ITALIAN-MADE SCARF IN WOOL AND SILK IN GREY
A refined scarf by BOSS, crafted in Italy from wool blended
with a hint of silk. Developed as part of the exclusive BOSS x Meissen capsule
collection, this detailed accessory features an elephant illustration from the
Big Five series. Finished with subtle fringing, this masculine scarf adds a
distinctive note to seasonal looks. Measurements: 180 x 45 cm 70.87 x 17.72
inches
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The Big Five Inspire Boss X
Meissen Capsule Collection
Two internationally recognized
German brands BOSS and Meissen have come together for the first time, with a ground-breaking
collaboration united by the two brands’ shared passions for quality, design and
creativity - inspired by Meissen’s celebrated Big Five figurines,
The Big Five collection,
designed by sculptor Maximilian Hagstotz, features the African lion, leopard,
elephant, rhino and buffalo, each decorated with a monochrome pattern placed to
emphasize the animal’s characteristic traits.
These majestic creatures,
depicted in an angular style inspired by traditional African wooden sculptures,
are the starting point for a unique capsule collection of BOSS Menswear and
Womenswear. The fashion capsule
collection includes both casual and formal pieces for men and women, all in a
monochrome palette of black and white.
In recognition of the
collaboration theme, HUGO BOSS will make a donation to the charity Elephants
for Africa, which works with local and national stakeholders in Botswana to
provide education and community outreach focused on conserving this iconic
species.
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Hugo boss Meissen details:
Boss x Meissen: grail
porcelain is now officially a thing
The latest collaboration from
two of Germany’s most important marques, Hugo Boss and Meissen, is an unlikely
marriage of fashion and chinaware
The obscure and cosseted world
of fine porcelain now has a new champion in Hugo Boss. In what must rank as one
of the more peculiar, but also brilliant, brand collaborations of recent times,
Hugo Boss has produced a 42-piece fashion collection featuring five exclusive
porcelain mugs, in partnership with the revered manufacturer Meissen.
Based 15 miles northwest of
the German city of Dresden, Meissen was founded in 1710 by King Augustus the
Strong, who originally summoned the young alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger to
magic up gold from base metals. After several botched attempts, Böttger came up
with something that proved to be just as precious: white porcelain, which was
subsequently dubbed “white gold”. And thus, the European fine porcelain
industry was born and the near total dominance of the craft was wrested away
from China.
Since then, Meissen
sculptures, dining services and objects d’art have graced the tables and
palaces of royal families throughout the world. Known for its graceful lines,
intricate detailing and a particular luminosity of colour, which makes it seem
to glow with life, Meissen porcelain is collected avidly and can reach serious
money at auction. The “Half-Figure” tea set, which was missing its teapot no
less, was auctioned by Bonhams in 2012 for £541,250. Most recently, the
state-owned company made fashion headlines via a one-off collaboration with
Supreme. The figurine of Cupid wearing one of the brand’s T-shirts has an
average sale price on Stock X of about £6,000.
Hugo Boss’ partnership
represents two great German icons coming together. The collection features porcelain
figurines of five African animals: elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion and rhino –
designed by Meissen’s in-house protégé and young sculptor, Maximilian Hagstotz,
who was encouraged to join the company by his mother at the age of 16.
Hagstotz also created an
incredibly intricate monochromatic design, inspired by traditional African
motifs, with which to adorn the figurines. Hugo Boss then applied this pattern
to a range of specially designed leather accessories, shoes, clothes and five
porcelain mugs, all made entirely in Germany.
“I wanted to do something
different from what we normally do,” says Ingo Wilts, chief brand officer of
Hugo Boss. “For us, collaborations are a chance to have fun. Our two companies
have a lot in common. We are both big houses, very traditional German companies
and we both produce our products in Germany.”
Just as important is the fact
that both companies also believe passionately in doing things innovatively.
“What I like about the Meissen collaboration is the modern graphic that
Maximilian created. Also, the way they applied it to the figurines is very
unusual,” says Wilts. “This is in line with how we work. We produce very modern
suits but in a traditional way. This is where both companies follow the same
direction.”
