Okay, guys. If somebody stares at you at McDonalds, approaches and asks you to upload your sketches on a website don’t be afraid. It’s just Andi. He’s that way. And this is the anecdote how Lexie and Garmz collided.
Big bang thing, you know?!

When did you started to make fashion sketches?

I actually never thought about entering fashion world at all, because I couldn’t find a suitable place for me there. From my point of view, fashion business used to be about art and true fashion some decades ago, but nowadays it’s simply about gaining piles of money and exploiting young, talented designers. It’s so full of shallowness and, argh, it simply drives me mad! >.< And there are so, so, sooo many other reasons and facts… why I kept turning my back on the fashion designing.
But then, one day, I was found by Andreas, while I was drawing out of  boredom in McDonalds (yeah, I know it’s pretty weird, but I draw everywhere XD). He presented me the phenomenon called Garmz, and back then, I actually didn’t intend to participate, but I can freely admit that I am truly happy that I gave it a try in the end. =^.^=

Makino. by Lexie

What’s your inspiration for your designs or for your general style of designing?

Hmm.. That question is quite complicate to answer, because I find inspiration in everything that is surrounding me. No matter if that is a book I recentlly read, a Rachmaninoff piece I heard, or simply the smell of the rainy storm. But my main inspiration belongs to Japan. I mostly get influenced by its literature, great movie masterpieces and the history eras (especially Edo), but also I cannot deny that I’m amazed by its modern times and all those crazy fashion trends. ^.^ I am aware that I know really little about this country, and that is why I keep discovering it, and I’m sure I’ll never stop. And that is also why I reflected that passion and love in my designs. Some of them remind us of the traditional japanese clothings, and there are also some modern ones. I think there’s something for (almost) anyone. n.n

Mio. by Lexie

Having a look at your designs you always have a very graphic image of the girl who’s wearing them. Tell us more about her!

Originally, I am a traditional graphic artist who is tending for the greatest realism. Since I was little, I drew everything and anything around me, always trying my hardest to reflect it on the paper like I saw it standing in front of me. Even when I draw a simple glass of water, I try to mirror its calm and peaceful aura. Every little air buble in it, sun reflections… simply every little detail. And it’s the same way with my designs. When I imagine a dress, there is also automatically a girl wearing it. Some of them are very soft and hopeless romantic, but there are also some very playfull and funy ones, or real impresses who are self-confident and who can conquer everything and anyone. In reality, every one of them is a part of me.
I also drew them realistically because it’s easier for customers to identify themselves with the products. ^^

Haruna by Lexie

You set a new record in collecting votes in a short amount of time.

I really have no clue how I got so many votes. I just posted it on my facebook wall, and that’s it. I think I also posted it on twitter but as I don’t have that many followers there, I think that wasn’t any help. But I have some good friends who told their friends about the whole story and so on. And believe me, I’m surprised myself!

Who would make top 3 of your current or all-time favourite designers?

Mori Hanae, Burberry, Louis Vuitton.

See more of Lexie’s designs here.

Paul Brown’s first design ‘everyday ninja’ dropped a voting bomb in our system. Until today the sweater with the big draped collar reached 131 votes and queued up for prototyping. Until today a girly trouser called ‘foot-loose‘ and the shirt ‘ParcelMe‘ followed.
Here’s our Date with London’s last samurai ninja.

Tell us about you!

Well, I´d like to see myself as urban wayfarer, as I really like to travel cities. Living here in London as a student in such a vibrant city makes me ambitious and inspired – and that´s the urge to create something special.

‘everyday ninja’ by Paul Brown

It´s the ambition to change it (hopefully for the better) or to make it more mine. Fashion is such a serious, ever-moving business and highly competitive. I think I just want the people to be more daring or bolder.

It´s such a vibrant city and a melting pot for the creative industry. And as a capital for design, fashion and art it is offering a never-ending variety of cultural influences and a magnitude of shows, exhibitions and resources. And all this comes together in an elcetic mix of interaction and process.

ParcelMe and foot-loose by Paul Brown

Life challenges us everyday with obstacles and barriers – physical and psychological ones. Fashion shouldn´t just distinguish us from others , it should also make us feel better about ourselves and make us feel protected. It serves different purposes like a multifunctional tool. It is a way to express yourself and show your character and personality on the inside out. In such a fast paced time, where people are loosing track of themselves, we should be able to wear the way we feel and be honest about ourselves. Inspiration lurks everywhere, and all you have to do is implement your ideas!

