My biggest apprehension when I walk into a vintage shop is that I’ll come out looking like a dated caricature. It was such a pleasant surprise for me to discoverSchuhtütehemd, a purveyor of unique and timeless second hand treasures with a blog that peddles beautiful fashion oriented images. In short, it is a one stop spot for style inspiration and well curated goods that won’t leave you looking like a disco diva, beatnik, or an 80s pop darling. From vintage Issey Miyake to traditional korean slippers, the girls of Schuhtütehemd are constantly trawling through their own troves of textile treasure to bring you charismatic clothing that maintain their character and function with time. In the following interview, the lovely STH girls talk fashion, art, labels, and plans for a potential in house fashion line!
Can you give me a background on who the STH girls are? First of all we’re friends; STH is not only a clothing store, it is above all a collective of 3 girls engaged in various fields of arts. We all work on the styling and search for clothes for Schuhtütehemd. Besides this, every one of us has her own artistic background. We treat our fashion style as a point of reference for our other interests such as graphic design, photography, video and fine arts. It seems to us that fashion is probably an art form closest to human. Clothes contain the shape of our bodies and we all need it. Textile is for us a medium, functional and aesthetic in the same time. Its flexibility, transparency, layering and other great properties influence our thinking on art and also our everyday actions.
Schuhtütehemd started out as a blog back in 2010. How did it develop into an online shop? Yes, it all began with a blog, where Michalina was posting photos of weird clothes, but somehow these pieces were also very timeless! The photos are very simple, you can say accidental, giving the feeling of the person who made them, different from the looks in fashion magazines. In 2011, we met here in Berlin and we all loved the blog that Michalina had created. Since we were already selling our clothes at flea markets in Berlin and had the same interests in clothes, we spontaneously decided to open an online and pop-up shop together.
Of the designer goods that STH carries, most are Japanese labels like Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garcons, and Issey Miyake. Japanese designers have been and continue to be more comfortable pushing the threshold of design in different directions, sometimes producing the most astonishing and unusually beautiful garments. What are some other Japanese labels (and labels in general) that you love and hope to one day offer on STH online shop? We love big Japanese designers, but in our research of clothes we are not focused on one direction. Most of our clothes are no name pieces made usually in Europe and the United states, and some garments are made in the Middle East as well. We are inspired by the fashion of many cultures. When we search for our clothes we look for the good quality and universal values-patterns that are linking tradition with something totally new and crazy. In the near future we are planning to promote more young and talented designers that still aren’t on the German market. We love to find still relatively unknown designers and artists on the internet and post their pieces on our blog. We already are working with NUKEME a japanese designer and HALO Labels blog. Our future goal is to open a shop in Berlin that carries labels like JF & SON, MARQUES ‘ ALMEIDA, Yoruko Banzai, Eckhaus Latta, Anna-sophie berger, Julian Zigerli, PPEEGG, and of course create our own clothing line soon!
As vintage clothing connoisseurs what are some of your favorite vintage shops around Berlin? The term vintage is problematic for us. On the one hand, we are connected with it because we are mostly selling second hand clothes. But on the other hand, we totally dissociate ourselves from this term, of styles that existed from between the 60’s and 80’s—things such as golden buttons, shoulder pads and wild patterns. We are looking for something more conceptual & timeless. When it comes to fashion stores in Berlin we like BLESS, KONK, and ANNTIAN very much.
Your selection of vintage clothes is very well curated with an experimental edge. I’m very curious to know what are some of your most cherished treasures from your wardrobe. All of our clothes are treasures; They are selected very carefully. The second hand clothes have a special place in our hearts, they are disobliging and sometimes very surprising. We pick up clothes that have already crossed the barrier of time and have become timeless. Some textiles are simply better when they have already been worn. They gain in nobility. They don’t have to be perfect, but they have to have some signs of individuality. Searching and “rescuing” clothes from being forgotten and providing care for the garment (sometimes repairing and resewing) gives us a great pleasure. We think there are much too many clothes on the globe; We don’t need so many of them, that’s why many fabrics no longer have good quality. In some way, we would like to think that we dignify the clothing that have lost their value.