Now known for minimalism and
efficient engineering, the country also has a rich heritage of baroque and
rococo arts and crafts, which is ornate, whimsical and at times quite bonkers.
Meissen and the city of Dresden, with King Augustus’ fabulous palace, epitomises
this sometimes-overlooked side of the national identity.
“People are surprised, but we
are going big with this collaboration,” says Wilts. “The animals will be in our
store windows globally and in our ad campaigns and look book. We want this idea
of ‘Made in Germany’ to spread around the world.”
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BOSS And Meissen Join Forces
For A
Collaboration Of Old-World
Craft And
Modern Abstraction
Sometimes, the best ideas come
with a glass of champagne—this certainly holds true for the upcoming holiday
season’s most surprising pairing, a collaboration between BOSS, a global
fashion player known for sleek business wear, and Meissen, Europe’s oldest
porcelain manufacturer.
“We had three glasses of
champagne at the Christmas party of German Vogue two years ago, and after the
fourth, Ingo [Wilts of Hugo Boss] said: Let’s do something together,” recounts
Otto Drögsler, who, along with his partner Jörg Ehrlich, was named creative
director of Meissen in 2017.
While collaborations have
become a norm in the fashion industry, this one stands out. “As a German
heritage company, we want to emphasize where we come from, and so it was a
natural impulse to bring two German houses with a lot of common values together:
we both have a strong history, and we both share a deep appreciation for
quality, handicraft and elaborate aesthetics,” says Wilts, chief brand officer
of Hugo Boss.
Yet, at first sight, the two
companies’ aesthetics and crafts couldn’t be further apart. Hugo Boss is an
international corporation with a global business network from the fast-paced
fashion industry. Meissen, on the other hand, is a traditional manufacturer
where every single piece is sourced and handmade within close proximity of its
namesake hometown.
The manufacturer’s history
dates back to the baroque era, when the European courts’ taste for rare
porcelain from China sparked a continental quest to discover the secret to the
“White Gold”. After almost two centuries of failed experimentation, it was the
German alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger who invented European porcelain.
Upon his discovery, the
company Meissen was founded in 1710 by the decree of Augustus II the Strong,
Elector Prince of Saxony and King of Poland, and first housed at the historical
Albrechtsburg castle in the namesake town of Meißen, just twenty kilometres
from Augustus’ seat in Dresden and in close proximity to the kaolin mine that
fed the production.
As the European pioneer of
porcelain, Meissen not only imitated Chinese imports, but actually created the
first fine tableware in Europe, along with intricate miniature figures and
opulent sculptures. Amongst the most famous designs are the tableware sets
‘Swan Service’ and the original, much copied ‘Blue Onion’. In response to the
many copycats, in 1722 Meissen introduced one of the oldest trademarks in brand
history; the crossed swords logo that is still hand-painted onto every piece of
their porcelain to this day.
A journey to the birthplace of
the first European China reveals that little has changed since Böttger’s days:
Still the perfect setting for a historical movie and just a stone’s throw from
its original site, Meissen’s present-day premises offer a rare look into
old-world artisanship when all things precious travel through caring hands.
Two workmen source kaolin, the
base for the fine white porcelain, from the original mine; which is one of the
smallest in Germany, and has been in use since the 18th century. The clay is
processed under the watchful eyes of skilled technicians at the factory, and
just a few halls away, it is cast and fired, glazed and hand-painted by
specialist artisans with historically preserved techniques.
The adjacent museum and
archives filled with ceiling-high stacks of porcelain moulds and historic
sketches chronicle over 300 years of the factory’s history. Over time, these
artefacts are testament to how Europeans imagined plants and animals from
far-away lands at a time when realistic depictions of such things were unavailable.
“The traditional techniques
largely remain the same, everyone has their specialties, and we work very
closely with each other to design and realize new pieces. But over time, the
aesthetics have changed,” says Maximilian Hagstotz, a sculptor, who like the
majority of the artisans working for Meissen, was trained in-house.
“I wanted to do something
honest and entered the factory as an apprentice when I was 16 years old and
went on to the porcelain painting master class where I was educated in subjects
like anatomy, painting and historical studies.” he recounts.
