Prepare to be captivated by the latest wave of German design at this year’s Copenhagen International Fashion Fair (CIFF), running from August 7-9, 2024. This groundbreaking event will showcase “NEUDEUTSCH,” a curated selection of over 30 innovative brands and creators in fashion, jewellery, interior design, and more. Spearheading this initiative is Julian Daynov, a well-respected fashion industry expert and business consultant.
A New Chapter in German Design
Julian Daynov elaborates on NEUDEUTSCH’s essence: “At the heart of NEUDEUTSCH is the idea of cultural pluralism enriching German design language through diverse and inventive talent. The concept of the collective is to give a stage to new-wave design aesthetes and creatives who overcast the outdated cliché of German design being purely functional and one-directional.”
CIFF’s CEO Sofie Dolva explains, “Germany is a key market for a significant proportion of brands showcasing with us at CIFF, and CIFF is increasingly becoming the show of choice for German brands looking to expand internationally.”
Meet the Visionary: Julian Daynov
We had an exclusive conversation with Julian Daynov to delve deeper into the nuances of NEUDEUTSCH and the selection process for the designers showcasing their work at CIFF.
www.instagram.com/julian_daynov
juliandaynov.com
www.instagram.com/neudeutsch.collective
www.instagram.com/ciffdk
ciff.dk
What inspired you to curate NEUDEUTSCH for CIFF this year?
Overall, it’s been the personal appreciation and admiration for new-wave German creatives and their work. I had the impression that so many German creatives are noticeably proving lately, that what we all perceived as “one-dimensional” and “purely functional” in German design has evolved into so much more. I believe this has been my discovery and observation for a while now and I felt it should be shared with more people, who probably had a similar, slightly outdated perception of German design. The evidence that it has transcended into an era of “contemporary modernity” is very present to me and within my areas of work as a creative director and so there I found myself sharing these discoveries with my social circles and business network of design possessed people and making them all fall in love with what has been sourced, created, produced, dreamed all in Germany. A quite cute renaissance experience for everyone, I guess… An awakening for local design culture I felt needed to be broadcasted into the world.
Could you elaborate on the cultural pluralism you mentioned and how it is reflected in the designs showcased?
I have the feeling that in recent years design language, visual culture, form aesthetics and pop culture as a whole have evolved to a much more “open” and “welcoming” level here in Germany. All of this has been influenced by a more vital, strongly vibrant and international audience of creatives, who found and set their artistic base in Germany and organically started reflecting what they experience within their “new society” into their latest works, but all yet shaped through a very personal prism and still led by their originating culture and design nativeness.
What I loved witnessing massively is how these predominantly “foreign” design visions merge with the puristic, brutal, linear, sleek and commonly unagitated streams of local influence and design understanding and transition into an eclectic object, product, and body of work as a whole. As a New German myself, I often felt that formats focusing on the promotion and representation of “local” design talent sometimes left out “non-native” artists and creatives, who independently of their origin, live, create, operate, craft, manufacture in Germany and celebrate their achievements as “German made”. So, not liking things and matters to fall through those outdated matrixes and rules, I decided to pay tribute to this new wave of German creatives.
How did you go about selecting the designers and brands for NEUDEUTSCH?
I have a pronounced path in Retail Buying, Retail Design, Brand Sourcing and Portfolio Management, so it has always been an incremental part of my job to keep my eyes open to anything new, exciting, understated, unexpected or overseen by others. I have always been led by my paradigm on what’s “worth” giving attention to and luckily, it’s been nearly always been perceived as attractive, refreshing and cutting-edge. What tempts me the most is the discovery of suspenseful design and then sharing it with like-minded people and seeing them react equally as excited as I was when seeing it for the first time. So when it comes to the selection process, it is all my dig and pictures that made me enthusiastic and pleasantly surprised.
What I try to always do within the NEUDEUTSCH curation process, is to feature designers and aesthetes from various disciplines and areas of creation – not only apparel, shoes, accessories, but interior, object, beauty, nutrition, art, and architecture: basically from all areas we encounter within our modern lifestyle and would be delighted to be surrounded by to make our daily life more aesthetically pleasing and joyful.
