines. About 6-8 depending on size and in total 375 grams. It is important the the skin was not treated so it can be eaten as well. I take therefore seedless bio clementines. I put the clementines in a casserole and cover them with water. Subsequently I

01 /1 2

e Th

d u o l c

have them boil and let them simmer for about two hours. A check in between is important when the water is dried up. Then necessarily add some additional liquid so that the clementines donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t burn. When the skin bursts and the fruits are very mellow at finger pressure, everything is right. Now take the clementines out of the wet (if there is something left) and puree them with a blender or in a food processor. After this is finished six eggs, 200 gramme of fine sugar and 250 gramme of ground almonds (without skin because the dough should stay light) join the clementines and are mixed with the blender. Furthermore a heaped teaspoon of baking powder - and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s it. A homogeneous mass in light orange was created and feels well in a buttered square baking tray. This then vanishes in the pre-heated oven at 180Â° for - depending on the individual oven 30 to 40 minutes. My cake achieves the perfect texture after 35 minutes. At the edges fully browned, the body regular (like a good sun creme prevented the si st er M AG

Drops

burning), the interior juicy not sticky. The skewer test is the indicator. The duration requires a little bit of instinct - you know your oven best! Let it cool, wait a little, remove from the mold and way again until the cake is fully cooled - as it is winter. In the

Kitchen

meantime stir some drops of clementine juice and a lot of icing powder in an opaque icing - nearly a paste. Draw a pattern in paths which looks like snow that sits on branches. Furthermore I have heated two tablespoons of honey and vanilla powder and trickled them as pair onto the icing sugar grid. I also serve the clementine cake with a thick snow cloud on top. The softness of the whipped cream combines perfectly with the slight bitterness of the cake. She is the winterly bonnet which creates a warm stirs at the palate. Perfection. She supports the in-

ner juiciness and makes it at the same time slightly milder. Life, mood, winter. The cream entices what soon will blossom, the small flower heads stretch on wavy ground. Spring in winter, winter in spring, no spring without winter. I just like them all - especially when they taste so well.

Gitter

u Explain the idea of your company! With JUNA we want to offer very new and exciting taste experiences to the consumer bringing the flavours of mangos, lulos, guanábanas and moras in form of fruity drinks to Europe. Our products are also supposed to meet our consumer‘s high expectations regarding nutrition, quality and sustainability. Our consumer is not only open for new things, but actually seeks for them in daily life. u How did you come up with the idea? Everyone who has ever been to Colum-

si st er M AG

bia raves about the diversity of fruits and juices. I felt the same way when I came to Columbia for the first time which was 10 years ago when I visited my girlfriend (now my wife) in her home country. From the very beginning I asked myself why we don‘t have these tast sensations in Europe. With JUNA we want to get rid of this question. u How do you earn money? How do you finance JUNA? We do not yet earn money with JUNA and this will stay this way in the foreseeable future. Hence we depend on Angelas income to finance our family. She works in the area of development aid. Regarding financing our company we were able

Kitchen

ounder F – Z L O H F U A K N IA T Answers by CHRIS to organise a funding through a combination of a bank loan and privat investors. u Who is your target group? How do you see your market potential? Our main target group are health conscious, relatively young (20-40), open people who are interested in world affairs. We find this group of peoppeop le mainly in large cities. However we value each and every target group. My nephew is a big fan of our mango juice and he is just five years old (of course he gets special rates)! The potential is incredibly big, although we offer quite a niche product. We don‘t want to substitute apple or orange juice, even though our slogan reads: “Give apples and oranges a break“. The potential is as big because our fruits aren‘t known outside the Andes regions, whether we go to Berlin, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong or Melbourne.

u Who are your competitors? JUNA starts in a new niche of the fruit juice market. Another coequal nectar of lulo or mora doesn‘t exist. That doesn‘t mean that we don‘t have competitors. The market of smoothies and fresh juices is huge, whether we look in Germany, Great Britain or worldwide. However due to JUNA‘s uniqueness we don‘t have to worry too much. u What did you do before? After finishing he studies, Angela started to work in the area of micro financing and development cooperation with a main focus on Latin America. Thus the component of development aid in JUNA is something which is very dear to Angela‘s heart. I however worked in Brussels as consultant in the area of political analysis and lobbying until 2009. I grappled a lot with topics like trade policies and food law. This helps

u Where do you see yourself in five years? We expect that many people know the names of our fruits “Lulo“ or “Guanábana“. Next to Germany and Great Britain we will be sel-

ling JUNA Juices in other European countries such as Spain or in the Benelux countries. Furthermore we will be working with a larger group of farmers in Columbia. Because of the larger export volume we‘ll be able to support more farmers and achieve a bigger social contribution to the rural areas of Columbia.

/1 2

us now when working for JUNA. However it still was a major change for me. Today the management experience I got when working for a Brussel startup is almost more important. uu In which department did you employ your first employee? Our first employee was Orlando in Bogota. However you cannot really call it a “department“ because we are such a mini company. Orlando however helped us from the beginning with searching suppliers, talking to farmer‘s unions, bottlers or packaging companies in Columbia. He is of course still part of JUNA and supervises the area I would call “supplier relations“.Unser erster Angestellter war Orlando in Bogota. uu How did you come up with your company‘s colours? Our JUNA fruits already provide a very colourful product palette. In this moment we have four flavours: Guanábana (white), Lulo (green), Mango (yellow) and Mora (red). Each fruit has its own logo colour; you can see that looking at our bottle designs. Lets call our company‘s colour just “multicoloured“! si st er M AG

uu Who designed your company‘s logo – externally or inhouse? How long did it take? The logo was designed by a few young designers from a startup in Brussels, which I knew from my former work experience. It took at least three months and led to heated discussions in our JUNA team. We survived … and the result is quite felicious I think! uu Most often used software? Skype! With traditional phoning we would already be bankrupt! uu Main food during startup time? JUNA. And a lot of coffee. uu What are the best features of your juices? We put forward the newness, quality and freshness of our JUNA juices. The sensation of taste we provide with JUNA is unique and unbeatable. If someone wants a direct comparison we always advise to try our mango nectar next to any kind of storebought competitor‘s product. It is almost a given that our products are 100% nature, full of vitamins and produced in a sustainable way. Talking about sustainability it may be interesting that 5¢ per bottle goes to

Kitchen

by XX a project fund and helps to strengthen Columbiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s peasants. uu Where can I buy JUNA Juices or better: where can I drink them? Momentarily you can get JUNA juices mainly in London and Berlin. We are available in natural food stores, coffee shops and lunch eateries â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you can find out about all the stockists on our website. In the course of the next weeks and months this list will hopefully quickly grow!

x Lentil Soup DOWNLOAD

The Soup Feature

Warm and cozy si

Soup doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t belong at the bedside. Tami Hardeman from Running With Tweezers shows us her recipes for bowls full of steaming delicacy.

st er M AG

Soup Feature

by Tami Hardeman

Middle Eastern Yellow Lentil Soup INGREDIENTS

STEPS

1 EL Raps-, Gemüse oder leichtaromatisiertes Speiseöl 1 tbsp. canola, vegetable or other lightly-flavored cooking oil 1 small yellow onion, diced 1½ cup yellow lentils rinsed and drained thoroughly 6 cups lightly flavored vegetable or chicken stock ½ tsp cumin 1½ tablespoons za’atar juice of 1 medium lemon kosher salt & ground black pepper, to taste

1. In a medium soup or stock pot, heat up the cooking oil over medium heat until just shimmering. Add the onion, stir and saute until translucent but not brown - 2 to 3 minutes. 2. Stir in the lentils to combine them with the onion and heat through for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the stock, cumin and za’atar and bring to a boil. 3. Once bubbling, reduce heat and simmer until the lentils are cooked through and most of the liquid has been absorbed - this should take 25 to 35 minutes. 5. Stir in lemon juice, season with salt & pepper to taste and serve immediately. Once cooked, you can adjust the thickness of this soup with a little water - just make sure to warm back through and re-season to taste. 6. If you want this soup perfectly smooth, whiz it in the pot with an immersion blender once it has cooled and reheat.

s n o i t gges

u po S h c h , t is gur n o r y a e l , G ek sty nions re no G e f e o r l g r or r e a swi d n ria o c de h i s s e r e f h t n ped o d a e br a t i p warm

01 /1 2

SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A SOUP COURSE OR LIGHT ENTREE

Parsnip Soup DOWNLOAD

si st er M AG

Soup Feature

Apple Kissed Parsnip Soup INGREDIENTS

STEPS

1 tbsp. unsalted butter

1. In a large stock or soup pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the leek and saute until tender but not brown - 3 to 4 minutes. 2. Add the parsnips and stir to combine. Pour in the water, and apple juice until the parsnips are just covered. 3. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook the parsnips for 20 minutes or until fork tender. Remove from heat and allow to cool. 4. In a high powered blender or food processor, puree the mixture in batches until very smooth - to ensure the ultimate silky texture, you can strain the puree through a very fine sieve to filter out any fibrous parts of the parsnip that are leftover. 5. Return to soup pot, add the pinch of cinnamon and return soup to a simmer. Once warmed through, serve immediately.

1 large leek - white and light green parts cut and rinsed thoroughly. discard the tough dark green parts of the leek. 1 1/2 pounds parsnips, peeled and cubed - 4 to 5 large parsnips, on average 3 cups water 3 cups lightly sweetened apple juice or apple cider a pinch of cinnamon kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

n o i t s e g g u S Garnish

lin, s d e e s e t a n egra m o p , s n o t u o r rye c ed t s a o t & d e t l rves, sa e s e r p y r r e b gon apple h s e r f d e ic d eds, sunflower se

SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A SOUP COURSE OR LIGHT ENTREE

01 /1 2

Squash Soup DOWNLOAD

Soup Feature

Thai Spiced Winter Squash Soup INGREDIENTS

STEPS

1 shallot - minced 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 large Butternut or Kabocha squash or 2 medium acorn squash - peeled, deseeded and cubed a pinch each of ground cumin and ground ginger 5 to 6 cups lightly flavored vegetable broth - you want enough liquid to cover the squash by ½”. you can add water to the broth to make sure you have enough. 1 tbsp. good quality honey or agave nectar

1. In a large stock or pot pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until barely shimmering. 2. Add the minced shallot and saute for 2-3 minutes until translucent but not brown. Add the cubed squash and stir to combine with the shallot. 3. Add the broth, cumin and ginger. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. 4. Cook until the squash is fork tender - about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool - this is so you don’t cause the lid of your blender to blow off! 5. In a high powered blender or food processor, puree the mixture in batches until perfectly smooth. 6. Return to pot and stir in the honey/agave and the coconut milk. Bring back to a simmer, season to taste and serve immediately.

1 5.6 ounce can of coconut milk - you can use light or regular salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

u S h s arni

s n o i t gges

s, SERVES 4 TO 6 AS A SOUP COURSE OR LIGHT ENTREE

/1 2

ed e s n i k mp u p G d e t toas , s t ed u p n p d o e i h c d can iche, a r f e em r c f o l a swir nder a i r o c fresh

ens) e r g r e t n i w r e (or oth

Creamy Kale Soup INGREDIENTS 1 tbsp olive oil 1 small yellow onion, diced 1 large bunch kale (about 4 cups worth once chopped) - washed, dried, and chopped with tough stems removed. You could also you chard, dinosaur kale, full leaf spinach or mustard greens 4 cups lightly flavored vegetable or chicken stock a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg a pinch of dried red chili flakes

STEPS 1. In a large, heavy-bottomed stock or soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until just shimmering. 2. Add in the onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add in the chopped greens and stir to combine with the onion. Pour over the stock and add the dried red chili flakes, nutmeg and sherry. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and cook at a simmer for 15 minutes - you want the leaves to be tender but not turning brown. 3. Remove from heat and allow to cool. 4. Working in batches, puree the mixture until smooth. Return to the soup pot, whisk in the cream and bring back to a simmer over low heat. 5. Once warmed through, serve immediately.

¼ cup dry sherry ½ cup heavy cream or half & half kosher salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste

ns o i t s e g g u S Garnish at crou-

whe le o h w r o h g u crusty Sourdo es, a iv h c d e p ip n s le of tons, a sprink ollop d a , s ip h c le a py k handful of cris pesto, t h g u o b e r o t or s of homemade on top d e t a r g e s e e h an c some Parmes

st er M AG

FÜR 4 PERSONEN ALS SUPPENGANG ODER ALS LEICHTE VORSPEISE

Soup Feature

Creamy Kale Soup DOWNLOAD

01 /1 2

Tomato Bisque DOWNLOAD

Storecupboard Tomato Bisque INGREDIENTS 2 tbsp unsalted butter 1 large carrot, peeled & diced 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced 1 small clove garlic, minced 5 cups vegetable or chicken stock 1 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes (roughly chopped) or diced tomatoes with liquid 1 bay leaf 2 tsp dried oregano 2 tsp dried basil a pinch of dried red chili flakes 1 tsp fresh chopped parsley (optional if you have it)

STEPS 1. Heat the butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. 2. Add the onion and carrots and cook for 4 or 5 minutes until the carrots start to get tender & the onion translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 4 or 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. 3. Pour in the broth and tomatoes (and their liquid) and bring to a boil. 4. Stir in the bay leaf, oregano, basil and parsley and simmer for 30 minutes on low heat. 5. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. When the soup base is cool, discard the bay leaf. In batches, transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. 6. For extra silky soup, strain the soup through a fine sieve over a large bowl. 7. Return the puree to the pot and whisk in the cream/half and half and season to taste with salt and pepper. 8. Reheat at a simmer and serve once warmed through.

Zum

1 cup heavy cream or half and half kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper, to taste

6 AS O T 4 S SERVE RSE U O C P A SOU OF A T R A OR P N DA S & SOUP NNER I D H WIC

Gar

Poss nier ibilit en ies a toas re en ted b dless r e a : chee d wit se or h me lted moz chee goat z a rella se, c , Par routo fresh mes n s, sm basil an a l l o leave r Ital diced i s of a sunn p a dried rsley drizz , t o le of m a toes grea oil. ,a t ext ra vi rgin olive

s e i t 0 9 rannyâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s birthday table

Regularly we celebrate birthdays of aunts, uncles, fathers, children or of our own grannies. That means constant table decorating for the hostess! Hence, sisterMAG shows you ideas for a modern-traditional table decoration. STYLING: CLARA KIRCHNER FOTOS: SILKE ZANDER

st er M AG

n ooem Rch Kit Dining

by XX

CUTLERY: private, dipped in Plasti-dip www.plastidip-gmbh.de LETTERS: Flea Market

GLASS: Xenos 2 â&#x201A;Ź, www.xenos.de Sketch your name onto the glass with a waterproof pen, then engrave the typography with an engraving pen.

PLACEMETS Position doily onto silver plates, spray them with grey spray paint.

01 /1 2

CARD: old opera programme, from second hand bookshop BRANCH: Corokia cotoneaste

Dining Room

01 /1

FIGURES: Old porcelain figures – as grandma would have them! Spray-painted in Grey

CUTLERY: Old/Private Dip cutlery into colourful Plasti-dip, let it dry. Careful: do not put them into dishwasher!

CAKE PLATE: Use an embroidery hook, installed onto an old candleholder. That gives you a wonderful cake plate!

CROCKERY: Cashmere Sets from Maxwell & Williams; from €34,90 www.maxwellandwilliams.nl

TABLECLOTH: old linen cloth PLACEMETS: Plant coasters from Homeware Store

Dining Room

m o o R iving

interview :

Eva Milner

sisterMAG meets the singer/songwriter and female half of the band HUNDREDS in Hamburg.

