MELT DOWN – Collection theme:
The idea of the alpine winter sports collection „MELT DOWN“ is based on the theme of climate change. Transferred to six outfits, the disastrous development of global glacier melting because of global warming is visualized. Each outfit corresponds to the changing phenomena in nature around the glacier areas within the last 200 years. The changes in the glaciers are transferred to the textile level through the color, print, line and cut design of the outfits. The outfits reflect the individual phases of nature and glacier development. The depiction of a pronounced glacier is suggested, for example, by a long grey reflective coat and its width. Tapered dividing seams and an angular, minimalist design language are reminiscent of stylized depictions of mountain worlds and selectively closed side seams of glacier crevasses. The organic print design symbolizes frozen and enclosed glacier water. Dark blue colors stand for the constancy of the climate that prevailed at the beginning of the 20th century. Light blue colors, in turn, associate the increasing meltwater of the glaciers and the changes in temperature; white, on the other hand, the masses of snow that are increasingly displaced by light blue color areas. Grey symbolizes the rocks and cliffs on which the glacier is bedded. It is broken up by orange, which symbolizes the increasing warming. Due to the warming of the soils under the glaciers, catastrophes such as landslides or glacier breakoffs are inevitable. Red-orange areas reflect the extent of warmer years and increase proportionally accordingly. The contrast of blue and orange intensifies their color effect, figuratively making the urgency of the current problem more and more visible. Transparent materials form an abstraction of water flowing downhill, dragging the last memories of a once existing glacier down the mountain with it. With a possible future stabilization of the global climate, the glaciers would recover and expand again. To visualize such a scenario, only the combination of differently heavy materials and colors – cold as well as warm – allows. A long scarf made of reflective material symbolizes the hope that the glaciers will expand again. The materials used in the collection become lighter and more transparent from outfit to outfit in line with the climatic changes. The collection also takes the aspect of sustainability into account. Some of the materials used are remnants and samples from a Bavarian outdoor clothing manufacturer. A sustainable printing process was also used for the prints.