"LOST AND FOUND ST. PETERSBURG" !
"Isabel Vollrath's collections are far from ordinary. The designer is as much a story-teller and historian as she is tailor and craftswoman.
Previously her collections have drawn from the architecture and atmosphere of Venice, manifesting the forms of the city into dramatic pieces of costume.
Her collection LOST AND FOUND ST. PETERSBURG was the result of a two month exchange in the city, and takes its inspiration from the history and people she found there.
Vollrath’s works are notable for her confident use of recycled materials.
Jackets made of scuffed ballet shoes and dress constructed out of found coffee sacks, attest to her rejection of the senseless use of resources that typifies the fashion industry.
In a rare move for a young designer, Vollrath actively questions her participation in the process of manufacture and consumerism.
LOST AND FOUND ST. PETERSBURG is overtly dramatic, and Vollrath is undeniably a costume designer with a strong sense of narrative and aesthetic communication.
Through these pieces, the world-famous but often poverty stricken ballerinas of Russia’s past become the symbol of a city wrapped in contrasts.
Vollrath’s own experience as a newcomer to such a city, faced with an unknown language and culture, is also expressed through the immense volumes and overflowing layers of her work.
"There is almost too much to see and we, as the viewers, are unavoidably drawn in to the story and the imagery."
(Berlin Fashion Week, Alicia Mitchell, Fier Management)
"Isabel Vollrath`s collection is a poetic narration composed of various different stories.
The bolero jacket made from ballet shoes, the coat made from coffee sacks, a coat with cardboard gloves as brooch, the jumpsuit made from mail bags –
each piece creates its way into the viewers` hearts.
This effect can be achieved with findings as well as specially developed materials.
Her answer to the confrontation of various materials is a convincing, creative and feminine one: She takes us on a journey."
(Wolfgang Ley)