The interview with Eva Milner was planned for quite a long time but we only set a fixed date for our meeting in the café “Panther“ in Hamburg in January 2012. Eva – one part of the band duo “Hundreds“ – can only now enjoy a normal life at home. The last two years were full of concerts in Europe and all over the world. The first album of the brother and sister Philipp and Eva Milner was a great success – the slighly melancholic basic tone combined with electronic rhythms and bass that go straight into the ear and have already found countless fans. I am slightly nervous when I meet Eva on a bitterly cold Tuesday morning. However, the excitement dies away quickly because Eva is a very lively, open and talkative. We start to drink a Latte and talk about her life so far. Before the Hundreds she worked in a kindergarden teaching early musical education ... The decision was actually easy. There was a radical change in my life – some things stopped, others were in the balance. I asked myself: “What happens to si st er M AG

me right now? Where do I want to go?“ Philipp had asked me already for years whether we could do something together in the musical space and said: “Let’s just try it out. I take 2 months of unpaid holidays, come to Erfurt (the town where I lived then) and we just go into the recording studio and have enough time.“ Some songs which made it onto the album already existed but the main part were created during those 2 months. For me this was a change of which I knew: “If I don’t try this here and now, I will be angry with myself in 10 years time. I want to at least try it out now to be in balance with me later. We never had thought that it would turn out so well. My next question is about the work itself. Is there a clear division of tasks between Philipp and her – what is your main inspiration? There is no clear division of work. It originates from a mix of both which we later separate when it comes to the final song. Especially for the technical part I have

Living Room

only little knowledge, I sit alongside and comment. This is Philipp’s main work – the hands-on work. The ideas arise from a mix of our abilities: we are sitting at the piano, Philipp may have written a little harmonic succession and I try to sing something on top of it. When we still like the result after ten minutes, I go outside and write a text – if something springs to my mind – otherwise dadadadadaaa stays initially. Later we try to further develop the theme. He might critizise a word which he doesn’t like. He has a say with the text in the same way as I have a say with the music – equal rights. It is a collaborative process. Yes, definitely very organic so that afterwards it is hard to trace back who did exactly what. At the moment Eva and Philipp are working on their next album so that exactly this approach determines their days. Still I want to know if there is a typical daily routine in the life of the artist. Yes! I’m not an early morning person but rather a night owl. Most of the time I get up between 9 and 10 o’clock, make some breakfast, drink coffee, write emails and have a look what is going on in the Internet. This often takes until lunch time.

Then a lot depends on whether I have to work or not. At the moment I work a lot on our new album: I listen to the sketches which we have made. I have always a little book of poems and a dictionary with me. Often I also sit an hour in a café. This of course sounds wonderful but is – especially in the beginning – very stressful. It is difficult to get into the creative mood again. Particularly as we have been on tour for two years. But we have already finished threeforth of a song and I was relieved that IT is still there. I was really afraid that we only have written this one album and there is nothing more to come. I think many artists are like this that they think with every song: “This is the last song I ever write.“ As it also relates to our personal existence, I’m always a little bit afraid. But I’m totally relieved as it is happening again. I have the feeling with the material: “This is the HUNDREDS.“ Do you write your songs digitally or on paper?? On paper. Yes, I have a big black book. We talk about some well-known producers of note books, this appears very original and stylish in today’s digital world.

01 /1 2

Thus, another journey to the past – have you been part in the school choir? Only in fifth grade. I have sung a lot in Latin there. I then changed school so many times that it didn’t work out anymore. However, I always had somehow to do with music. I took classical singing lessons – something completely different from what I do now. The techniques, however, that I have learned during the lessons became part of myself – e.g. to take care or rather not to have to take care of the way I breath, the right composure, to have support in the stomach.

si st er M AG

This stays and helps. But apart from this I of course don’t sing Italian ariae anymore. Are you sometimes sad about this? No (laughs) – I’m also no soprano anymore, so it’s not so bad. Eva’s role models and idols are then also not found in the Italian opera circle; both brother and sister have their music roots in Triphop à la Portishead. Always interested in music Eva throughout her life was interested in a diverse set of artists – in both music and literature. In the last years Björk, Radiohead or Moloko re-

Living Room

mained. Eva tells with a smirk – as she is wondering about herself - that currently they are listening to a lot to Tori Amos. The HUNDREDS have been on tour with their first album for the last two years – thus the question is opportune between which cities I catch Eva today in Hamburg. In which city was their last concert and where will the next one take place? You catch me between London and London. We have performed in London in a small club in Soho together with Tim Neuhaus and Touchy Mob. Our album is also going to be released in England after two years. We have found a very nice record label which very much support us and founded themselves for us. Now we play at HMV Next Big Thing. I think we will perform quite often in England this year, although we are actually not doing concerts. And afterwards we go to Amsterdam where we do a concert in the Goethe Institute. And do you like London? I have fallen in love a little bit the last time. Our contact person from the label lives in Hackney and we went from there to Rough Trade East. It was incredibly beautiful, a clear winter morning, I liked the style one lives

in London. It is very straight and simple but still playful, small and cosy as well as very open. I have to say very friendly people. With all the traveling and concerts you must experience so many things. I want to know if Eva shares a memory from a concert with us – a funny, nice or exciting one. She thinks it over for a while because many impressions blur with each other. But then she tells a story which happened in Cologne. On stage I use an in-ear-system so that I must not rely on the box in front of me. They can be incredibily loud and one becomes deaf after 10 concerts. This means, I hear the sound which goes out directly in the ear. Suddenly in Cologne I heard the reggae band which performed in the other room above on my inear-system. In the middle of “Fighter“ I suddenly had reggae guitars in my ears. When the sound engineer came the problem was that the system stuck at one cable which was fastened at my underwear. The result was that I had to nearly get undressed on stage. Luckily the people in Cologne are very nice and found it really funny. Eva also tells about a very nice concert in Warsaw where the jubilant crowd motivated her again on a po-

01 /1 2

werless evening. There moreover they performed in the palace of culture – a building commonly known as “Stalin’s Birthday Cake“. This directly leads me to the next inquiry, venues or stages, Eva would like to perform on. She has to think a while about it. A very good question. I guess I would like to play at Glastonbury Festival – but it doesn’t have to be the big stage! Also at the Roskilde Festival! And a stage ...?? Later she will confide in me that the Carnegie Hall would be a big dream. But before we talk a bit about the musical future. What is to come next? We will see. For the moment we are writing new stuff. The next few months music-wise it’s all about voice and piano. Besides this we both have a little bit the plan to make it less smooth, more edgy and danceable. But we will see. Maybe the album will be again a melancholic, great one. ... Eva is smiling while saying this – very mysterious on this freezing but sunny morning in February. In the meantime we both warmed up and are not angry anymore about the minus degrees that prevail in the whole of Germany. If she likes to live in Hamburg – yes, she loves the water and the harbour. This love she

st er M AG

already processed in the song “I love my harbour“. Otherwise she could only imagine Leipzig as other possible residence in Germany – the “Berlin in Small“ with enough green, calmness and space. Then this is what she hopes for the future: in ten year’s time she would love to live in the countryside in a big house with a music studio in the barn together with her closest friends and family. A lake around the corner, plenty of calmness and less Internet. There she would definitely have the quietness to work on words and texts. Always a English book of poems on the bedside table – one of those she takes out of her bag and I browse a little bit. I love English lyric – first of all I take up words differently than reading an English novel. One focuses on each individual word. And many poets use extraordinary words and I like very much interesting and innovative uses and connotations. Poetry, language and writing – these activities are not only a job for Eva but also leisure – Hmm, hobbies and leisure time? I suppose when I have time I get up and buy writing book, books or CDs. I don’t have a real hobby – besides going dancing! And the culinary side? Is she a foodie

Living Room

and does she like to cook herself? If yes, what is her play-safe-recipe? Yes of course I like to cook! My favourite recipe is an absolute Happy Meal: pasta with Parmesan cheese-pepper-cream saurce and peas. This doesn’t sound glamourous but it tastes delicious. I cook relatively simple, mainly German food like savoy cabbage in cream with potatoes and one egg i like. This sounds a little bit like granny’s home cooking. At the end I would like to talk with Eva about the family – which is an obvious topic through her professional career together with her brother. What does family mean for Eva? I believe that it is important for the development of any person to first of all completely dissolve from the family. This enables to take a different perspective – a grown-up view. I have done that: I have moved out, moved further away and haven’t got in touch very often during university. As a result the step towards my family again was very easy. Our family is gorgeous, but this dissolution was in my opinion important to be able to become a

part of the family again. Between childhood and adulthood happens so much what you have to decide with yourself. Afterwards you can come back as a different person. We are as a family very close. We talk about a lot of things that affect us. This is extremely important, especially when we are far away. Our older sister lives in Ethiopia, we don’t see her very often. When I then call her or write her, it is like she hasn’t been away Is this also the case with your six years older brother? To what extent has the relationship to your brother changed since you’re working together?

01 /1 2

We are much more on the same level than before. In the past Philipp was my hero! He still is in a certain way but in the meantime he is also my colleague, friend, creative partner and always-beside-me-in-busses partner. Sometimes this is a little bit too much but we both master this quite well to also leave each other alone and to understand the other. I’m very happy that we are now for a while in one place so we can lead our normal, private life. We live in one house since a few months – so to speak in a backyard. Closer is not possible. It doesn’t feel oppressive but totally natural because we do everything together anyway. This was not always the case. Philipp moved out when I was twelve – this means before I could be really horrible to him. In this way I was always very excited when I visited him. So we became friends very quickly. Did you get along well as kids? I have given him a hard time – I was a little bit hyperactive. Philipp was a very calm boy and put up with a lot of things from me. He also had to take me with him often to his mates. And I believe I have bullied him there quite a bit. And while we are chatting with each other, her mother actually calls – like she desi st er M AG

0 0 1

scribed it. At the end she tells me how she stays in contact with her parents and her brothers and sisters, a typical narrative of a generation that teaches their parents the new forms of communication. My mother writes emails since a few years – very well now. However, with her I also talk a lot on the phone. Most of the time she writes an email and then I call her. My Dad owns an iPad now so we have “practised the iPad“ for a week on Christmas. We have written emails from chair to chair. In fact we wanted to write each other a message every day in January but after a few days we have stopped. For this reason we have started long phone calls again. Our long chat comes to an end. Before the end we tell each other what we will do for the rest of the day. We put on our caps, gloves and then weg o out in the clear and cold winter morning. When Eva turns around the corner, I take out my MP3-player, scroll to H – listen to “Fighter“ for the rest of the day and smile.

Movther

Living Room

Son

It is not uncommon that children follow suit their parents‘ profession. With opera singer Daniel Behle however it took a long time for him to realise that singing was his true love. The son of successful opera singer Renate Behle first studied trombone and composition before he started his professional career as vocalist. Today, mother and son answer all of our questions regarding music, life and family.

Music & Profession Renate Behle

Daniel Behle

What are you working on when this eMail interview reaches the both of you separately? I am just working through Brecht‘s Song Book in order to find suitable songs for myself.

I am singing in Dresden tonight – Christmas Oratorium 4-6 under the conduct of Christian Thielemann. Furthermore I am working at “King‘s Children“ (Königskinder) and “Der schönen Magelone“

How do you see your mother/your son on a professional level – are you more critical or milder than an outsider? Definitely more critical, always seeking to improve something.

I AM very critical, just because I know what is possible.

Did you attend the school‘s choir when you were young? Yes – I sang at the Alps Society Choir and the Chamber Choir of the Music Academy.

No, I didn‘t sing that much until I was 24 years old.

Which music do you like to listen to privately? I very much like Bach – however I do enjoy total silence.

Since I am a hobby producer I like to listen to my own music.

01 /1 2

1 0 1

When did you feel the need to sing yourself? Was there any key incident or was is more of a slow process? Because it took me so long to sing my first tone, it was only a matter of a short time. I simply had more talent for singing than for playing the trombone.

Who are idols or role models you follow suit? When I started singing, I very much saw Christa Ludwig and Lisa della Casa as idols – also Edith Mathis. Once I read in an interview with Lisa della Casa, that Singing is 10% talent and 90% hard work. This sentence became my guiding principle!

Wunderlich, Gedda, Björling. And of course I would like to sing on such a high level as my mother has done for as long as possible.

What does the typical working day of an opera singer look like? During an opera production, you have 3 hours rehearsal in the morning and 3 hours rehearsal in the afternoon, in between there is – at least in Germany – a rest period of 4 hours. Free days are used to study roles and music. Then it starts with a warming up in the morning, followed by a study phase. It is very important to get a role “into your throat“! Which means: hard and disciplined work every day. Plus – and this is not unimportant – to train your personal fitness because singing is a “top-level sport“!

si st er M AG

2 0 1

On days without a performance you unwoundly have time to study your roles, you have rehearsals in the morning and evening. On a day of an important premiere, you do your ‚Feldenkrais‘ exercises, you just shut your mouth and also retreat mentally at least 2 hours before the performance. Finally on days of a repertoire performance one sleep in, have breakfast, do everyday chores, take a walk and go shopping, bother to show up at the theatre half an hour before. Most of the time that are the better performances!

Living Room

How did you influence the development of your son as vocalist? In the beginning years I must have been quite formative – just to show him the right path. Today I am a mentor or counselor from time to time and just enjoy his creativity.

What do you like best when teaching young singers and vocalists? When they realise that discipline and consequence lead to succes – and not only talent. Which opera role do you like best? Due to my 45 years experience on stage, there is almost no wish unanswered. Spontaneously I would call Sieglinde and Fidelio my favourite roles.

I like personifying the role which I am currently working on. Thus that current one is my favourite role.

In which oper house do you feel most comfortable? Where is it cozy behind the scenes? I feel very comfortable in Dresden and Hamburg. And of course I very much enjoyed my time at the State Opera of Hannover with Hans Peter Lehmann as artistic director!

All of them are cozy when the people are friendly.

In which opera or opera house would you like to sing in the future? Die Küsterin in Jenufa!

State Opera House of Vienna.

01 /1 2

3 0 1

Life Which book would we find on your bedtable? “Wild Swans“ from Jung Chang, a story about three women in China from the emperor‘s days until today. This is a suggestion from Daniel, by the way!

The text of “Die schöne Magelone“.

You travel so much from one city to another – where do you feel at home? In a cozy appartment.

In my hometown Hamburg but also in Basel, where I am living by now.

Do you like hotels? Sometimes

You don‘t have a choice.

Which hobbies do you have outside the music? Do you breed goldfishes? ;) No – no fishes! I have discovered painting for myself and also relax when doing gardening.

I am an enthusiastic film buff!

Which field of study or profession would you choose if there wasn‘t music? Probably some kind of work involving animals or plants!

Probably I would have been a salesman. I tend to have a missionary attitude towards things I like.

Family How do you define family? Family is and has always been my ease of mind. There I can be and reenergise.

Wife, husband, child and an animal.

Does music lie in your family? No, my husband and I were the first professional musicians. Now my son and his wife have followed. si st er M AG

4 0 1

My father played the oboe at NDR.

Living Room

Have you realized projects together? If no, could you see yourself working on one project? The Generations CD is the first project we are doing together.

We‘ve recorded a CD together and are just working on the critique of the first cut.

Did you find it hard to combind the life as professional opera singer with your family life?

Did you grow up differently as son of an opera singer?

Yes, if I wouldn‘t have had the support of my husband, it wouldn‘t have been possible to pursue a successful career as singer. He gave me the space to do this and rendered it possible. However I always had a bad conscience because I didn‘t spend enough time with my family – especially on holidays!

No! I had a wonderful and sheltered childhood. However music and opera was always present to me.