Well that would be Stefan Sagmeister as the one who paved the way for modern graphics and different mediums. Ettore Sottsass  as an icon and role model of design, his very own approaches and his philosophies. And Vivienne Westwood and all her early daring works.

We know our blog entries about what’s currently happening at Garmz have slowed down a bit. That doesn’t mean we did! Behind the scenes we’re as busy as ever.

Some of you sent us emails and asked what’s going to happen next. So here we go!

Prototyping of the first designs

We are currently in the middle of making the first prototypes of the most successfull designs of the first round. To get a common misunderstanding out of the way… there is no specific number of votes that have to be reached for a design to automatically move on to prototyping. The success of a design is depending on a mix of several factors. So it’s more like the following:

NUMBER OF VOTES (strongest factor) + FACEBOOK LIKES + TWEETS + FEEBACKS + TIME  =  HOTTEST DESIGNS which move on to prototyping.

After designs move on to prototyping, we talk them through with our tailors on feasibility and details. We then contact the designers to clear out all the questions we might still have. Once all the details are worked out, we begin sewing the prototype, which then gets sent to the designer. These prototypes get photographed and move on to the shop (coming Sept/Oct 2010).

So…we will show this online soon as well, but as we noticed your unbearable curiosity about who’s made it to prototyping so far, here’s a little sneek peek of the successfull designs, which we are making prototypes of currently. Congratulations to all the designers! Stay tuned for more!

‘Strip it’ / Bulushi – ‘Allentown #3‘ / Julia Hofer – ‘Nameyourlove.’ / Radiolisa

‘Lay of Layers’ / Tessa - ‘everywhere ninja’ / Paul Brown – ‘Carbon Monoxide’ / Vaatekaappi

‘Doubled Shorts’ / La Reine – ‘Ovapulova’ / ozenfant – ‘elle shorts’ / w.ink

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PHOTO-STORY:

For a behind the scenes photo-story of how we develope prototypes, check out this article.

Julia’s one of our very few designers we know personally. Right at the beginning of Garmz (time flies, guys!) we sat down and had a nice chat in our not-yet-but-soon-fixed-kitchen in the office. Few weeks later Julia is one of our top-voted designers and uploaded an amazing range of 13 sketches. So far we can tell you: One of the pictured below is in the queue for prototyping! Yeah, be excited! Enough reasons to ask Julia out on a second date ….

Allentown #1

Tell us about you! Why did you chose fashion design?

Actually fashion found me. When I was 13 years old I had to decide what kind of school I was going to attend, so for no particular reason I did an entry exam for a tourism school. Thankfully I failed. Out of the sudden the head of the fashion school departement called and offered me to join the fashion class instead. That´s where it all began. After my exams at fashion school I studied communication science, musicology and dramatics at the university of Vienna. At the same time I started working in the advertising industry as a producer of photoshootings, filmshootings and director of numerous music video clips. I got my university degree and started my own business in 2008. It took some time, but now I found my way back into fashion and I really love it!

Mayfair #3 (left) and Mayfair #5 (right)

Your designs are very elegant, smooth, but in the same time a bit edgy, Who do you have in mind wearing your clothes?

I really love the word „edgy“. I think it describes a lot what`s important for me and my designs. I would love to see my designs on modern women who have a certain sense of quality and innovation in fashion and life in general. They can use it as a tool to experiment and show different sides of their personality in a subtle and elegant way.

Allentown #3

What inspires you?

Music and lyrics at most. Music has always been a major part in my life and my work. The „Allentown“ series for example is inspired by a Billy Joel song. I think writing is the greatest gift anyone can give us – it creates a new world and I love to make my own interpretation of these worlds in my designs. The world is full of inspirational sources: people, movies, architecture, fashion, advertising, nature, icons, the society, politics and lots more. But for me it`s definitely music and lyrics.

Allentown #7 (left) and Allentown #6 (right)

What`s your ambition in the fashion industry?

The most important issues for me are a perfect fit, top quality fabrics and a timeless appearance to make my collections suitable for more than just one season. My design shall become „good friends“ who are always on your side and share great moments with you.

