Design Inspiration: Lena Hoschek

Picture taken from designmonat.at

My latest fashion inspiration is the Austrian designer Lena Hoschek. Lena Hoschek is originally from Graz, Austria, but studied Fashion Design in Vienna. After graduation she did an eight-months internship with Vivienne Westwood in London. According to an article about her on the austrianfashion.net Hoschek was very surprised to see how differently pattern construction was approached at Vivienne Westwood. Apparently squares are cut and modified with slits and notches and then made up into patterns. This seems very interesting but difficult to grasp and I would like to find out more about this intriguing method of pattern construction, which seems to be more about draping onto a form rather than flat pattern cutting, because how else could you find out how to manipulate your mountain of squares if not on a dress form. Hmmm. Alas, I couldn't find anything about this on the interwebs.

Lena Hoschek's designs are very Vintage inspired, particularly by the New Look of the 50s. She also loves a good old Dirndl and likes to incorporate traditional Dirndl elements into her designs. Curvy models, tattoos, Rock’n’Roll and Dita von Teese are equally prominent inspirations in her designs and all of these seem to go together beautifully in her collections.

I have been coveting some of her pieces for a while. Here are some of my favorites from her more recent collections, as seen on her homepage:

 

I would love to draft some of her pieces and sew them up myself. I am particularly fond of the big, slightly rectangular neckline with the collar, which she uses in some of her dresses and jackets. I am also a fan of the high-waisted skirts and of her interesting blouse designs. I am planning to make some Lena Hoschek inspired pieces this spring. Maybe I’ll start with something a little easier like a high-waisted skirt, or the yellow somewhat 40s inspired top, which looks beautiful in this shot from Fashion Week in Berlin:

Picture taken from vogue.de

Since she has a shop in Vienna I was thinking I could show up in her shop pretending I was a Bobo with mountains of disposable income and try on some of her pieces. I should make sure not to forget a pair of big bug-eyed glasses and a designer purse to go with the Bobo ensemble.

For more on Lena Hoschek, check out her homepage or a video of her most recent collection presented at Berlin Fashion Week and pictures thereof which you can find here.

For those of you who can read German, you can find an article about her here and an interview here.