Which family tradition do you hold dear? As often as it was possible we would all decorate the christmas tree together. And we would have Christmas Goose filled with chestnuts. For Easter (Saturday) we also have “Geselchtes“ (specially prepared meat) with horseradish, hard eggs and a homemade Easter Bread with anise!

Dichterliebe/An die Musik/ Heideröslein

(Capriccio, 14,99€)

Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin/Auf dem Strom

(Capriccio, 14,99€)

Spohr: Jessoda with Renate Behle

(Orfeo, 39,99€)

uu Explain in your own words the idea of your company! We, that is Flo, Ramzi, Lorenz and I (Gen) want to revolutionise the way of taking pictures. EyeEm is a Handy Photo Application which allows you to explore new people, places or interesting topics around you. We want to make collaborative picture taking very easy, no matter whether it is about a favourite topic or an event. To cut a long story short: everyone can take pictures with everyone and everything is collected in one shared album.

uu What was the inspiration for your idea? Flo lost his DSLR camera in New York and started taking pictures with his old iPhone. Through this he discovered the whole iphoeography community. Back in Europe we started organising mobile photography exhibitions in Berlin and also in NYC, we printed books and built up a community, whose shared element is taking pictures with the mobile phone.

6 0 1

uu How do you earn money? We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t yet make money with our idea, but our passion to photography lets us hope to once make money with it! uu Who is your target group? What is your market potential? Mainly adults between 20 to 40 years. We still have a somehow balanced number between men and women using the app. We do see ourselves more as an adult cam and less as a toy cam. uu Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Five years is a long time span for the start up life. I definitely see myself in Berlin! uu Who do you see as your main competitors? The market is relatively young in this sector, thus you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t really talk about competitors. However you have to be really careful because the market is also incredibly fast-moving. uu Why is EyeEm different to other Photo Sharing Apps

Founder – E N A K A D A S N E G y Answers b As mentioned: we try to be more grown up and be creative with the technology. Trying out new features is necessary for us. Today photo sharing is almost standard for apps. The difference lies in the details, whether or not all actions are clever and harmonically combined, however it shouldn‘t look like advertising for the app. uu What did you do before? Flo and Lorenz have a background in Business, Ramzi is our coder who plays piano and I come from a marketing background. However we all are united through our love to photography.

Living Room

uu Who was your first team member (which department?) outside the founding team? iPhone-development, Wojtek! uu Who did design your company’s logo – external or internal? How long did it take? That was my job, but it is a never ending process. Actually I find it very oldfashioned to be “finished“: I could see myself designing a different logo every week – which could mirror the versatility of our community. uu Most often used software? Mail and Tweetdeck. Tweetdeck is super, actually comparable to EyeEm. It‘s all about having an overview over your pictures, see what happens with the albums you subscribed to and always be up to date. However we are not limited to 140 letters, because one picture – as it is generally known – may say more than thousand words!

7 0 1

uu Main food during starting up phase? We look after our bodies and employees. Hence: pizza and yoga. We do have a yoga instructor who comes by every Thursday before work. That is incredibly relaxing and everyone is fit for the day.

uu Which catchword is the most commonly used topic in your community? “Checking in“ was the most commonly used catchword. However we believe that the reason for this is our default setting, which says “Checking in“. Users didn‘t quite grasp the notion, that you are supposed to tap on the colourful bubbles in order to change your activity. Actually a lot of little sub communities are supposed to form with different albums like “cats“ or “Black and White Photography“, “Streetphotography“ or even “Nude“ in an artistic sense. uu What is your favourite filter? I love “Magix“ but also the filter named after the renowned photographer “Gundlach“ – a wonderful black and white filter. In our community however the filters Vanilla or Strawberry are often used.

uu Hitherto favourite event? The exhibition we organised in New York, that was a great event. We used top quality Alu Dibond canvas boards for our acrylic pictures, which got pro-

st er M

8 0 1

duced at Grieger. There the famous art photographer Andreas Gurski makes his pictures as well. The high quality just gave them a very special semblance. We didn‘t quite make pictures from several metres in size (as Grieger does), but the quality of pictures allowed us to produce formats up to DIN A3.

Living Room

Monique Valeries

01 /1 2

9 0 1

Adopt a Museum in to your family The initiative “Adopt-a-museum“ cares for unknown museums

When was the last time you visited a museum? For many people, museums are places they visit when on holiday, firm fixtures on travel itineraries. And it’s quite often the same ones, that make it on to the ‘must see’ lists, e.g. the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum in London, the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. But what about those little gems that aren’t featured as highlights in your guidebook, which you happen to chance upon, such as the Third Man Museum in Vienna or the Swiss Games Museum near Lausanne? Or your local museum and trusted rainy-day-friend down the road, like the Wolverhampton Art Gallery in England’s West Midlands or the Museo Geominero in Madrid. These are all museums that have featured in Adopt-a-Museum, a project which aims to put some of the unsung heroes of the museum world in the spotlight. The project was inspired by a visit to the Deutsches Röntgen Museum in the German town of Lennep. It’s one of the museums very near to where my si st er M AG

0 1 1

parents live, so when we visit them we often visit the museum too. It recently underwent a transformation from a specialist science museum into “a modern theme-oriented museum for all ages”, so I was shocked to hear they only have 30 visitors a day on average, rising up to maybe 100 on a good day at weekends or during holidays. I guess, being our local museum, it felt a bit like part of the family and made me quite protective of it. I wanted to run out and tell the whole world about it, so I started up Adopt-aMuseum to do just that. As the name implies, the idea is that people ‘adopt’ a museum they would like to champion. Of course, it’s not a real adoption, there’s no money or other official sponsorship involved, think of it in the sense of being an ambassador. Each week, the Adopt-a-Museum blog features a new museum introduced by a different person. Which countries and cities feature is guided entirely by which museums the participants choose, though there are a couple of guidelines, e.g. you

nn by JENNI FUCHS | @je

Living Room

ifuchs

Museums can’t adopt a museum you work or volunteer at, as we wanted to avoid self promotion, and you need to have visited at least once, as we felt you couldn’t be an ambassador for something you’d never seen. So, if you know of a great museum you feel, deserves more attention, that you would like to adopt in to your family, then please get in touch via info@museum140. com and we’ll send you a short questionnaire - just 5 questions - to complete along with some further info. The blog is in English, but we also accept submissions in German (which will then get translated). As a thank you, everyone who takes part will also receive an “I Adopted A Museum” sticker. More infos: http://adopt.museum140.com

MUSEUM DIARY jennifuchs.tumblr.com @jennifuchs

Jenni Fuchs is a museologist living in Berlin. She founded Museum140 to run social media projects based around museums, such as Adopt-a-Museum. Museum Diary is her own blog about all museum-related things. Great post How To Go On A Museum Date (http://bit.ly/yeZi1e)

THE MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE themuseumofthefuture.com @jaspervisser

Innovation and Participation in Culture – blog from Dutch Jasper Visser about digital strategies for organisations. Helpful! 5 things you could do with Pinterest, your institution‘s new best friend (http://bit.ly/x9gDrW)

01 /1 2

1 1 1

Visiting Frl Klein

2 1 1

Living Room

Visiting frl. klein German‘s bloggers and internet community has taken Yvonne and her blog fraeuleinklein.blogspot.com

their

heart for quite a long time now. Today she shows us some details of her decoration in her own living room – just right for this time between winter and spring and with the distinctive touch of “Miss Klein“. At this time of year I like to decorate with fresh flowers. However everything is still very pure, almost puristic. In winter my house is filled with darker colours, paired with White. I also love having a large number of different cushions at hand, thus I can interchange them. Sitting on the couch with a good cup

/1 2

relax!

of coffee is just the best way to

3 1 1

breaks

Take from every day to prevent your soul from greying.

Rainer Kaune, (*1945),

Living Room

Autor

01 /1 2

5 1 1

Viva La Utopia Concepts for design by Jerszy Seymour

sities and free us from any strenuous handywork.

(I) Jerszy Seymour, Workshop Chair, 2009 © Jerszy Seymour Design Workshop

Often the only thing it takes to realize you are surrounded by a lot of foreign things is a look around your own home. Do you know the wood which the leg of your chair was sawn from? What hands crafted this tablelight? Which mountain did the metal of your table structure come from? Such questions arise the superstition that a lot of this furniture – from the raw material to its end product – has journeyed more over land, water and air than we would ever be ready to travel. Global networks are being sustained by the furniture industry in order to serve the daily necessi st er M AG

6 1 1

Jerszy Seymour has formed the mental image of the “amateur“. With that concept he wants to show that complex channels of supply do not have to stretch over continents. In his opinion a lot of things can be crafted by hand in your nearby surroundings and your own home. Raw material, producer and end product fall into one place. The essential ingredients you need are the usual oven, a pot, scantlings and potatoes. The starch of potatoes is used to create a biodegradable plastic material, which becomes liquid in a frying pan at 60°C and can be formed into any wanted shape by using the scantling. The material changeableness of this plastic stands metaphorically for the always varying and changing wishes of the amateurs. Sometimes the plastic material serves as connecting piece between leg and seating area (I),

Living Room

by CHRISTOPH BLAAS

sometimes it in itself builds the construction of an expressive seat bench (II). The manufacturing process is supposed to be easy and accomplishable by everyone. Thereby the Amateur as aa “aficionado, appassionato and noneprofessional” can set up his own world of things by using his own hands. You cannot elude the suspicion that this idea of design is somewhat utopi-

an. However it is always in such spaces and mindsets – where utopias, visions and dreams are phrased and constructed – that impulsive new ideas are generated. Those do not have to include the production and design of functional objects but can rather develop into social and political questions and challenges.

01 /1

(II) Jerszy Seymour, Being There “Jeu de Paume“, Villa Noailles, Hyères, 2009 © Jerszy Seymour Design Workshop

7 1 1

Literary Walk

si st er M AG

8 1 1

RDT

A H R E B E T R E B O R : s to Text & Pho

Living Room

The suburb Spandau and the Scheunenviertel in Berlin Mitte are current hotspots for fashion, art and event happenings. We have ventured through the well situated streets under a slightly different, a literary angle. Countless books are available to us in the second-hand bookshop xy at Senefelder Platz in Prenzlauer Berg at the beginning of our walk. All those volumes who have meant something to their previous owners and which are piled up in an half ordered chaos now. Neatly written names on the endpaper, hearty inscriptions, markings. We buy some books for only a few Euro and have found a suitable compagnion with Alfred Döblins “Berlin Alexanderplatz“. We walk the few metres down to Torstraße - well supplied with reading material - and reach at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin Mitte. The well thought out place bears witness to the eventful 1920s of the German capital when it was the centre of the working class movement (1926 the communist party moved their party HQ to the then called Bülowplatz) and violent political fights took place here. An impression of this time and the life of those for whom the “Golden Twenties“ were not at all shiny, still gives the just

bought novel by Döblin. His characters, above all the main character, the former prisoner Franz Biberkopf, hang around those streets which were infamous for their immoral rooms and backyards. Who once stopped in a real Berlin beer bar, may be startled by the similarities that are evident: Döblin’s characters seem to have come alive. Altogether this expressionist novel in assembly technique with descriptions of consciousness thoughts is exactly the right book for Berlin Mitte fans with their patchwork biographies. Even if one does not cultivate acquaintances with prisoners, criminals or sex-obsessed, the novel is an answer to the challenges of the big city-

We walk down Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße and turn into Münzstraße and Neue Schönhauser Straße, passing by several fashion shops which offer the standardized International product range.

01 /1 2

9 1 1

The embankment is torn open at Alexanderplatz for the underground. One walks on planks. The electrical tram crosses the place up Alexanderstraße towards Münzstraße to Rosenthaler Tor. On the right and left side there are streets. In these streets house stands next to house. They are full of people from cellar to attic. Downstairs are shops. [Döblin] We turn into narrow Sophienstraße which gives an idea of the real old BerBerlin with its pre-industrial buildings. This was erased in most places by the events of the twentieths century.

Sophienstraße opens up at the left side to the church courtyard of Sophienkirche, whose high lime trees, maples, chestchestnuts and ash trees (some older than 130 years) bestow the place in spring and summer with placid green and shadowy calmness. The cemetery with its historihistorical graves invites to linger at the place, to study the gravestones, to decipher ininscriptions which are partly done in calcalligraphy. On the grave of August BuchBuchholtz (1706-1793, servant of Frederick the Great of Prussia, one can see a snake which bites itself in the tail – an eternity symbol. Not as impressive from an art-

st er M AG

0 2 1

historical point of view but historically interesting is the honor grave for the musician and composer Carl Friedrich Zelter (1758-11832), one of the few good friends of Goethe. Zelter became first like his father a master bricklayer. Later he trained himself as musician. Since 1800 he lead the Sing Academy of Berlin and founded several different musical institutes and associations. One innovative project followed the next – a true Berlin Mitte person. Although his compositions are not ingenious, he taught a lot of mumusicians who became famous later on like Felix Mendelsson Bartholdy or GiaGiacomo Meyerbeer. ThereThere-

by he became one of the most important cultural players in Berlin during his time. His energetic personality can be discovered by reareading the more than 850

Wohnzimmer

letters which he wrote with Goethe in over 30 years. Opposite the churchyard the café and restaurant “mittendrin“ is situated. If you are exhausted, this is a good place for a short rest. We take out a classic: “Spazieren in Berlin“ by Franz Hessel from the year 1929. The sub-title of the book is: “A textbook of how to take a walk in Berlin very close to the magic of the city which she herself rarely knows – a picture book in words“. Hessel describes different areas oft he city and we agree with the stroller when we read:

[...] I have to do something for my education. Walking around is not enough. I have to do some local studies, take care of the history and future of this city, this city which is always on the go, always about to change. This might be the reason why it is so difficult to explore it, especially for somebody who is here at home [...] I will start with the future. A walk through today’s Berlin is offered by the recently published book “Which colour has Berlin?“ by David Wagner. Like Franz Hessel in former days he strolls through different areas of the city and describes distinctive features in the extextraordinary metropolis Berlin. Who wants to understand the development of

01 /1

1 2 1

the modern art biotop Berlin Mitte, should read “The white book“ by Raphael Horzon, a funny report about the experiments in the 1990s. The walk continues by crossing the Koppenplatz to enter Auguststraße. We have a look at current magazines at “do you read me?!“ and come to Tucholskystraße. At the corner we stop at the “Bötzow“. Old books bound in linen are waiting on the wooden window benches. The cosy interior and the warm room temperatures provide the right surrounding for a tea or coffee during the cold winter months. We sit on classic tavern chairs which are not so comfortable that one could fall asleep. Instead we read away before we start again, only a few metre because just next door we find the Tucholsky book shop. The owner Jörg Braunsdorf offers an attractive product range, supports small book publishing companies and offers weekly readings.

We cross Torstraße and walk into Schröderstraße. Who has not stopped at “Bötzow“, can try the XY. The white wooden chairs, the gold shining cookies, the smell of roasted coffee give the place a suitable atmosphere for a cosy hour of reading. One feels moved to a Swedish country home and only the calm Scandi-

st er M AG

2 2 1

navian Sea in front of the window is missing. Our literary walk ends at Dorotheenstädtischen Friedhof in Chauseestraße. The Bertold-Brecht-Haus in which the writer lived nearly three years before his death in 1956 is situated next door. Many great men are laid to rest at this well known cemetery. We concentrate on the writers, search for the graves of Brecht, Heinrich Mann, Anna Seghers, Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel, Johann Gottlieb Fichte. The earth on Christa Wolf’s grave is still loose, the flowers fresh. The writer who was buried here in December 2011 is for the time being the last in a row of famous death. The small paths between the graves are often unsurfaced. We walk over Märkisch sand, play with the tip of our shoes, draw stripes, shift little sand mountains together. It is an extremely soft and nice feeling in this hard city of Berlin.