Who would make top 3 of your current or all-time favourite designers?

I love designers who don`t just sell fashion but an awareness of life. They reflect modern society and put their own imagination on top. That`s why I start with Burberry. I have total respect for that label for living their british way of live in every design and especially in their perfect quality, cuts and fashioning. Christopher Bailey was perfect to bring Burberry into the future by keeping up their outstanding tradition in quality and style.

Next up is Alexander McQueen. He was one of the most creative heads the fashion industry ever had. He was perfect in the way he presented himself and his fashion in the most unusual and efficient ways.

Number 3 is Hedi Slimane. He showed the fashion world „the perfect cut“ by creating the slim line for Dior Homme. I am also into his work as a photographer. The pictures are fab – perfect high end dirty trash.

When it comes to Austrian fashion designers: Petar Petrov and Wendy & Jim definitely made their way in the international field of fashion.

Take a look at Julia Hofer’s label and click here.

Take out your organizers, palms, calenders or simply write it on your bedroom wall:

At 25th september 2010 the first Viennese Fashion Camp is held at MuMoK (MuseumsQuartier) – gathering fashion bloggers, nerds, designers, creatives, photographers,… to discuss the future of fashion, internet, communication, market and trend spreading.

For more information and registration take a look at Fashion Camp’s Wiki. Updates and news: join on Twitter and Facebook.

See you there & spread the word!

We were absolutely thrilled seeing the first dress – Carbon Monoxide – by ‘vaatekaappi’ in our admin panel. But it shouldn’t be the only one: A bag, a jacket and another two dresses completed the image and since Garmz is online ‘vaatekaappi’ rocked our voting system. What shall we say? Nothing. Let the creator speak…

Let’s get the bold question out of the way: Why fashion?

I really don’t know. Fashion is a brutal, shallow business. But I love materials, shapes, art and fashion is the easiest way to combine these loves.

Your designs are one of the most voted on Garmz. People love them. Tell us a bit about your aesthetics, your muse…

I main inspirations are art, architecture, industrial design and music. Each one of these inspires me in a special way. Let’s take “Folding Chair”: This dress was inspired by the architecture of Dubai, which is actually quite impressive. “Baobabs” was inspired by a chair, which I’ve seen at the MoMA in New York. I usually don’t have any particular person in mind, when I design. Most of my designs have several inspirations.

‘Prisoners’ – leather/wool jacket for men and women

Is there some history to your label name ‘vaatekaappi’? Where does it come from?

It’s just the finnish term for “closet”.

We’ve read that you study fashion design. Which school have you chosen to go to? Are you graduating soon?

I studied in Helsinki, but I’m now taking a creative off-semester in Hamburg, Germany.

Who would make top 3 of your current or all-time favourite designers?

That’s definitely hard. But I think I’d chose Olivier Theykens, Riccardo Tisci and Yohji Yamamoto.

‘Baobabs’ – white oyster summer dress

‘down the road & up the hill’ – bag for various occassions

‘Carbon Monoxide’ – perfect dress for various occasions

‘Folding chair’ – Perfect dress for even more occasions

Meeting fashion students, meeting other Start ups at Seedcamp, meeting Mr Frogman (as seen above), meeting other youth hostel inmates guests…. Folks, we’re happy they are back.

Just to make things clear: Andi took the picture.

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vaatekaappi – Europe
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Julia Hofer – Austria
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Paul Brown – London
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Millulela – Berlin
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Ahmed Bulushi – Kingdom of Bahrain
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You’ve been wondering what we’ve been doing the last few weeks?
Well…….basically, this:

We were quite busy preparing Garmz.com for the next launch that happened today! Since we’ve pushed the button about one month ago, amazing designs rolled in and we want to thank every designer for their support and trust.

From now on you can see the designers portfolios and their designs. And – most importantly – vote, share and give feedback on each design.

Our next steps: finding the most potential designs, prototype them with the designers, produce and fill the webshop with amazing stuff! And finally conquer the world…. ehm, yes.

