Claudia Hill Opens Store in Berlin

At the opening of her flagship store in Berlin at the end of June 2004, German fashion designer Claudia Hill will present her new work in a frozen state, which will be revealed while slowing thawing over the course of the event. The collection will incorporate women's and men's clothes that are Indigo dyed using the traditional Japanese Ai technique.

Located on Auguststraße in Berlin-Mitte, surrounded by galleries such as Kunstwerke and Eigen+Art, Claudia Hill has created a home for her work in an ecosystem that blends art and rarity. Designed by Ruth Berktold, the minimally furnished store is conceived not only to function as retail platform, but is also intended as a link between artists and their audience. Claudia Hill's work bridges across artistic disciplines and has always been inspired by other artists. Reflecting on this legacy, she has invited previous collaborators, such as Skuli Sverrisson (musician), Ariko Inaoka (photographer), Daisuke Nakayama (visual artist) and William Forsythe (Choreographer), to contribute a personal dedication to the store.

The concept of frozen clothes disentangling over the course of the night is an substantiation of the collection's underpinning theme of transformation and the belief in unhurried development. The pieces have the captivating clarity that is always a trait of Claudia Hill-long-lasting, standing against the common trend-oriented and mass-produced fashion of our days.

In the eyes of Claudia Hill, "Luxury is true exclusiveness, paired with sustainability and stability of value". An expression of this conviction is her use of Indigo for a considerable part of the collection.

Since 1998 Claudia Hill has been present in the North America and in Asia with two product lines. The opening of the Berlin store marks the first time that her signature collection will be presented in Europe. German born Claudia Hill started her career as a dancer and went to New York to continue her studies. It was while in New York that she took courses in tailoring techniques and costume history at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the Parsons School of Design. She soon designed costumes for stage and independent film, among others working for Arthur Miller and the Broadway musical Rent. In 1998 she founded her fashion company, Shirt And Shoes Required, selling to exclusive venues, like Barneys New York, Louis Boston and Fred Segal in Los Angeles.

In 2003 she designed the costumes for William Forsythe's piece Decreation at the Ballet Frankfurt. In 2004 she worked with The Wooster Group, New York, on their current production Poor Theater.

Claudia Hill Store Berlin
Auguststraße 26a
10117 Berlin

Opens to the Public July 1, 2004

For further information and images, please contact:

Anka Großer
Goldmann PR & Kulturmanagement
Zimmerstraße 11
10969 Berlin

anka.grosser@goldmannpr.de
t: +49 30 2593570
f: +49 30 25935729