QUELLEN »» Franz Hessel: “Spazieren in Berlin“, Verlag für Berlin-Brandenburg, 240 Seiten, 19,90 Euro »» Döblin, “Berlin Alexanderplatz“, »» Goethe und Zelter – Eine Freundschaft in Briefen, Hörbuch, 13,00 Euro.

Living Room

Life in Pictures

Life in Pic

Living Room

tures

“Life & Work: Malene Birger’s Life in Pictures“ delivers insights into the private living rooms of the Danish designer. We show some details from this inspiring coffee-table book. FOTOS: CHRISTIAN BURMESTER STYLING: SABINE WESEMANN

Living Room

01 /1 2

7 2 1

8 2 1

Living Room

01 /1 2

9 2 1

Living Room

01 /1 2

1 3 1

Wine Rack

Winemaker‘s Column THE FEMALE WINEMAKER IN HER NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

In each issue Monika Abraham takes us into her world – the world of wine. Today she sums up which challenges she has to face as a female winemaker. She does it with a lot of charm and a good portion of humour! Right. It’s nice to be woman, isn’t it? A door is being held for you, a chair pulled so that you can sit down. All these flowers and champagne, and a compliment now and then. That’s what I’ve heard at least. Not among winegro winegrowers though. The day starts very early. 7 am might not be anything particularly extraordina extraordinary but the temperatures in the vineyard can be very unfriendly. So I wrap myself up: ski under underwear and on top of that another pair of good old wooly leggings. Will that be enough? I throw a du dubious look at the thermo thermo-

meter outside of the kitchen window, it shows -12C. Right, I’ll fine. A pair of quality trousers from a well-known clothing retailer and two, or maybe even three pairs of socks. Five jackets and three minutes later I’m off, outside in the icy air. My neighbour is leaving too and although he sees me, he throws the door at me which makes it impossible to wish him a good morning. It’s not the first time this happens: I have the impression that in all these clothes and massive shoes I’m not being perceived as a human being, and certainly not as a woman. Men opening doors for me? No such luck. As I reach work a colleague of mine, let’s call him Jonny, hands me a snow shovel. I start the work enthusiastically since in most cases it gets warm when you shovel snow. I’m getting a little bit less well-tempered when Jonny says that the whole thing is not supposed to be nice but handy and functional. What

Wine Rack

he means is: “Do it faster, we want to move on!” Sure. Just a little later I sit in the vineyard bus. What luck that I’ve been so much slower with the snow than my male colleagues, that is the reason I get “detached” – now it’s finally getting brighter outside. Sunrises in the vineyard are wonderful. It is very quiet. The chaos in the valley seems very far away. The landscape around us treats itself to more time in the mornings than the valley people do. Above there is still plenty of mist. The sun opens its eyes first where we are. The task for today is “to fix the wires”. The wire frames that our vine uses to climb up need to be maintained regularly. That means that broken wires have to be repaired and missing nails replaced. Because it is difficult to hold the pliers with my small delicate female hands, I am being slow again. It frustrates me at times but today I don’t care. The sun rise compensates for it all. After the breakfast break with a sandwich and a pear, the first joggers appear. These are mostly women. At the beginning I found this phenomenon quite funny, then annoying, and now I consider it the most natural thing on earth: as soon as a jog-

ging female body approaches, our work seems to turn into slow motion modus. Heads of the entire crew turn as if under a spell and many pairs of eyes follow the partly rattled and partly obviously affirmed object. Then, according to the general atmosphere, approving grunts follow or a big hello! Especially Jonny is big in this but since barking dogs don’t bite anyway I only smile to myself. My teachable male side also checks the girl out. In such situations the lady-wine grower in me wants to tousle the hair of her boys, at least during such beautiful sunny mornings. On rainy days, due to the general depression, it rather triggers thoughts of murdering someone. Because the truth is that even in the summer when I wear much less clothes, my colleagues don’t seem to perceive me as a woman! I didn’t care about that at the beginning – back then I was proud to be a woman getting along working in a very male dominated environment. But at same stage you become a little bit jealous. Once, during my day off, I treated myself to the pleasure of a run in the vineyards wearing a tight pink-black outfit. It was gorgeous to observe the well known process being interrupted by a sudden dis-

5 3 1

covery. The irritated glances exchanged between my men and a despondent “hello” followed. Since then I’ve had the impression that my colleagues helped me even less with carrying heavy wine boxes or with sawing some kind of wooden stuff. Brilliant indeed. In my young and more patriotic days I would have never wanted their help. For a long time I put all my effort in becoming physically equally strong as my men. It didn’t work out. What a surprise. Meanwhile I take it with a pinch of salt and am happy when my male colleagues help me once in a while. In our job one is forced to get mature pretty quickly. Come midday, my boss calls: “Come in here, I need you in the cellar!” This perspective makes my icy feet everything but happy, believe me. So I slip in my wellies and go downstairs. Puccini is already on and the filter too. Over the layers of cellulose the wine is being separated from what’s left over from the yeasts. The filter is dripping again. Not once have I managed to get the bloody filter dense. Anna Netrebko motivates me again to pull the screws a little bit tighter with lots of force. This doesn’t impress the monotonously dripping filsi st er M AG

6 3 1

ter much. Whatever, you can’t help it, can you. Once the filtration is over I have to go inside the tank and shovel out the remaining yeasts from the bottom. Inside it is slippery and you can easily land in… the yeasts. And exactly in this moment the telephone rings. I like these cellar duties. In winter it is much warmer there than in the vineyard. The best liquid in the world smells lovely and you can get so wonderfully dirty with the yeasts. In the background you have the company of Italian opera arias that you sing along with, out of tune and without knowing the lines because you believe to be alone and unwatched. It’s truly great if in such a moment a confused customer sticks his head in “looking for the boss”. The boss is obviously not there but since a potato check is one of the tasks on my to-do list, I follow the amused customer up to the vinotheque. How can I help you, there you go, thank you very much, have a good week and say hello to the boss, but of course, he’ll be pleased, see you next time. Potatoes are done already! Early evening my dear boss announces a visit of 30 people for a wine tasting.

Wine Rack

Do I you have anything smart to wear? Of course not. So off I go home, take a shower and dress up – I am supposed to represent something fancy and nice, after all.

Making wine requires lots of strength. Making wine often feels too cold or too hot. Making wine can hurt and doesn’t make you look sexy all the time.

I deal with these 30 people with a certain routine. At least I’ve done it quite often before. But a proper routine is actually never the case.

At the end of the tasting one of tomers holds open for me flowers, ger-

Wine, that’s my true love. And that’s what the guests get to feel. Sometimes they get a little bit frightened with my enthusiasm but most of the time they let it spread. I talk a lot about the production in the vineyard, the extension possibilities in the cellar and also about the marketing. My university professor always says that a modern winegrower is also a full time businessperson what can be observed during such evenings.

But wine is passion. evening wine the custhe door and I get bera.

The evening ends in my kitchen with “La Bohème” and “Silvaner” champagne. Does anyone still want to tell me wine isn’t a female thing?

The wine comes from the vineyards! In the cellars we can only keep or loose the grapes’ quality but we can’t cause miracles. Now I feel like a woman: I laugh, get crazy about things and enjoy! If at the end of such a day at least one of all the initially uninformed customers can share some of my passion, then it all makes sense.

7 3 1

The wine and Design is everywhere and has entered the wine world long time ago! The composition of wine labels is subject to very different kinds of forces and trends. The best ideas are often enthusiastically presented on the most renowned design platforms and blogs of the world. sisterMAG therefore puts both components on an equal footing: the wine or in today‘s case the hotel as well as the design studio accountable for the final design of the bottle.

THE DOG & DUCK HOTEL The brief the design studio Black Squid Design received came from the newly renovated hotel “The Dog & Duck Hotel“ (the old Royal Admiral Hotel) in Adelaide (Australia). Named after an English pub found in the heart of the beautiful Kent countryside in the village of Plucks Gutter. With its old world appeal with modern facilities it has established itself as being a favourite for both locals & visitors to Adelaide’s West End. The Dog & Duck Hotel is a well-known destination for pub goers, ranging from business lunches, after work drinks, Friday and Saturday nightclub and pokies. The owner also asked to come up with a wine label for the Dog and Duck house wine. He would source premium wine, either cleanskins or in barrel and have it bottled specifically for the Dog & Duck house wine. He selects quality wines, usually a variety that reflects the season. The design studio came up with the name Woof and Quack (for the Red and White varieties), so there was a strong brand association with the pub name, kind of cute, memorable and something that diners would smile at. One important part of the brief was the label needed to be cost effective and have the ability to change easily when the variety or vintage changed. si st er M AG

8 3 1

BUTLE K E R E D to s k n a th y n a M

Wine Rack

the design BLACK SQUID DESIGN The goal with this label design was to create a fun identity with an air of sophistication but with ultimate simplicity. The solution Derek and his team found for solving the problem of cost effectiveness was to print large quantities (offset) of the Woof and Quack label and smaller quantities (digital) of the neck label with all the mandatory requirements. This allows a greater flexibility for the future when new varieties and small quantities are produced or added to the range. Black Squid Design is a firm of ideas people: five people, limitless ideas! “Our philosophy is to come up with innovative ideas that generate improved ways of presenting a message to the public, whilst maintaining a clear identity, ease of recognition and readability. We value outside-thesquare thinking and the element of surprise.” says Managing Director and founder, Derek Butler. After completing a degree in Graphic Design in South Australia in 1986, Derek quickly established an impressive reputation for designing creative and effective brand identities, packaging and corporate communication. His philosophy in design is to come up with innovative ideas and unexpected solutions with the element of surprise, but most importantly – have fun. An approach, which has underpinned Derek’s success as both graphic designer and Creative Director. Under Derek‘s creative vision and leadership, Black Squid‘s work has won numerous national awards and been published in national and international publications. Derek and his team believe that there is more to branding than just a logo. Everything about the company must be taken into consideration from naming to toilet door signs. By encompassing everything as a whole they believe you can create a brand that is memorable and long lasting.

01 /1 2

9 3 1

u Explain in your own words the idea of your company! Corkbin is a mobile scrapbook for wine lovers. It‘s the easiest way to remember and share wines you love.Woher kam die Idee? u What was the inspiration for your idea? I was discovering and learning about wine and found myself constantly taking photos of the label so that I could remember the wine. And I thought “there should be an app for this!” u How do you earn money? The intention is for Corkbin to connect consumers to the wines that they’ll love and the business will earn money through wine sales and wine merchandizes. u How do you finance the company? So far I have bootstrapped it with my own money.

u Who is your target group? What is your market potential? Consumers that enjoy the occasional glass to wine enthusiasts and con-

st er M

0 4 1

noisseurs. In the US, 46 million adults drink wine at least once a week. That number is even more staggering on a worldwide basis. u Where do you see yourself in five years? Running Corkbin, a successful consumer business. ;-) And work with other entrepreneurs to realize their vision. u Who do you see as your main competitors? Socialgrapes and LetsPour are two great wine apps that let’s you log a wine and interact with your friends. u What did you do before? Technical operations in web startups, then technical sales, business development & product marketing at Cisco Systems. u Who was your first team member (which department?) outside the founding team? My CTO – a brilliant engineer & entrepreneur.

er d n u o F – O IA L E IN R E Answers by CATH

Wine Rack

u How did you come up with your company’s colours? The credit has to go to Inmite and Tapmates, who did the initial development of the app. u Who did design your company’s logo – external or internal? How long did it take? It was an external collaboration between Inmite and Tapmates. It took just a few weeks. u Most often used software? Sparrow Mail, Chrome, and vi. u Main food during the starting up phase? Chinese take out. u Why does your application appeal to women? The gorgeous design and the ease of use. u In which situations can people use your app? Really anytime when you’re enjoying a bottle of wine and want to remember and share it with friends.

01 /1 2

1 4 1

Not intended for export A trip to the wine which people from Piemont rather drink themselves! In a few weeks spring arrives in Northern Italy, one of the most beautiful seasons in this wonderful country, especially when the sidewalks are still icy at home. In Riva for example the Mediterranean vegetation is bursting out already at the beginning of March while in Berlin long-time burned fireworks thaw slowly from the ice. Before we start to the shores of Lake Garda to enjoy the first shafts of sunlight and to take in the fresh green, we have a look at the biggest Italian wine region for this first wine column, the Piemont which is situated further West. This region is characterized by its fantastic view on the Alpes and a variety of culinary delights. The capital Turin is a centre for fine sweets and chocolate. In the neighboring “Langhe“ (“tongues“), a charming landscape around the two towns Alba and Asti, both well worth seeing, prosper the famous white truffles in late fall and winter - and especially great wines like Barolo and Barbaresco. si st er M AG

2 4 1

These are on stock in all good restaurants, in well-assorted wine shops and sometimes also in supermarkets around the world. All quality levels of Baroli and Barbareschi, whether they cost 8 Euro or 400 Euro per bottle, unify a high export quota. Often 80 percent or more is sold by the producer or merchant outside of Italy and finally enjoyed in the US, in Japan or Norway. Of those bottles that remain in Piemont, many end up on the “American racks“ of the top local restaurants. They generally provide a wine rack for locals at moderate prices - and a so-called “American rack“ which are graced by great names with colourful labels great wines at high prices. The people from Piemont obviously don‘t drink the “Great Wines“ themselves, although they are not reserved against culinary delights. The best white truffles are not left to the world markets. And if one observes the locals in one of the many osterie and ristoranti or even visits them at home, normally

Wine Rack

01 /1 2

3 4 1

a bottle of wine is brought to the table - even for pranzo, the extended lunch with several courses. It is often a light red with a discreet note of violet, only slightly structured but with great stability and tension, with little acid and pleasant bitter tones in the aftertaste.

If you ask your host for the content of the often unlabeled bottles, the answer normally is “c‘e un Dolcetto!“. In this case the name does not indicate the origin (like with Barolo and Barbaresco which are names of villages in this specific local district and which are made of the Nebbiolo grape) but the grape variety. It is a so-called “Autoctona“, a grape variety, which is only cultivated in its provenience (and not like Chardonnay in the whole world). The people from Piemont appreciate their Dolcetto as beautiful and versatile companion of exceptional wholesomeness. In fact it is well digestible for a red wine also in larger quantities - the author has tried this himself.

Moreover the Dolcetto is suited for the destillation of a fine Grappa, a grape marc spirit of the already pressed vintage. The Grappa di Dolcetto is - like the

st er M AG

4 4 1

wine of the same name - non-finical and of pure flavour. While a oily liquid is destilled of some “Super Tuscan“ or Barolo, which appears yellow in the glass after it stayed for several years in new French oak casks and tastes like a cross between Amaretto and Cognac, the Grappa di Dolcetto keeps its original autonomy and delights with crystal clarity, sharpness and note of almonds, perfected by hints of red berries. A delight for all drinkers of grappa!

Luckily some Dolcetto wines are available also outside of Piemont. A particularly good one is the Dolcetto of Roberto Voerzio from La Morra near Alba. Roberto is a quality fanatic and strong advocate of reduction of grape yield. This means, he prunes the vines three times a year so that the finesse of the terroir is concentrated in the few remaining grapes. In this way within the last reduction nearly ripe grapes which have been nurtured and cherished for months land on the ground and rot - a horrible sight but definitely indisputable in the building of the characteristic wine taste. In the end, the harvest of four grapevines is needed to

Wine Rack

fill one bottle of Barolo which shows an incredible density and costs about 150 EUR - and of course is exported. For the Dolcetto the grape yield is not as rigorously reduced, but the result is equally phenomenal and certainly one of the best examples for this grape variety. After all he enjoys it himself!

