RUNDHOLZ

Studio Rundholz has grown with a sense of radical cuts and the courage to be different.

Carsten and Lenka Rundholz are two quiet but successful designers. When other twenty-somethings were working in cafés, the two were already planning their first collection. Not only did they want to wear fancy things themselves, but they also wanted to let others share in their creative ideas and earn money at the same time. For Lenka Rundholz, whose background was in window dressing, it was about “just being beautifully dressed.” For Carsten, it was trial by fire, because as a trained graphic designer, he learned the craft of fashion through design: he wanted to create a wardrobe that his wife liked to wear.

Then, in 1993, their first collection came out. With Rundholz’s attitude of not wanting to become part of colorful gazettes and the fashion circus, the two quickly found followers in the creative scene. Gallery owners, filmmakers, journalists – they liked and still like the material quotes, which sometimes feed on impulses from the art scene, sometimes grow from contemplating architecture or during travels.

All designs are created in the Lower Rhine region. Less than an hour from the metropolises of Düsseldorf and Cologne, the land is crisscrossed by river courses and old trees, marked by small fortified towns and mighty farmsteads. Lenka and Carsten Rundholz have converted an old square farm dating back to 1811 into their company headquarters with a keen sense of old and new. Their creative island behind man-high hedges and old willows. Two collections with around 600 pieces a year are created here with great diligence. Meanwhile, matching bags, belts and shoes are made to go with dresses, coats and blouses.

With their flair for fabrics and cuts that show something new and unexpected, the couple not only develops their collections, but also the venues for presenting them. Whether at the Düsseldorf headquarters, the stores in Antwerp and Munich, or the architecturally unconventional flagship store in Berlin, the places are designed to be as extraordinary as the fashion itself. Because here, too, the creative designer couple remains true to its philosophy: “We can only succeed if we are not comparable.” This is how the Rundholz universe is created: creative and successful – but without being loud.

RUNDHOLZ is available at these independent stores.