What unique qualities were you looking for in the designers featured in this project?
It’s mostly all about newness, modernity, personal design language and distinct aesthetics, but also about what’s viable, scalable and would sustain and grow in a retail landscape. Probably still heavily influenced by my retail background, I select brands, creatives and aesthetes with a business vision for their work, who want to promote their creations and turn them into a commercial context, supply internationally, grow and not just stay within an “expressive musical space and gallery artistic” bubble.
Of course, I am mostly led by “likability”, “desirability”, but also “possible public success” and in the end “sell-ability” of the designers’ work because to sustain a business environment and secure ongoing personal design waves, it’s essential to promote and sell work. Also essential to the collective is that I am staging NEUDEUTSCH always at formats, where Retail Buyers, Architects, Interior Designers, Decorators look for newness and freshness for their projects and businesses, for their stores and ateliers, for their chains and studios – it’s some of the biggest trade shows and fairs, which collaborated with me and gave stage and exposure, publicity and attention to so many start-up brands, who might not have been able to participate out of own resources.
Probably this is the right place to also mention, that NEUDEUTSCH is entirely run as a “good-will” project by me, but mostly thanks to my incredible partners – I am so fortunate, that Pitti Uomo in Florence and now the CIFF in Copenhagen are carrying out the full show in full donation and total support; they open doors for so many creatives to showcase their work and test it on a real-market playground. NEUDEUTSCH serves as an enabling engine, as a door-opener to a network of business multipliers and the most relevant players from the whole world, who visit these trade shows and are glad to discover new designs and creations for their portfolios.
What makes CIFF the ideal platform for introducing NEUDEUTSCH to the world?
To me, Denmark has always been welcoming, very accepting and interesting when it comes to any design innovation – I believe it is rooted in the very open bearing of Danes as a nation with an outstanding sense for aesthetics, modernity and fine art. The CIFF itself as a trade show platform has for years been gathering the elite of the fashion business to Copenhagen to always present it with the most attractive, inspiring and groundbreaking in fashion and design overall, so it was a real honour and pure joy when the CEO of CIFF Sofie Dolva asked me over coffees if I would not be interested to showcase NEUDEUTSCH at the August edition of the CIFF and together with her and her team create a platform for contemporary German design during Copenhagen Fashion Week and share it with the multiple thousands of visitors of the trade show.
I am very grateful for this incredible cultural patronage of Sofie and the CIFF – over the years they have created one of the most influential business platforms for the fashion and lifestyle industries to scoop innovation, inspiration and design novelty across fashion design and popular culture in general. Placing NEUDEUTSCH so very prominently within their universe is a real privilege and an incredible opportunity for all participating designers to catapult their works into the media and business landscape of a massive international retail league.
Can you describe any standout pieces or designers in the NEUDEUTSCH collection that attendees should look out for?
For the show in Copenhagen, I have curated a very diverse line-up of extraordinary artists, designers and overall aesthetes, who through their works reflect a modern way of not just designing but interacting with nature and resources. All designers are very reflective in dealing with sustainable and respectful sourcing and manufacturing and pay attention to keeping their ecological impact as low as possible by producing locally, re-cycling or re-working already existing materials into their creations. I believe in aesthetic beauty and emotional attraction when it comes to design overall, but appreciate it even additionally when it covers the aspect of purpose and adding value to not just one space, not just one outfit, not just one person – of course, I adore unique and one-off-pieces, but within a trade show context I tend to pursue success for the curated pieces in a retail landscape.