Dolcetto by Roberto Voerzio can be obtained through various Internet wine shops, which can be found via Google, for 15 to 19 EUR free of shipping costs. Alternatively recommendable is the (less costly) Dolcetto by Dimilani. And of course both taste well at Lake Garda in spring.

Salute e buon viaggio!

Wine CORKBIN BLOG http://blog.corkbin.com/ @corkbin

As read in our startup spotlight, Corkbin is a mobile app which lets you capture and share the wines you are drinking. Corkbin‘s blog does exactly that! You can read about their recent discoveries and get an inside scoop to the startup‘s world of taste!

QUEVEDO quevedoportwine.com/ @quevedo

We love the educational character of this blog from family owned business Quevedo, situated in the Douro valley of Portugal. They produce both red and port wines from only five traditional port grapes. The blog is full of information for wine buffs but also a great ressource if you just want to get into this field.

01 /1 2

5 4 1

Fitness

u Explain in your own words the idea of your company! NiceOne develops special nutritional supplements for surfer, mountain biker, skater, climber, skiers and snowboarders. Often these sports are mistaken as â&#x20AC;&#x153;fun sportsâ&#x20AC;&#x153; and it is forgotten that especially here athletes at each session go to their maximum limit, physically and mentally. Even amateurs are often on competitive sports level without knowing it. Nearly all travel in foreign countries, cover thereby many kilometres and find themselves in another time and climate zone. This wears out the organism. NiceOne analyses the needs and develops special products to provide the body with the additional substances that he needs during times with high stress. There is no provider in this niche so far that support athletes satisfactory. Often one has to help him- or herself with products from another industry, e.g. the body building industry. One has to rely on individual substances which then needs to be combined sensibly. Thereby one needs

st er M AG

8 4 1

to know a little bit about the physiology of the body. We take away this task from adrenalin athletes so that they can have more fun in the mountains and in the water.

u What was the inspiration for your idea? After three year as anaesthetist in a medical clinic I have been taking off some time and travelled to Spain, Australia and Indonesia for surfing. Long flights, different time zone, tropical climate, unusual food and the paddling sapped my energy. I was quickly susceptible to illnesses and was often not fit. As doctor I asked myself how I could take countermeasures with substances like minerales or vitamines. Very quickly I had a whole lot of products in my room, but needed only a

Pool

under o F â&#x20AC;&#x201C; S lM IL W . F N A J y Answers b

timal way. And NiceOne does not contain unnecessary concentrations of individual substances which add nothing in therapeutic terms to the organism.

little bit of each substance and not always the whole capsule or pill. Back in Munich I sat together with a buddy biologist and we developed NiceOne. The ingredients are measured in combination in such a way that the body can take them in and use them in an op-

u Dietary supplements are often questionned for their necessity. Why does one need your products? Could you reach the same effect with a healthy diet? As practitioner of conventional medicine I also have a critical attitude towards nutritional supplements. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m on the side of the currently available studies: Are there no special circumstances, a varied and balanced diet is more than enough to feed the body optimally. However, there are situation in which a targeted extra supply is useful. This applies to pregnant women, certain diceases and definitely for athletes who go physically and mentally to their maximum limit. New innovative equipment as well as personal ambition lead to a situation where even amateurs unconsciously move at a competitive sports level. However, the diet is not adapted accordingly. This also very difficult. Professionals often have their own nutritionist. But inspite an adap-

/1 2

9 4 1

ted diet a targeted nutritional supplement is taken. Furthermore, in many countries the food offering is very onesided and this makes it nearly impossible to cover the bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs. u What do you look for in your ingredients? Due to our scientific backgrounds we have high requirements. We research the current scientific view for every ingredient, always with regards to sport. It is very important to us, not only to combine the right active ingredients but also to find a sensible concentration which the body can absorb and exploit. Thus, all NiceOne products contain a combination of active ingredients and groups of active ingredients. Individual substances in high concentration just donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make sense. We try to satisfy the complexity oft he body. Of course we avoid any additives like food colours or similar stuff. We even prevented gelantine by using capsule covers made of plants. Altogether we are very fussy but this pays of well. This starts with the development of the recipes and ends with the careful selection of contractors. si st er

u Where do you produce the dietary supplements?

M AG

0 5 1

We have found a very good contractor near Regensburg. This is really lucky because at a pinch we can be at the supplier in 2 hours. This is great to sometimes deal with questions on spot. Furthermore, quality standards are really high in Germany. u Is the effect of your products verified? The ingredients of our products are based on research which verify a positive effect at high physical strain. Naturally we could not carry out our own studies about the specific compositions in the short timeframe. At the moment we listen to the athletes we are supporting. These are many professional athletes but also amateurs who know their bodies well. The positive feedback in the last year show us the effect of our products for the athletes. However, there are already plans to carry out our own small studies. This means however a lot of preparation. u How do you earn money? How do you finance your company? Unfortunately it takes some time until one can live on the products by a newly founded company. Luckily I saved some money during my time in the hospital. NiceOne has been granted a loan by

Pool

the government with low interest rates. Additionally we have raised private funds. We are proud that we have come so far without relying for example on Business Angels. This costs shares and brings influencer. The advantage is that we develop the products ourselves. u Where do you see yourself in five years? We have many more ideas and hope to still support the athletes. Those sports will continue to grow and if we can help that everybody has more fun and health doesn’t fail due to dietry problems than we are satisfied. u Who are your competitors? Why is your product superior to others? It is difficult to name direct competitors. So far athletes purchase their nutrional supplements from pharmacies, drugstores or supermarkets. This are however

products for the general public. If it is labelled with “sport“ then one gets a wild mix of vitamines and minerals. The other option is to drink a protain shake after doing sport. We combine all active ingredients sensibly and adapt it with the objective for adrenalin athletes to include your health in the purchase at your dealer of trust. u Who was your first team member (which department?) outside the founding team? We haven’t got really anybody salaried so far. We work together with friends and acquaintances. Those are most of the time self-employed people who have other clients beside us. But they are friends and involved with their whole heart. One could say that on a dayto-day basis 3 to 4 people are working on NiceOne. uHow did you come up with your name? I owe the name to a good friends. He is a film-maker and quiet a creative mind. NiceOne has a close connection to sport as it is a call made when somebody succeeds a difficult trick. There were also some medicalinspired names in the selection but we didn’t really like them and they

1 5 1

also didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go well with the sports. The products should be respectable by the content not by the name. uu How did you come up with your companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colours? We already knew that we had several ideas for products in our head. And to have always the same logo on each packaging with a different name is not really exciting. The designer implemented really awesome. There is a main logo from which there can be derived an infinite number of individual logos

si st er M AG

2 5 1

without loosing the recognition effect. Appreciation was expressed with a very high award: the logo and the CI have won an award at the Type of Directors Club (tdc) in New York. uu Most often used software? Uhh, I need to ask our designer. But I guess it is InDesign. I use more Excel and Mail. uu Main food during starting up phase? Honestly: very unhealthy. Sport as compensation has saved us.

by SANDRA WOLFF

Pool

ZUMBA

An exaggerated fancy hype or an effective fitness programme? WHERE DOES ZUMBA COME FROM? Cali, a hot city in the southwest of Columbia, is the place where the story of success of a virtually new and currently exceedingly hyped fitness trend named ZUMBA started at the beginning of the 1990s: Believing the legend the young dancer, choreographer, and fitness trainer Beto – as he is called by everyone – was about to teach his regular aerobic class. All of a sudden he realized, that he forgot his usually used music. Without hesitation he ran back to the car, randomly grabbed a handful of his favourite tapes and rushed back to his class participants. Traditional, Latin-American rhythms like Salsa or Merengue sounded out of the speakers. Beto had to improvise because it was simply impossible to count the beats – as otherwise usual – to this kind of impulsive music. He animated the class to concentrate entirely on the music and to follow the rhythms with repetitive movements. Cali was convinced, Columbia was convinced. It will not be long before the United States of America – mother country of the fitness movement – will be convinced as well.

In the country, where the classic rags to riches tale seems to be rather reality than a myth, Beto founded the company ZUMBA Fitness in 2001. Since that time the ZUMBA trend literally conquers almost the whole world by storm. And above all it provokes each and any form of commercialisation you can think of. WHAT DOES ZUMBA WORLD LOOK LIKE? The first interest was gently caused by some DVDs and some additional informational advertising material. But soon after that the ZUMBA Academy was installed in order to qualify future trainers and thus the rising demand was not only met but it was forced at the same time. The large-scale ZUMBA expansion ran its course. Since then a lot of merchandising products are designed, whereby all of these shirts, cargo pants, bags or beanies have in common that they are available in any existing neon colour. In addition the company released a video game and even their own ZUMBA magazine. Beto’s most recent marketing idea was the collaboration with the popular Haitian musician Wyclef Jean and their Song

01 /1 2

3 5 1

h. Bild: zumba.com lic öh fr n be ie tr er üb st fa d t von ZUMBA ist bunt un

Die Wel

“La Historia”. THE REASON FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL SUCCESS OF THIS LATIN-DANCE INSPIRED FITNESS PROGRAMME? One of the main reasons is definitely the credo the company set for itself: “Easy to follow”. The setup of a ZUMBA class is very simple: Typically one unit consists of a series of specially composed songs. Different kinds of genres are essential for a colourful mix: Besides traditional Latin-American standard styles like Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, Samba, Flamenco or Reggaeton, ZUMBA is also influenced by Belly Dance, Hip Hop or even Irish stepdance à la “Lord of the Dance”. In contrast to a professional dance choreography a ZUMBA class doesn’t incorporate a vast number of artistically valuable combinations of steps and arms. Instead, each and every single ZUMBA song comprises three to four recurring si st er M AG

4 5 1

sections that are easy to identify. In accordance with the genre the typical basic movements are completed by different dance and aerobic elements. Right at the beginning of a ZUMBA class it is the characteristic continental European scepticism and restraint that prevents the participants from just having fun and loosing at least a little bit of control. But most of the time the cheerful and twirly trainers are able to squeeze out the deeply hidden Latin-American fire of the class. You leave your beloved comfort zone and suddenly you swing your hips and you move your butt as if there were no tomorrow. Your heart rate increases and the first beads of sweats are dropping from your forehead. Worried thoughts, Zumba could only be an amusing and simply exaggerated dance trend quickly gives way to the realisation, that Zumba may not be THE dance

Pool

fitness programme of all times but at least a diversified and animating workout programme. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE OF ZUMBA LOOK LIKE?? Until today Zumba is offered in 125 countries around the world. An increasing number of Zumba instructors organise so-called ZumbaParties. Adding on tot he normal programmes there are numerous advancements and further developments such as Aqua Zumba – a water based Zumba workout – or Zumbatonic, which was specially developped for children and mainly serves urban dance styles. Today the company is still expanding. However the rules of the market won’t change – not even because of the magic of Zumba. We can be excited to see how Beto and his partners will opeate in the future. Only after observing the fitness market for a little while we can decide whether Zumba is only a hype or a sustainable new fitness concept.

Sports BURTON GIRLS burtongirls.com/

Die Beschreibung des “Burton Girls“ ist fesselnd und lässt sofort den Wunsch aufkommen, selbst zu diesem Kreis zu gehören: Die Burtonista ist halb Fashionista, halb Life Coach, halb SnowboardEnthusiast. Die Seite featured Frauen, die durch ihre Persönlichkeit und Aktivitäten faszinieren: Profifotografinnen, Autorinnen, Schriftstellerinnen, Models, Schauspielerinnen. Sie geben Ratschläge, teilen ihre Geschichten und erzählen ihre Erlebnisse. So schön! Das Webdesign! Die Seite findet die richtige Balance zwischen cool und süß, grungy und farbenfroh!

MALWITZ SURFBOARDS malwitzsurfboards.com/blog

Auf Malwitz Custom Surfboards kann man die Entstehung der asymmetrisch individuellen Surfboards aus Philadelphia mitverfolgen. Interessant und wunderschön anzusehen.

01 /1 2

5 5 1

u t S

o i d

The DIY expert preamble The mother of the sisterMAG sisters – Eva Neubauer – shares her thoughts about DIY, handicrafts and fashion.

For a long while my daughters and I discussed the content of this first issue of sisterMAG. For example: should we name the designers who inspired our fashion shoot? Should we at all include DIY patterns or would we just be yet another DIY magazine? Some thoughts of my own I want to share with you today.

Many women are gifted in crafts, the trend to make things yourself can easily be observed when looking at the increasing number of blogs, knitting magazines, crafting zines or sewing journals. The talent and willingness exists, sometimes one only lacks this last tipp or trink in order to convert a “So-so“-project into a inimitable Wow outcome. Every month advertisements and glossy magazines offer us the most stylish products of designers and large fashion labels. Oftentimes you can only dream about such a extraordinary Prada jacket. The purchase of one would probably eat up the whole budget of your holiday travel. Whether to invest in two great weeks

st er M AG

8 5 1

with your family or in a season’s piece of a big brand is a clear decision for many women. A little aching remains. But what keeps me from using my talent and creating my own dream jacket? Bead embroidery, rhinestones, attachable flowers or satin edging – you can get everything. You only have to assemble! I only need a tutorial with pattern and I can be as creative as I want. Prada will survive. Have you noticed how many of the chicest runway styles are never seen on the street? What a pity! For many years I am already following the fashion shows and I am always surprised when I see what the designers come up with every half year. Many things you’ll forget right away. However there are the few pieces, which are so beautiful, you want to own them! So I started to sew dresses, jackets, coats, skirts, blouses and trousers. The joy of finishing a felicitous piece is tremendous. I already enjoy the process of searching the right fabric, making the

studio

by EVA NEUBAUER

pattern and sometimes a difficult sewing process (although I sew for over 30 years, I sometimes look up a technique in an old magazine or sewing book). And in the end you look at the finished piece and calculate what you’ve just saved – a great feeling. However, there is one hitch. Us women tend to not value the time we put into something. Thousands of little things we do every day don’t attract attention and only become the focal point when we don’t do

them. Thus we have to plan the crafting process and value that time as important and significant. I would like to modify the old saying “Handicraft has a golden bottom” for our case: “Handicraft makes you happy” – and sometimes even a bit wealthier ;) P.S. As a little sneak peak into our next issue: we want to include the kids into the crafting process. We paint and stamp a skirt for mommy.