A specialist in painting
animals, Hagstotz designed the black-and-white graphic images of the ‘Big Five’
animals that are at the heart of the Boss and Meissen collaboration. The
holiday capsule collection features men’s and women’s wear and accessories
adorned with elephants, lions, leopards, rhinoceros and buffalo, as well as
hand-painted Meissen porcelain cups and figures of the animals.
“Thinking of the ‘Big Five’, I
tried to find a dialogue between traditional African handicraft and porcelain
and merge it into something new. I looked at ancient sculptures, woodcarving
and traditional wax print fabrics from the animals’ countries of origin and
departed from there,” explains Hagstotz.
ignant-hugo-boss-meissen-factory-visit-franz-gruenewald-18
“Meissen has always looked
beyond, and while our roots lay in the baroque and figurative, the design for
the collaboration with Hugo Boss is more abstract” explains Drögsler, the
creative director. A fashion designer and the founder of niche brand Odeeh with
his partner Ehrlich, the duo has brought a wind of change into the manufacturer
with a diverse approach to the creative process, while maintaining the
traditional handicraft.
“Coming from very different
angles with our heritage lying in the classic suit, we quite like the surprise
effect. It’s important to broaden our perspectives and open fashion up to other
things with a good partner. This work with Meissen was the easiest I’ve experienced;
everything just went into the right direction from the beginning” explained
Hugo Boss’ Ingo Wilts.
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Fashion brand BOSS
backs elephant charity
November marks the start of a
partnership between Hugo Boss fashion brand BOSS and an African elephant
conservation charity – Elephants for Africa – for the BOSS Holiday campaign.
The brand has chosen to
support the charity to raise awareness of the challenges that African wildlife
face and showcase the beauty of the ‘African Big Five’; elephant, rhino,
buffalo, lion and leopard, through a unique new clothing collection.
Back in 2007, Dr Kate Evans,
Honorary Research Fellow at University of Exeter and member of the Elephant
Specialist Advisory Group, set up this small charity that’s achieving big
things.
Kate is an award-winning
behavioural ecologist and conservation biologist who conducted her PhD ‘The
behavioural ecology and movements of adolescent male African elephants in the
Okavango Delta, Botswana’ through the University of Bristol.
Her career has been guided by
a heartfelt promise she made at just seven years old.
She told an elephant that was
in human care after losing its herd due to humans that she would do something
to readdress the balance.
Kate was deeply moved that
this elephant would not have the opportunity to live in the wild with its
family.
Thirty-seven years later, she
remains committed to her promise.
As an NGO that is committed to
conserving the endangered African savannah elephants through research,
education and raising awareness, Elephants for Africa is a perfect fit for this
campaign.
Based at their research camp
near The Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana, the charity’s small team of
local and international experts are extremely pleased to have the support of
BOSS, an organisation that understands and recognises its responsibility
towards society, humankind and wildlife, and is committed to supporting
worldwide access to education.
It is this commitment that has
lead BOSS to make a donation, as part of this partnership, to one area of
Elephants for Africa’s conservation work; it’s school’s education programme.
These funds will enable
Elephants for Africa to continue, and expand, its education projects to share
knowledge with local schools, create the environmental stewards of the future,
and give the students opportunities to see their wildlife in their national
parks as well as meet local role models working in the wildlife/tourism sector;
to help them live alongside elephants safely and realise the benefits of
wildlife to their ecosystems and economy thus, ultimately becoming the
guardians of their elephants and other wildlife.
Kate said: “It’s incredibly
exciting to see a leading global fashion brand like BOSS turning its attention
to support African elephant conservation.
“Our involvement in the
campaign will help to bring conservation needs into focus for an international
audience.
“As a small charity, we are
continuously working hard to raise funds to keep our projects going, so we are
exceptionally grateful for this donation from BOSS.
“We will be able to run our
existing education programme partnering with three primary schools further, and
expand it by taking our tried and tested methodologies to Motopi Secondary
School, into which the primary schools we currently work with feed into.
“This means we can help
significantly more children to remain safe when sharing land with wild animals,
provide career advice from local role models about working in the environmental
sector and give them the skills required to become the environmental stewards
and problem solvers of their communities.
“Our sincere thanks goes to
BOSS for providing us with funds that will make a real difference to people's
live.”