For example, visitors will be able to discover an outstanding collaboration of the jewellery artist Ariane Ernst and an industrial design studio GDP, who join forces on creating an illuminated spherical mirror; the duo behind BUDDE are showing their new side tables cut and folded out of a single metal piece; the fashion designer of AVENIR will present a line entirely produced out of recycled garments; GITTI will unveil a special NEUDEUTSCH vegan and organic nail colour; organic beauty brand KESS will feature a new product line; Zwingenberg and Balletshofer among other 15 fashion designers will premier new collections; NOWRUBI is bringing out a new denim showreel; Objekte Unserer Tage will arrange an entire lounge with their latest interior design creations, NANDO STUDIO will be live-working a carpet piece, STAINLESS STUDIO will premiere their first product line of shelves and home accessories… It will be very exciting and full of things to discover, you can trust that…
How do you think NEUDEUTSCH will impact the broader European design community?
I have already witnessed how some of our neighbouring countries reacted to NEUDEUTSCH. I received so much admiration and compliments after my first big show at Pitti Uomo in Florence last January and so many other “countries” realized that this could be a good way to cherish, enable, glow and celebrate their local design community and give it some international stage. I think we should all be more dedicated to supporting creatives, who are still at their starting point – by giving them a platform, by sharing their work within our powerful networks, and by bringing them “onto the table” where business is being made.
I truly hope that the public attention NEUDEUTSCH got initially, will evolve into a movement of us all to be more appreciative and open for new-wave design culture and giving it a stage and the attention it deserves and teach us to judge it after actually giving it a chance to grow and impress. Projecting clichés and acting with scepticism towards “unknown” creatives is so out of time, out of place and out of style.
Lastly, what are your plans for NEUDEUTSCH and other similar initiatives?
I love to see how everyone so far reacts overly positively, and is excited and supports the initiative – I hope that NEUDEUTSCH will grow into a movement to celebrate, give stage and appreciate not only new-wave German design culture but also young and aspirational talents anywhere. I’ve just realized how much contribution and focus this initiative of mine kicked off and hope that at some point it will attract the attention of a cultural institution, foundation or non-profit organization, who would support turning this into a travelling format and showcase modern-day German design globally, taking it to Hong Kong, Seoul, Paris, Tokyo, London.
Dive into the future of German design at CIFF and witness the transformative power of NEUDEUTSCH. Connect with visionary creatives and immerse yourself in a world where traditional boundaries make way for innovative brilliance.
credits:
Talent @julian_daynov
Photographer @carolinekynast
Light @youknowbjoern
Styling @matsbndr and @maexi2.0 via @mbant.studio
Styling Assistant @gerbakalle
Setdesign @luizaciara
Videographer @nevenhillebrands and @Indwhr
Retouch @inesbahr_photography
Creative direction @juliaamelina
Producer and art direction @inga.klaassen
Hair and make up @ahmedmnissi.hmua
Studio @9492.studio
@avenir_atelier
@zwingenberg.studio
@vaust_studio
@johannesbudde
@daluma.official
@frnkow
@gittibeauty
@haderlump.berlin
@nando_studio
@ofttworld
@raerscents
@marke.brand
@studiomilenakling
@uncommonmatters
@balletshoferonline
@objekteunserertage
@stainlessstudiosberlin
@societe__angelique
@equality.fragrances
@sarahillenberger
@true_zimmermann
@tinabobbe
@spsr.studio
@oor.apparel
@noam_official
@arianeernstjewelry
@nowrubi
@rohling.co
@nthirtythree_
@kessberlin
ABOUT NEUDEUTSCH
Originally launched in collaboration with PITTI IMMAGINE UOMO in Florence, NEUDEUTSCH is a travelling curation project initiated by fashion industry expert Julian Daynov showcasing works by German-based creatives across the disciplines of fashion, accessories, interior, object and product design, beauty, art and mobility. The collective’s mission is to highlight the cultural pluralism in the contemporary design of new-wave German aesthetes whose visionary work shapes a modern-day visual language beyond common beliefs of pure pragmatism and practicability by noticeably outlining new contours for German design perception. www.instagram.com/neudeutsch.collective
As a word itself, NEUDEUTSCH refers to the constant transformation and enrichment of the German language through diverse foreign expressions and present-time slang and serves as a metaphor for the vibrant, evolving and eclectic new-wave design narrative shaping contemporary design culture in Germany.