01 /1 2

9 5 1

uu Explain in your own words the idea of your company! MyOma lets 30 Franconian grandmothers knit on custom orders. That means: if a customer orders one of our knitted products, we call a granny, who will knit this piece within the time frame of one week by hand. Furthermore every customer can get to know his or her knitting granny a little better. On our webpage you‘ll find a photo and characteristics of each grandma. When opening the MyOma-package you‘ll also find a signed picture and a handwritten greeting from your grandma. MyOma wants to support the older generation and give them a new task in life, which is fun to do and simultaneously improves their income.

uu What was the inspiration for your idea? The inspiration came about one year ago when I was on holiday. I saw a feature about knitting grandmas, which were devoted to their hobby, full of love and passion. I thought to myself that elderly people have too much know-

st er M AG

0 6 1

ledge and know-how and we do not use that enough – although this generation has a lot of time at hand. The thought to use the proficiency of this generation and combine it with the production of modern and chic products was utterly fascinating to me. After I talked to friends and family, I was even more sure to follow this idea and founded the “Lieblingsoma GmbH“ and started the website MyOma.de. uu How do you earn money? How do you finance the company? We are self-financed. uu Who is your target group? What is your market potential? People who buy our products do pay attention to quality. They want – and are able to – buy an individual piece. I think that our customers are also socially conscious and find it rewarding to support a grandmother by buying knitted bonnet. I value our market potential as quite high because the trend to fair products and sustainability is overwhelming. I think people are tired of buying cheap and shoddy clothes which were

studio

nder

ER – Fou F Ö H S G IN L H T Ö R A N Answers by VERE

would rather not talk about competitors. I value each and every company who wants to integrate the older generation into society, who give them a new task which is fun and rewarding. I rather hope that MyOma will be a thought-provoking impulse for other people or companies. It would be great if other projects would be born because of our commitment. This is the reason I do not see comparable concepts as competitors but rather enjoy reading or hearing about them.

produced in low-wage countries. Furthermore the possibility to buy individual products and take part in decision-making will play a much bigger role.

uu What did you do before? I‘ve had a full-time job in the PR agency of my brother. In the meantime I only work part time for factum. MyOma is incredibly time consuming. The other two founders however still have their jobs.

uu Who was your first team member (which department?) outside the uu Where do you see yourself in five founding team? years? MyOma is only online since October We hope that MyOma grows and that 2011. I do have an apprentice who supwe can “employ“ a lot more grandmoports me. thers in Germany. We also want to expand our product palette and offer dif- uu How did you come up with your company’s colours? ferent kinds of handicrafts. We just liked the colour Red. It draws Who are your competitors? Since we are more of a social project I attention.

01 /1 2

1 6 1

uu Who did design your company’s logo – external or internal? How long did it take? A graphic designer friend did the logo as well as the layout of our website. The notion of crossed knitting needles was one of the first ideas and we were instantly thrilled. Afterwards we never thought about anything else. uu Most often used software? Our admin tool.

them for coffee and cake and told them about our project. The grandmothers were mainly really excited, liked the idea and wanted to participate. In the meantime we have about enough grandmothers. However there are still elderly women who contact us and want to knit for myOma. This just tells me that there is a demand in the older generation to have a meaningful occupation.

uu Do you know all the life stories of your grandmothers? In any case I do know a lot of them! We know each grandma personally and have a great relationship to each one of them. Of course you get to know them and they‘ll tell you about their lifes and experiences.

uu What does it mean for a granny if we buy a scarve? First of all they like the idea to have a task and are able to start knitting. They are also excited that their work is valued and demanded. It is a real kind of appreciation for them. Furthermore it helps them to improve their retirement pension.

uu How do you recruit your grandmothers? We‘ve found our 30 grandmothers via announcements in free weekly papers. Per announcement about 25 grannies touched base with us. We then invited

uu Do you have more male or female customers? Right now we have more female customers. However there are men who order products – for themselves or as gift for their women!

si st er M AG

2 6 1

T u to r i a l

tton o c d nte i r p n wide ica r f m A 0 1,4 6m , – 1 ) t n Ő pri ide r e w h t m o (or 1,40 – g n lini m 7 , Ő 0 er p p i z ) m Ő 1 c 0 2 8(ca. 1 for n n o o g t t nin bu o t r i u r o o b Ő 1 f a gle ning i n l a r t e c t d (re n Ő in a b t ais w e h t ) m c 8 80 x

a w e s e W

n e p

t r i k ic l s 3 6 1

As seen in our Outdoor Jacket Shooting: the pencilskirt just works in every combination â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it can be chic, it can be elegant or it is playful. Next to the basic pattern of a slender skirt, Eva Neubauer from neu4bauer.blogspot.com explains how she made the ruffled skirt with Africa print (see DIY London Tour for the source of the fabric). The best part: because of its special production method every skirt is a unique item! DOWNLOAD PATTERN CUTTING OF UNDERSKIRT Lay the pattern onto lining fabric and cut with plenty seam allowance (1,5-2cm). You should go for a little more sturdy fabrics because the top fabric will be draped onto the lining. Mark tucks with needles and sew with a sewing machine. DRAPE RUFFLES The creative and individual part: lay cotton fabric with the right side onto work surface. Put lining piece on top, so that fabric grain is aslope to cotton grain. (in order to make the ruffles â&#x20AC;&#x201C; left on left side). Gather the top fabric and pin the ruffles onto lining. Continue this procedure around the whole skirt. si st er M AG

4 6 1

T u to r i a l

COMBINE TOP AND BOTTOM PART Cut cotton fabric with an allowance of ~1,5 cm. Sew both long sides with 1 cm allowance with the machine. Cut off the still remaining allowance of cotton fabric (now you should only have about 1 cm allowance from the sewn together pieces). Secure the long sides with a rick-rack stitch. Turn-over the skirt and sew the bottom seam (advantage: you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;t have to hem the skirt in the end). Turn-over again and iron the seam.

01 /1 2

5 6 1

SKIRT BACK Make back parts in the same way as the front part. However only sew together lining and cotton until the slit markings. Turn over, sew together pieces on the left side in order to create a neat edge, turn over again and iron. Close back seam until the beginning of the zipper marking. ZIPPER Sew in zipper. Iron the whole back piece of the skirt.

ReiĂ&#x;verschluss

Schlitz

T u to r i a l

NEATEN TOP EDGE In order to secure the fabrics, sew along the top part of the skirt with a basic stitch.

SEW TOGETHER FRONT AND BACK Pin together back and front part of the skirt and close side seams.

MAKE THE WAISTBAND Use little ribbons as hangers and sew them onto the top of sides. Cut waistand (rectangle Ă 8cm x 80 cm) and iron on interlining. Fold in length. Stitch the rectangle on top skirt border (right on right), the right waistband part should overlap. Turn-over waistband and finalize the ends. Fold in inner border of the waistband, pin it down and stitch it by hand. Sew in a buttonhole at the left end. Sew on button on the right end of the waistband.

01 /1 2

7 6 1

Grandma Hildegard

What does a regular day in your life look like? My day starts with measuring my blood sugar and breakfast. In the course of the morning I like to knit or crochet. After lunch I usually spend my afternoons with walks with my flatmates and of course knitting again. Before going to bed I like to read or watch television. You are a professional knitter grandma at myoma. de – how do you integrate this work in your everyday life? I have always liked to knit – ever since my 9th birthday. When I saw the advertisement in my local newspaper which read “We search for knitters“, I instantly called them. Not only in order to knit, but also to get to know other grandmas and have a task in my old days. Which hobbies do you have outside of knitting? I spend my leisure time with long walks, reading and crocheting. However I can only emphasize that knitting remains my favourite hobby. What does family mean to you? Family means a lot to me. I always included my family in all acitivities of life – whether professionally

8 6 1

myOma-Interview

d answers our questions or in leisure time activities. Unfortunately my husband died and the rest of the family is widely spread. I however am always looking forward to family gatherings and birthdays when I can see all of them! In which age did you get to know your first love? My first love was indeed my husband. We were married 52 years. I met him at the age of 16 at the professional training school for salesmen. However we waited to get married until I was 21 years old. What was the most important incident of your life? The most important incident during your life historically? There were a lot of important events. The most terrible thing for me happened, when my son died at the age of 24 years. Another drastic incident was, when my daughter got pregnant at the age of 15 and I could play mother yet another time. One of the most joyful happenings was the double marriage of both of my daughters.

I will also always remember the “White Sunday“ of 1945 because my father was in captivity as a prisoner of the war. Do you have a computer an do you use the internet? No, I don‘t really need a computer at my age. If I want to know anything I can always ask my children or grandchildren for help. What is the most difficult part at getting older? The most difficult part is, that you cannot fulfil the dreams and plans you always had. Or at least you can only do them in parts. Furthermore you need more time for each and every activity. However for me it is a strain that I cannot drive a car anymore and are always dependent on others. How is the youth of today different to the youth of your days? The young people of today have very different possibilities than in my young days. We didn‘t need much to create something new. Today everyone wants more and more and

01 /1 2

9 6 1

is never content with what they have. “Close your eyes and what you see, that‘s what you own“ is what my brother always told me. Thinking about your youth, what do you miss the most? You had exact ideas of your future. You also didn‘t think too much about the course of your private and professional life. It is nice that I‘ve done and decided all that. Is there a piece of clothing you really regret not seeing anymore in today‘s time? Yes, I find it very sad that girls don‘t wear skirts and dresses anymore! Is there any information or tip you would like to have known before getting older? Eat less and don‘t gain too much weight because you have to carry around all of this weight in your old days! Favourite book and/or film and/or TV series? I don‘t have one special favourite book. I however like the local novels of Ludwig Ganghofer and books by Hans Ernst. My favourite TV series is “Home is Home“ in Bavarian television.

Take each day as it comes and make the best of it! si st er M AG

0 7 1

Thank you, dear Grandma Hildegard for answering our questions and we also thank myOma. de and Verena Röthlingshöfer for helping us with this interview!

studio

THE HISTORY OF

Knitting } A short story about needles and yarn

IMAGE: Jantzen Knitting Mills in Portland/Oregon. UO Lib1 raries (University 1of7 Oregon)

U A K IA R O T y VIC

Just recently in a newspaper kiosk at the main station. Next to me, an elderly lady is looking for a sewing magazine. But the lady at the counter shakes her head: “Sorry, we don’t carry that one. But maybe you need something with knitting? We’re bombarded with knitting magazines at the moment!” Indeed, in the shelf front of me at least a dozen of magazines pile up, all dealing with knitting: new patterns, new cuts, new wools, knitting for kids, for men, for women. There is even a starter kid with wool, knitting needles, a DVD, and a written instruction. Though most magazines still look like they’ve just come out of grandmas coffee party, two or three convince with a modern and original design. But who’s still talking about print media anyway? Long before publishers got wind of the DIY boom the knitting trend had already started online. Numerous blog and social networks have been dealing with the textile trend for years, presenting hand knitted items, talking about fair trade fashion, medisi st er M AG

2 7 1

tative aspects of crafting and the desire for deceleration. And everybody – even confirmed digital opponents – has understood by now, that those who connect online eventually meet in the real world. Everyone has at least once come across knitting graffiti. Besides, knitting cafés are a huge trend right now. My mom is not very impressed when I tell her about the new hipster trend. That’s not very new, she says. It was already big in the 70s. Everyone was knitting at college back then. Eco trend et cetera et cetera. Well, I counter, that’s not very convincing. The Greens can’t have invented knitting! As a matter of fact the knitting technique is quite simple: take a thread and two needles, make a loop, pull the thread through – done. If you take a closer look at the knitted structure, it looks like a net. It is actually assumed that that’s where the whole idea of knitting started: with the fisherman and its net. An even older technique to produce fabric,

studio

EADS

TH L A IC N A T BO

30.000 yea

rs ago

EEP

H WOOL S 4000 v. Chr

however, is the weaving. People started using a weaving frame in the New Stone Age. So why even bother producing cloth by hand in a more complex and longer during process? The most obvious advantage of knitted textiles is its flexibility. Woven pieces are not stretchable and therefore it is more difficult to adjust them to the body. Furthermore, knitting provides the possibility of making one piece of garment during only one process – the classy example would be a sock – whereas woven fabrics must still be sewed together. Last but not least a knitting project can be carried around. So whether hunter or gatherer: anyone can quickly stop and start again, no matter where or when. And yes, back in the days, men were knitting, too! Ok, so knitting is one of the earliest techniques of fabric manufacturing. The most important thing for that is: the thread. The first production of thread goes back more than 30.000 years.

Back then they were made out of plant fibre. Textiles made out of plants had little relation to the fabrics we’re familiar with nowadays. But then, ca. 4.000 BC, the wool sheep appeared in Mesopotamia. Sheep existed even before then, but they were covered with rather stiff bristles. When, however, people realised that sheep were not only good for meat and milk, they started to breed wool sheep. The great thing about wool compared to plant fibre was that it could be dyed in bright colours. As a matter of fact, clothing was of high importance in old Mesopotamia. It displayed the social status of its wearer and was means of expression in symbolic acts. Up to this day it is still not known exactly when people started knitting. There are many historical findings of textiles that show a structure of loops. But as they are mostly felted or nagged and can’t just be torn apart, one will never be sure if they have been made through the classic knitting technique.

01 /1 2

3 7 1

1 ST K N I T

POPE 1254

16th century INNOZ

ENZ IV

First findings with explicit knitting structure come from the Middle Age. The craft probably spread via trade routes from the Middle East to the Mediterranean Sea. Pope Innocent IV. was, for example, buried with knitted silk gloves around 1254. Knitted clothing was obviously noble, not something for the poor. Gloves and socks – the early knitting products – were luxury good. Ordinary people were, for a long time, satisfied with socks sewed out of linen or other fabric. Knitted things became really popular with the emerging fashion of tights: in the second half of the 16th century it was fashionable in Spain to wear tight pants that reached beneath the knee. (As we al know, this trend came back more than once in the form of leggings.) People – more precisely: men - knitted primarily in guilds. But more and more people wanted to wear socks. And as those had not necessarily to be made out of silk and as anybody could easily learn how to knit, knitting found entry si st er M AG

4 7 1

SILK

TING M

ACHINE

1589 STOC KIN

into medieval households. It was in any case necessary for the lower classes to produce their own clothing and laundry. Choosing, buying and changing clothes, was only possible for the nobility. There it is, the first knitting trend. Back then almost everyone must have knitted. Among men mainly those who had time to spare during work time: soldiers, sailors and sheepherders. Women, on the other hand, knitted at home. This way they could pursue a meaningful activity and produce a large part of their dowry; without – let’s not get carried away – any intellectual education. As knitted garment became more and more popular the English theologian William Lee had 1589 the idea to invent a knitting machine. Because he didn’t earn enough as a preacher his wife had to earn money from knitting socks. As this was a long and frustrating activity, Lee was very keen on finding a remedy and came up with the knitting machine. This device could open and close

studio

OU B A L E HOM

17 th cen

tury

the needles and create as well as loose loops. It was six times as fast as a hand knitter and was only able to produce socks. Even the Queen liked the idea and visited Lee’s factory. However, she denied him a patent, fearing the flourishing industry of the hand knitting could suffer from the mechanical production of socks. Henry IV of France proved to be slightly more open to new techniques and finally protected Lee’s invention by patent. Unfortunately Lee turned out to be not very lucky with his business and in the end died impoverished. The operation of his machinery however has not changed fundamentally until today. The Queen, on the other hand, was proved right: most commercial hand knitters lost their jobs due to the mechanical production of knitwear. Knitting became more and more homework and thus women’s cause. While handicraft was a necessity among the lower classes, bourgeois women knitted mostly for useful pastime. At first, knitting techniques were

ZINE A G A M

19th century

past down orally from generation to generation. In the 19th century needlework lessons were introduced in primary schools. Back then, first books explaining knitting techniques were offered on the market. Among these books were those especially written for school education as well as those for the private use of wealthy women. The latter often contained a novella, a poem, advice for beauty care, and folded knitting patterns. Whereas the readers were female, the writers of these magazines were mostly male. The roles were – just like in the Middle Ages – clearly laid out: men were responsible for the commercial branch of the knitting industry like working with the machines or the knitting books. The wellbehaved women however only knitted at home. But towards the end of the 19th century many women began to resist their roles as housewives and their introspective daily lives. They left the domestic atmosphere and started to do sport,

01 /1 2

5 7 1

DIY TREND

HANDICRAFT

EDUCATION

today

20th century

joined discussion groups, and pursued careers. The women’s magazines adapted to the different situation: They covered society issues and mainly offered knitting patterns for practical and useful clothing – as opposed to the luxury redundancies before. At the beginning of the 20th century the aspect of art in handicraft education was discovered and encouraged. Girls were supposed to find their individual taste and were confronted with much fewer rules than before. Instead, they were allowed to experiment with styles and colours and could thus develop an eye for aesthetics. In Germany, the National Socialism however brought an end to these freespirited approaches by recovering the conveying of certain virtues through needlework lessons. In addition the importance of simple knitwear was growing everywhere during World War Two, as it was easy to produce something warm for soldiers as well as civilians. si st er M AG

6 7 1

After the war, different forms of handicraft education continually developed. At first, the learning of knitting, crocheting, and sewing remained the educational ideal of girls‘ education. Eventually the school subject was however integrated within the artistic and art pedagogy in order to emphasise on creative skills. Since 1991 the handicraft education in schools is compulsory for girls as well as boys. There we go! That was the history of knitting. The nicest place to read about it (other than the internet) is probably the Costume Library at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. It’s defiantly worth a visit for all textile fetishists. There are not only all recent publications from the fashion world; most of all, old issues with costumes from theatre plays performed a time long ago, patterns from the 18th century, or knitting instructions from the GDR make this library so special. When I ask myself why I started knitting a few years ago, I guess I most of

studio

… von Victoria Kau

all wanted to compensate for constantly working on a monitor and having the normal stressful everyday life of our time. The admiration that many people have for modern knitters is probably a result of this counter movement: knitting is IN because stress is OUT. But when you take a closer look at the story of Lee’s wife again you see that even knitting can become a stressful activity.