But – and there has to be a big BUT - nothing of this would have happened without the help of some people that believed in this company and its idea as much as we do. In no specific order, we would like to give our biggest thank you’s out to people who supported us by sharing their thoughts, knowledge and expertise, retweeted and commented on Twitter and Facebook, helped us to find out what to persue and what to leave behind…

First and foremost…

YANE FRENSKI,
SEWSIE KNOLL!

Alexa Bondi, Alexander Zacke, Ali Can, Amy Hoy, Andrea Wratschko, Anna Heuberger, Annemarie Klinger, Anton Schmidbauer, Barbara Wimmer, Bernhard Thalhammer, Blundstone O., Brigitte Winkler, Carmen Rüter, Chris Kahler, Christian Leeb, Christian Zillner, Christopher Clay, Daniel Keiper-Knorr, Ece Üreten, Elena Wolff, Elvyra Geyer, ESMOD Berlin, Esther Heiss, FotoChaotin, Fredrik Debong & all the people at StartEurope, Geoffrey Prentice, Hannes Roth, Hans Peter Manzenreiter, Harald Katzenschläger & Manuel Gruber of Dream Academia, Helge Fahrnberger, Isabella, Jakob Steinschaden, Joao Belo, Johan Stael von Holstein, Julia Badow, Julia Basagic, Julia Hofer, Julia Reil, Julia Rosetti, Jörg Maratzek & Lella, Jürgen Hoebarth, Karola Riegler, Kirill Sermyagin, Leni Garibov, Lisa Brandl, Luca Hammer, Ludwig zu Salm, Lukas Zinnagl, Lukas Fittl, Manfred Reichl, Manfred Troja, Marcel Wichmann (aka UARRR), Maria Oberfrank, Markus Fuhrmann, Markus Hübner, Markus Rumler, Martin Drechsler, Martin Zapart, Meri, Michael Kamleitner, Michael Rauhofer & all the nice people at Inits, Michael Sokolar, Michael Steiner, Michaela Ambos, Michaela Amort, Michaela Holy, Monika Kanokova, Moriz, Nora Fuchsova, Panos Destanis, Papa Leeb, Philipp Aiginger & everbody at FFG, Philipp Kinsky, Plamen Paskov, Radiolisa, Reshma Sohoni, Robert Basic, Robert Sarafov, Robert Schermann, Sebastian Gruber, Selma Prodanovic & everbody at IncrediblEurope, Stefan Glänzer, Stefan Mey, Stefan Urschler, Teresa Hammerl, Tessa Hall, Thomas Weber, Martin Mühl & our friends at TheGap, To our kosovarian Friends , Tom R. Koll, Viki Krammer, Vladimir Velikov, Walter Lunzer, Wolfgang Bergthaler, Wolfram Krendlesberger, Yulian Patzelt,

…and all the bloggers for their great articles

…and all our Mamas

…and the people we might have forgotten in our “let’s go online”-craze!

Despite our very own column in the The Gap (written by our co-founder Andreas Klinger) we had a lot of press feedback since our start in June.

We were featured and supported in magazines, blogs and daily news papers – just a short review:

“Casting für gutes Design. Auf der Seite www.garmz.com kann jeder seine eigenen Modeentwürfe hochladen. User stimmen darüber ab – und wer viele Stimmen bekommt, dessen Entwurf wird produziert und im Webshop verkauft.”

["Casting for good design. Everyone can upload fashion sketches on www.garmz.com. The community votes which designs are produced and sold in the webshop."]

Zeit Magazin, No. 28, Juli 2010

“Kleider machen Leute, aber Leute machen auch Kleider: Mit dieser Idee will eine Wiener Internet-Firma die Modewelt umkrempeln.”

["Clothes make the men, but it can also be the other way round: With this idea a Viennese online-company tries to turn the fashion industry inside out."]

Kurier – Digital, Print and Online, 16. Juni 2010

…and online:

“Das Wiener Start-up Garmz gibt Jungdesignern die Möglichkeit, ihre Entwürfe und Ideen auf einer Web-Plattform zu präsentieren.”

["Garmz is a Viennese start-up that gives young designers the opportunity to present their ideas and sketches on a platform."]

FutureZone ORF

“Garmz füllt eine Lücke und oder sagen wir, ist der Missing Link in der Modeindustrie.”

["Garmz fills the gap or let's say is fashion industry's missing link."]

Stylish Kids in Riot

…and further: Continue reading…