Stricken

ONE SHEEPISH GIRL onesheepishgirl.blogspot.com/ @sheepishknit

One of our favourites! A college student who knits and crochets, who loves Frank Sinatra and does the cutest blog posts full of love, ideas, outfits and wool! We love her animated gifs, tutorials and inspirational posts. Crochet Latte Art – great pastel colours – Great post we love the crocheted coffee cups (http://bit.ly/x5LQU8)

KNITTER FROM THE PAST knitterfromthepast.blogspot.com

Mademoiselle Coco knits the most beautiful vintage pullovers, scarves or gloves. And then there are a lot of finds and pics! The best part is that you can buy some of her Yay! clothes and patterns on Etsy

www.etsy.com/shop/MademoiselleCOCO

01 /1 2

7 7 1

DIY London

DIY Tour To just do another feature about Tower, Big Ben and the best places to go dress shoppin in London was too boring for our first issue of sisterMAG. This is why we started exploring the British capital themed DIY: Haberdasheries, craft stores or Soho‘s textile street – all of this you can find on the next pages. You should take a big suitcase on this three-day tour because it will definitely fill up in no time! Very unusual for the pale-coloured craft szene we asked Rahel Zoller – a German artist living in London – to accompany us on this tour and she captured the city in Black and White with her old style Leica.

London 01 /1 2

Shepherds Bush The region around Shepherdâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Bush is not normally featured in travel guides. The rather residential area in the west is not particularly pretty. On a relatively small stretch of Goldhawk Road however there is a definite reason to visit the area: uncountable fabric stores. Most of them are packed with bales and rolls that you almost cannot find a corridor. A quick look to the price tag lets you finally fall in love with this road: this is a place you can still make a bargain buy. Hence I start to enjoy the haggling when a turban wearing guy explains to me in smattered English what a great price he just gave me, just because I am such a â&#x20AC;&#x153;pretty ladyâ&#x20AC;&#x153;.

African printed fabrics for our tutorial

We spend the first day between linen, cotton, silk and sequins! First we travel to Shepherd‘s Bush (best to do this in the morning) and see the “real“ London right away. Afterwards we go to the much nicer and developed district of Soho where we find the touristy textile mile.

1. A One Fabrics

50-52 Goldhawk Road

2. MT London Fabrics Ltd. 27 Goldhawk Road

3. Afri (London) Ltd. 3 Goldhawk Road

4. Fabric World 5. Toni Textiles Ltd. 6. Cooke a H 7. Unique Fabrics 8. Shepherd‘s Bush Market

Travelling … We take the Central Line from Shepherd‘s Bush (going east) til Tottenham Court Road (8 stations).

o h So 1. Cloth House

47 Berwick Street

2. Yumchaa Teas Soho 45 Berwick Street

3. Broadwick Silks

9 Broadwick Street

4. The Silk Society

44 Berwick Street

5. Flat White

17 Berwick Street

6. Borovick Fabrics

16 Berwick Street

7. The Berwick Street Cloth Shop 14 Berwick Street

8. MISAN Fabric

4 Berwick Street

9. Hummus Bros

88 Wardour Street

10. Scribbler

104 Wardour Street

11. Anthropologie Store

158 Regent Street

12. Liberty Kaufhaus

Great 8 2Malborough Street

DIY London You‘ll find fabric stores in the hip district of Soho only in the little Berwick Street. Usually there is a small street market selling vegetables and flowers as well and little cafés are squeezed in between the textile shops.

The prices in these boutique-like shops are not cheap. On the other hand the presentation and shop windows are much more sophisticated as well. They definitely are used to somehow wealthy, maybe even international customers. Who is still brave enough to walk into some of the posh fabric stores will see some amazing materials – almost museum-like!

DIY London The stores BOROVIK and both shops of the brand CLOTH HOUSE are especially breathtaking. left: Fabulous dresses and drapings showcase the quality and intricacy of the fabrics.

The two branch stores of CLOTH HOUSE (47 und 98 Berwick Street) are known for their great range of natural materials, wonderful ribbons and trimmings and cute ideas for decoration.

si st er M AG

6 8 1

DIY London

Liberty is the most traditional depart department store in London and always one of the great sights in every travel gui guide. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ll walk up old, worn-out wooden staircases and let yourself drift through the shoe or clothes departments. How However: Liberty is also a great destination for DIY lovers: fabrics printed with little flowers, pink sewing boxes and a whole wall full with wool invite you to craft.

DIY London

01 /1 2

9 8 1

stnuddoio n DIY Lo

by XX

01 /1 2

1 9 1

Islington On the second day our tour leads us in a northward direction. The streets around Islington‘s main road invite you to take your time. We end this tour in the DIY café Drink, Shop & Do next to the station of King‘s Cross St Pancras. Our tour in Islington starts at the Make Lounge – if you are planning a longer visit to London, you should check out their course schedule. In the large and airy rooms you can learn new techniques and make new friends while crafting along. Upper Street and Essex Road are lined with wonderful Interior Design Shop, you can also find the crafting shop RayStitch (here you‘ll find the magazine UPPERCASE which is rarely sold in Europe) or the haberdashery Loop.

DIY London

After a peak into the vintage furniture store Past Caring, you shouldn‘t walk by the benches of Food Lab. The little bistro doesn‘t look to spectacular from the outside, but it will convince you by its cozy atmosphere inside, the great pasta (definitely try it!) and free WLAN.

1. The Make Lounge

8. Raft Ltd

2. Ottolenghi

9. Decadent Vintage

49-51 Barnsbury Street 278 Upper Street

3. Prêt A Vivre 4. Ray Stitch Haberdashery 99 Essex Road

5. Food Lab

56 Essex Road

6. Past Caring

76 Essex Road

7. CASS Art

66-67 Colebrooke Row

51-53 Camden Passage

10. Breakfast Club 11. Annie‘s Vintage 12. Loop

15 Camden Passage

13. Decorexi Ltd.

104 Islington Street

14. Drink, Shop & Do

9 Caledonian Road

DIY London

Walking down Upper Street, turning left at Ottolenghi and strolling down Cross Street youâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ll find a great abundance of Interior Design Shops. What we like best: the mixture of high priced designer labels with extravagant maxi flower pots and dark deer head installations and the little unknown vintage shops you can still afford a retro bedside table.

01 /1 2

5 9 1

DIY London

01 /1

To go to St Pancras we decide to take a bus from Angel station. We choose line 476 (you can also use 73) from bus stop F. Although it is just a short ride of 10 minutes we rush upstairs in order to snatch a seat in the first row. Lordly we enjoy the ride, looking down on London‘s wet streets through dirty windows.

A handwritten font on a three dimensional emblem gives notice of the haberdashery Loop. We climb a few steep stairs and find ourselves in this little shop full of colourful wool and threads. The best part: you can buy most of the materials – sourced from all over the world – online: http:// www.loopknittingshop.com.

7 9 1

Drink, Shop & Do uses all the clichĂŠs of the DIY and crafting scene: colourful and conglomerately chosen chairs, flowery teacups and a few retro armchairs in the corner. The clou: the old fashioned sweet shop in the front part of the shop. This is the reason we love this cafĂŠ: we can be as girly as we want, play scrabble and nibble on mini cucumber sandwiches.

Drink, Shop & Do 9 Calendonian Road N1 9DX

DIY London

Kings Road Slowly we have increased the level of our city districts over the last three days. On our third tour we finally arrived in the most elegant quarters of Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Chelsea. King‘s Road is the perfect place for shopping. And for all of those who are just tired of spending money, we entrap you to a museum visit. 1. VV Rouleaux

261 Pavillon Road, Sloane Square

2. Cocomaya Café

186 Pavillon Road, Sloane Square

3. Peter Jones Kaufhaus Sloane Square

4. Saatchi Gallery 5. Patisserie Valerie

81 Duke of York Square

6. Ca‘ppuccino Café 138a Kings Road

7. Anthropologie

131-141 Kings Road

8. India Jane

131-135 Kings Road

9. Victoria and Albert Museum Cromwell Road

How to get there … The best way to get to V&A from King‘s Road is to walk! It takes about 20 minutes and you can enjoy all these grand houses and mansions, dreaming of once living in London!

DIY London

2 0 2

3 0 2

stnuddoio n DIY Lo

V V Rouleaux is Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s leading passementerie brand, who offers all kinds of ribbons, trimmings, tassels, tiebacks or flowers. In a little byroad of the swanky Sloane Square you can find this colourful land of plenty.

01 /1 2

5 0 2

si st er M AG

6 0 2

Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s largest museum of decorative arts and design. Those who are interested in handmade items should definitely plan a visit to the museum. Especially since the permanent collection is free! After you strolled through the whole history of fashion shown on the basis of some magical exhibits, you can relax with a cup of coffee in the voluptuously decorated cafeteria of the museum.

7 0 2

e b o r Ward

OUTDO O R Jackets Almost everyone has one of these things in the closet: the renowned “outdoor jacket“ – practical, comfortable and if we are very honest: boring! Worn with jeans and sneakers your outfit comes off more than a little dry. This is why sisterMAG mixed some colourful jackets with the most beautiful skirts of this season. Lets start pimping those old friends!

outdoor PHOTOS: EVI HANDGRÄTINGER HAIR & MAKEUP: JULIA WALTER STYLING: EVA NEUBAUER MODEL: STINE SCHILLER

Editorial

Wardrobe

by XX

01 /1 2

3 1 2

JACKETT: Mammut Laila S-Jackett; PLISSEE SKIRT: handmade; BLACK PETTICOAT: handmade; FUR CLUTCH: handmade; SHOES: Eva Turner;

st er M AG

4 1 2

by XX

Editorial

01 /1 2

5 1 2

si st er M AG

6 1 2

JACKET: Northface; ROCK: handmade (pattern in this issue); SMOKING SHIRT: Jacques Britt; CUFF LINKS: Codis Maya London; BAG: Vintage; WEDGES: Carven

8 1 2

Editorial

JACKET: Vaude RODELA in Brown; SKIRT: handmade (pattern in this issue); SHOES: Buffalo

01 /1 2

9 1 2

0 2 2

Editorial

Wardrobe

JACKET: Bergans Stranda Soft Shell Jacket Women in Dark Rose PLISSEE SKIRT: handmade; SHOES: Buffalo

01 /1 2

1 2 2

2 2 2

Editorial

JACKET: Falke; SKIRT: handmade (pattern in this issue); BAG: Ted Baker; PUMPS: Nando Muzi; EARPHONES: Panasonic

HOODIE: Arete Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s Hoodie Barbour; SKIRT: handmade (pattern in this issue); BAG: Furla SHOES: Buffalo

si st er M AG

4 2 2

Editorial

JACKET: Northface (für Männer); SKIRT: handmade (basic pattern in this issue); SCARVE: inouï toosh; BELT: Diesel; HAT: handmade (tutorial will be published on blog.sister-mag.com on 14.03.12); BAG: Ralph Lauren; SHOES: Urban Outfitters

si st er M AG

6 2 2

Editorial

01 /1 2

7 2 2

le StyNOTES

P lissee

Fleur

de Lis cuff li (CuffDad t€27,

Leather colour block purse (Topshop) €21,00

Mammut LAIL A 4-S Double Jacke t Women in Guava/Kiwi €209,90

d Jovonnista – Pleate nt skirt with flower pri £45

with Court show ap (Zara) metal toe c £69,99

Pleated skirt from Mrs & HUGS (via Breuninger) €99,99

si st er M AG

8 2 2

Pleated Skirt from SCHUMACHER (via Breuninger) €319,95

When Miuccia Prada sent her models down the runway with pleated skirts in candy colours and shiny bomber jackets, the hype around 50s Fashion with cute details and set curls started once again. Such a pleated skirt takes off any remaining semblance of the leisure time-hiking jacket and makes it ready for a shopping tour, if not the theatre in the evening.

Editorial

Pleated Skirt von Sister Jane (via Topshop) £49,00

ne s ck nu la g.s c €2 e in qua 4, Sa re 90 lm on

ff (e link tie s s) in €1 Or 1, an 90 ge

inks ddy) ,97

via

urner ( T a v E s Stiletto odo.com) Lux SALE) ( 0 0 2 €

(Diana Eng) Glückskeks-Portemonnaie $65,00

01 2

While we were shooting in front of Stuttgart‘s state museum and danced around in our pretty pleated skirt, an elderly couple ambled by. Visibly amused the lady commented on the spring like colours of our outfit. Very true because you can pull off any candy colours you want this season. It doesn‘t matter whether you go for the pleated or pencil skirt: the more colourful, the better!

9 2 2

le StyNOTES Stripes

Sandal Laminated Heel (ZARA) €59,95

si st er M AG

0 3 2

ges Disco Pants Wed ) £115,00 e ic o h C r la u g e rr (I

Booties Noblesse (Nelly) €49,95 | £37,95

Editorial

e web. th d n a n io h s fa f o ld er the wor v o ll a s n r e tt a p e it r n proved e most favou e e b th e f v o a h e n t“ o fa re k a o s lo e Strip s make you e ip tr s l ta n o iz r o h “ rn in like e tt s a e d (p tu ti la p e m ti g For a lon uette o h il s n o y tl n a g le e skirt, cut wrong. This pencil histicated. p o s d n a e in in m fe u look this issue) makes yo ood to go! g re a u o y d n a s e o A pair of daffy sh

Vaude RODELA Allwetterschutzjacke in Braun £125,95

s Peep-Toe Wedge (ZARA) €99,95 | £79,99

01 /1 2

1 3 2

e lNOTES StyNO

Sequin Penc

il Skirt (via A

SOS) £40,00

Sparkles

Who doesn‘t like it sweet and pastel-coloured, may turn their jackets into a cool accessory. A relict of past season‘s collections are the glittery shoes and sequined skirts – inspired by Miu Miu or Louis Vuitton, which we cannot bear to hide in our closets just yet. We give this look an update by adding a caddilac pin à la Prada. Important not only for this season: a pair of classic, black pumps!

Scarpa L‘Autre Chose Donna Pumps €108,29

Schm u & Gr cksteinA au (T he V rmband amo ose) in Pink £12, 00

2 3 2

RP-DJic n o s a n a P hones p r a E W S200E 97 weiß €19,

gtt a b d- 9,00 a iP £3 IA ker) L a O TO ed B (T

ith meCourt Shoe w l (ZARA) thacrylate hee 9 €99,95 | £79,9

rt Shoe Platform Cou 6 | £55,00 (ASOS) €76,8

Editorial Suede Glove s (ASOS) €27,95 | £20 ,00

look Ankle boots in used (Buffalo) €99,90

alo) Glittery boots (Buff €129,90

Pin Pink Cadilla eBay) €4 c (via ,74

Bergans STRANDA Softshell Jacket in Dark Rose 139,95 €

/1 2

Pleated Skirt from Halston Heritage in Pink (via my-wardrobe. com)

Pleated Skirt from Halston Heritage in Grey (via mywardrobe.com)

3 3 2

mpire; 100% VL040423.06 Silent E €50.40/6yds Baumwolle (VLISCO)

le StyNOTES Africa

Sehr leichte Ohrringe im Afrikalook (Casa di Culture) $24,00

Männer Arete Hoodie (Barbour) £169,95 Online-Shops für Africa Fabrics: § VLISCO § Twiga Design

Thanks to Christopher Bailey we can indulge ourselves with African prints this season. The star designer from London‘s renowned label Burberry showed vibrant prints and patterns on pencilskirts and dresses. We combine the handmade skirt (you find the tutorial to make a skirt in this issue) with an unimposing white blouse – a perfect outfit for job and leisure time! Furthermore you‘ll find some links to online shops where you can buy African Prints and Fashion. Even more inspiration you‘ll find on one of our favourite blogs: Miss Modja from rocknlovedoll.wordpress.com – great outfits, great colours, great woman!

4 3 2

§ Pamoja – Fabrics from Africa

Cropped bleached Denim Shirt (Topshop) €36,00 | £28,00w

Editorial

rocknloved

oll.wordpr ess.com/

Short metal necklace (H&M) €14,95

Pumps S U L O B £85 (ALDO)

Creme-coloured Chiffon Blouse (TOPSHOP) €44,00 | £34,00

VL0408 7 Baumw 8.06 Silent Em olle (VL p ISCO) € ire; 100% 50.40/ 6yds

Keilschuhe aus Raffiagewebe von Burberry €895

ized s r ve sses O r the ungla ,95 a e L d S ) €361 ,00 n u Ro SOS £259 A | (via

We love her blog!

Katrina pointed ballerina pumps (TOPSHOP) €55,00 | £42,00

Chalkboard Wall Calendar (SimpleShapes via Etsy) $64,00

High heeled sandals Malene ia Birger (v ) nelly.com | €399,95 £338,95

Hibiscus at the Hop Dress in Black (via Mod-cloth) $137,99

Schaltuch von Inouï €75,00

st er M AG

6 3 2

Skylight Delight Dress (via Modcloth) $74,99

Editorial

Wardrobe

by XX

le StyNOTES

Tulle and Details On cold winter days or drafty spring mornings we need a hat! However this season the common cap gets a twist by adding a playful sassy detail: tulle which is affixed at the back of the cap, barely co-vering the upper part of your face. You‘ll find the tutorial to this hat on our Blog blog.sistermag.de on 14th March 2012! The finesse is in the details: the black skirt has a little ruffle in the back, the scarve bleeds out into a vibrant red and the shoes to our outfit are made of a material sembling Dalmatian skin.

Lipstick Rouge Couture from Yves Saint Laurent €25,95

Midi Pencil Dress with Zipper €69,88 | £50,00

01 /1 2

BLYZE Wedge (ALDO) £90,00

7 3 2

d n a H The s n w o d me

With the start of a new year, I always look forward to trying new trends, experimenting with different styles, and perhaps mixing in a few different hairstyles or makeup colors, but for as much as I enjoy moving forward, there are certain items that I can’t help but hold on to in my wardrobe. Vintage pieces have always been a week spot and as I add to a closet of cocktail dresses and antique baubles, I can’t help but find ways to incorporate them into my daily outfits. Add the fact that my mother and grandmother hold the same sentiment for passing things down and I’ve successfully built a closet that relies heavily on those timeless staples. Mixing modern with vintage is one of the easiest ways to make a unique outfit and combined with 2012 trends like floral, lace, and tangerine hues, I was able to style a daytime and evening look that can carry through the winter into spring’s temperate months.

st er M AG

8 3 2

Handmedowns

L e th in y ta S m o fr E L Y by JACLYN KILFO

ines

Wardrobe

The first look uses a cashmere sweater that was given to me by my mother, orange skinny jeans, and a classic trench coat. Paired with glittering flats, bracelets from my mother, and equally shinny earrings from a family friend, the look is a polished daytime ensemble. Rather than saving the pearls and precious metals for evening, mixing them into everyday looks gives that ladylike appearance I imagine the chic set of the past used to wear. Toned down with colored denim and stacked accessories keeps the look from becoming a costume.

aytime

Wardrobe

For evening, I took a yellow lace dress and paired it with another vintage piece that was given to me by my mother. The fur cape has delicate touches, like a ruffled neck, and instantly makes a cocktail dress feel fun and unique. Floral hints are definitely a trend Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m looking forward to in the spring, so pairing a vintage fur with a pop of yellow felt like the perfect combination of classic cocktail styling with a youthful approach. To finish the look, I added cameo earrings from my grandmother. I used to love digging through her stacks of costume jewelry, each box holding numerous brooches, bracelets, and sparkling bits. Now that she has started to pass a few of these down, I like to top off my outfits with them as a little way to add something polished to an evening look.

01 /1 2

1 4 2

vening

2 4 2

Wardrobe

Whether it is a simple daytime outfit that plays with color and vintage gems, or a cocktail classic evening look, holding onto the items that have been passed down have a special way of personalizing an outfit.

Sharing a sentimental necklace with a sibling or a sweater that needs a new owner always inspires me when I see how the other person styles it. Sneaking into my momâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s closet to borrow one of her classics will always be fun, but holding onto the things she passes down to me will continue to create the pieces I cherish and look forward to styling.

01 /1 2

3 4 2

Street Muttis The creative heads behind Hauptstadtmutti.de, Bianca Koczan, Isa Grütering & Claudia Kahnt are not only good friends but also love being mothers. They take pictures of moms who look stylish in everyday life – with kids! Who succeeds in doing so they bow to, take out the camera and show Berlin, the world and the sisterMAG readers how chic mothers can be.

Wonderfully wild

We met her at LesMads-Designer flea market at Voo-Store. A real Wow-women, Franca with her 2½ years old son from Berlin Kreuzberg. She works as translator for the French Urban Magazine Be Street.

Player‘s mom

Nikola with her son (6 years) from Berlin Prenzlauer Berg. She studied graphic design. Today she works at the premium mommy outfitter Sexymama. The full-time job in graphic design the single mother gave up – also due to the unforgiving

si st er M AG

4 4 2

working hours. Nikola seemingly is an optimistic realist – confident and full of humour. You can see her contentment and we all just know how it feels like …

Mum on Ice

Sonne, Mond & Sterne

Glitzmom with Glitzkid

Melissa with her

Mo with her son (4 years) in Berlin, Kreuz-

daughter (13 month)

berg. Actually mo lives in Friedrichshain but

on the SMS festival

works behind the scenes – the “lady in the

in Thuringia. Melissa

background“ – of the three branch stores of

is photographer and

leckerschmecker ice factory. Whereas the

part of the band Bo-

shops in Simon-Dach-Straße and August-

naparte from Berlin

straße closed over winter time, the branch

and always travels

store at Graefestraße had the heart to do

with them. Apart

something bold (due to many demands):

from that the

stay open over the cold months! Winter spe-

American goes back

cials? Of course, e.g. Spelt-Nut-Waffles.

and forth between

They are wonderful, she ridently explains

Berlin and New York

and invites us – and you – to come to their

with her family.

stores!

Ivonne with her daughter (1½ years) in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg. She works as freelancing marketing consultant, thus is always thinking about new concepts. For example the kid‘s disco Glitz Kids for minis between 1 and 3 with 80s music and beer for the parents. Now it is still happening in her home but due to its success she is already searching for a larger event location.

EVER sweater vest

$235

Funktional Tunic

$99

Relaxed in CanaCana da

si st er M AG

6 4 2

Wardrobe

Relaxed in

Canada Canadian Photographer Cris Santos shows us wonderful outfits for these weekends you just want to feel good about yourself!

Model: Emma

(Panache Management)

Styling: Cristopher Santos Hair: Jillian Clapham Makeup: Ashleigh Sacco aSSiSt: Cole Peters ClotHing froM MoulĂŠ

01 /1 2

7 4 2

Rachel Mara Wrap Top

$2 15

Rachel Mara Zipper Pant

$225

si st er M AG

8 4 2

Wardrobe

IMPROVD Top Front Drape

$2 75

01 /1 2

9 4 2

ROGAN Dress

$425

si st er M AG

0 5 2

by XX

All about my mother

Beatrice Behlen – Senior Curator, Fashion & Decorative Arts at Museum of London – knows about clothing. However today she doesn‘t explain to us museum objects, but shows us photographies of the 1950s starring her own mother. We compare notes of daughter and mother.

All about my mother

01 /1 2

1 5 2

There were quite a few reasons why I initially became interested in dress history. My parents owned a three-volume encyclopaedia, which contained a short section, at most six pages, charting the development of dress. I remember spending many hours looking at the tiny colour illustrations. Musicals also played their part. I was particularly taken by Deborah Kerrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crinolines in The King and I, the costumes in Gigi and Audrey Hepburnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clothes in Funny Face. One very obvious reason only occurred to me recently when I put together a talk about alternative clothing in 1950s London. Some of the girls accompanying the earnest-looking, bearded young men in duffle coats reminded me of my mother. I dug out a small stash of black and white photos showing her as a teenager, which I had taken with me to London. And, much to her amusement, I asked my mother about her clothes.

si st er M AG

2 5 2

I am amazed how she can still remember the colours of some of her outfits, but then I can still vividly picture my favourite dress when I was six. My motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clothes were mainly made from patterns provided by a well-known company in Germany. You went to a haberdashery to look at pattern books and then hoped that the one you liked was available and did not have to be ordered. My mother could sew herself but sometimes her aunt or a seamstress would produce the clothes after fabric had been bought from a specialist shop or department store. In the late 1950s boutiques but there was apparently one shop in my home town selling branded jeans that hardly anyone, certainly not my mother, could afford. I have spent years staring at photos of teenagers from that period and researching how they obtained their clothes. Strange that it took me so long to put my mother under the microscope. So, get out your photo albums and ask!

by XX

My mother is only about

Around 1957/58. Note the

twelve or thirteen in

old car in the background.

this photo, which also provides a glimpse

Peg trousers and V-neck jumper, with Peter Pan

of her slightly older

collar. We sometimes just

brother. I love her peg

wore a false front instead

trousers and flat shoes, which you could so easily wear now.

of a blouse. Ponytail and fringe, flat and pointed shoes.

1957/1958

Elvis was here!

My mother and her brother Bernd took part

looks very American: V-

in dancing competi-

neck, white vest and always

tions. They both loved

a checked shirt. Jeans loose

Elvis who lived in my

fitting and always rolled up

hometown while he was

only once. Mandatory white

in the army in the late

socks and pointed lace-ups.

1950s/early 1960s. Qui-

We’re practising rock ’n’ roll.

te a contemporary look

Elvis was here!

for my uncle!

si st er M AG

4 5 2

I had a long ponytail. Bernd

This photo demonst-

Last school trip, around 1960. On the left

rates the popularity of

Ricarda, then me, with jeans that were so

jeans, very high-wais-

tight that you had to have a zip at the bot-

ted at the time. I am

tom of the leg to put them on. My favourite

also very taken by the

jumper and silk scarf, backcombed hair.

boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sandals and my

Boys with the usual jeans and checked

motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beehive.

shirts. Wilhelm Georg seems to wear a casual suit. The other girls were dressed unspectacularly and were always further back.

Friends

This is one of my fa-

School trip, around 1960. We are wearing tight,

vourite photos. I love

knee-length skirts with small slits made of

what my mother and

thick woollen cloth. Ricarda always wore black

her friend are wea-

and I wore grey with my favourite jumper. Beau-

ring, their pose and of

tiful necklaces: Ricarda with a long chain made

course the gentleman

of fishing wire and lovely, light blue, irregular

with plus-fours at the

stones. I am m wearing my motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s necklace:

back.

two rows of light, shiny, egg-shaped artificial stones. White clogs with little heels from the same brand that is popular now. Our eyes: jet-black. The rambler in the background also

si st

looks perfect!

er M AG

6 5 2

School leaving celebrations around 1961. Bright green suit: skirt with two or three pleats in front, three-quarter length sleeve which necessitated long, black, shiny gloves. The suit was made of some kind of cotton rep. I loved it, not least because

Freundinnen My mother can only

of its colour. Dark, brown, three quarter length suede coat with wide, loose belt at the back. High heeled, pointed, black patent leather shoes and dark nylons.

have been around 16

Sigrid wears bright yellow stirrup pants,

in this photo but she

also very fashionable, dark socks and flat

is obviously trying to

white shoes with a pointed toe that always

look as grown up as

curled upwards. Dark blue coat, like a par-

possible, unlike her

ka. Very high ponytail, which made the hair

friend Sigrid.

form a fringe.

01 /1 2

7 5 2

Schoolyard

I like the different attitudes adopted by the boys, particularly the one with the crossed arms on the right next to the dapper one in his checked trousers and black polo neck. My mother is standing fifth from the left next to her good friend Dagmar, the only girl in trousers. In the schoolyard, around 1961. Dagmar and me: beehives and a wide hair band. All girls wear skirts, apart from Dagmar who did not like her legs. Many in three-quarter length coats, all sorts of hairstyles.

The clothes, hairstyle and eyeliner (!) are not the main

Looks existentialist. Hair with outward curl. I’m wearing my

reason why I like this image.

favourite jumper again: V-

It just works well as a photo:

neck, dark grey mohair. What

my mother’s white face con-

a show-off!

trasting with the dark background, the light on her hair, the smoke from the cigarette

(different times …).

st er M AG

0 6 2

The show-off

Wardrobe

Vintage ELEGANT MUSINGS elegantmusings.com/

MUSEUM OF LONDON (BEATRICE BEHLEN)

@ elegantmusings

http://bit.ly/y5ZRwh

Casey‘s blog is cult for all vintage and DIY lovers. The lively brunette has a great eye for style, outfits, colours and patterns and shares all her projects with us on her blog. Regularly Every Friday Casey puts together her inspirations of the week. The squared collages let you discover new friends, Flickr contacts and beauty!

TUPPENCE HA‘PENNY VINTAGE

Beatrice Behlen takes us with her to the Museum of London. Pictures, old diaries, exhibits of the museum and much more teach you about clothing and the history of garments. The perfect place to wallow in past days. Great post Hats, caps and millinery!: About Ascot, Rose Bertin and Beaton (http://bit.ly/z8H8Qk)

MILLIE MOTTS milliemotts.blogspot.com/

tuppencehapennyvintage. blogspot.com/

Charlotte lives in London and describes herself as lover of vintage magazines, hats, everything with cherries on, sailor style, antique shops, plastic jewellery and retro pin-up. This passion she shares on her wonderfully illustrated blog Tuppence Ha‘penny Vintage.

A little, seemingly unimposing blog of a passionate collector. With one click into this simple layouted blog lets you into a world of vintage magazine pages, illustrations and retro advertisements. Thank you for generously sharing those with us!

01 /1 2

1 6 2

T h a n k sf o ry o u rv i s i t !

F a c e b o o k

T wi t t e r P i n t e r e s t

B l o g

sisterMAG Issue 1 - English Version

Articles inside

The Soup Feature