sisterMAG Issue 2

HALLWAY Our contributors

6

Editorial

8

Imprint

10

KITCHEN

Toni & Thea's Favourites

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A fresh start Breakfast ideas from Virginia Horstmann

FITNESS ROOM Startup Spotlight: Heimplanet

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Do we still need fitness studios?

188

194

WARDROBE Style-Interview

198 200

Fashion Editorial with aprons and dresses

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Pastel is the new Neon

223

Outfits from Fashion Blogger Amy Parker Anderson

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Interview with New York Blogger Ari Seth Cohen The It-Girls of Renaissance

City Trip with Smilla Dankert

94

Japanese-Western Suppers from Charlotte Franklin Startup Spotlight: Barcoo

104

The kitchen scale dilemma

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from Meliha YangĂśz

109 Rachel Ball tells us her favourites

Make Sense of the World

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Interview with Fair Observer Startup Spotlight: Skoobe

168

Blogwatch Library

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Time Bar of New Beginnings

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Three publishers tell us about their first steps

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Julia Keith about the beauty ideal of Renaissance Vintage in Istanbul

from Fabienne Dauplay

LIBRARY

Startup Spotlight: UPcload

Advanced Style

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Bake & Shop

with Merin Guthrie En Vogue Dans La Cuisine

Pastry Chefs Spring Suppers

Diana Dua about Online Fitness offerings An Observation in Fitness

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eShelf

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Young art project from London ClichĂŠ free

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Interview with binooki publishing house

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hall way Fitness room

kitchen

lib

rar

y

wardrobe

wine

s t u d io

Living room & Office

Garden

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STUDIO The knitting column from Victoria Kau

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Knitting and Art

WINE Fresh start in Deidesheim Wine Maker's Column from Monika Abraham

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Startup Spotlight: mystolt.de

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The DIY expert preamble

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Tutorials: The apron

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Youth of today Startup Spotlight: Wine in Black

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LIVING ROOM & OFFICE 128

Fresh start at home

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Igor Josif shows products for new homes

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Interview with the two founders of Our Paper Shop The SoLoMo Shopper

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The bomber jacket

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The plastic flowers

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GARDEN

Digital Native? The column

Bre & Emma

The paper rose

New start with gardening

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Barbara von Stackelberg tells about happy gardening Startup Spotlight: ALLOTINABOX

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The herb garden

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Herbs under the spotlight The Sydney Story

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Nadine Brendel about the new era in eCommerce Pic & Sound

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Band-Review: Kaizers Orchestra

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Treasure hunt with Leslie Feist

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Startup Spotlight: stereomood

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The constant return of the “First Time”

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An urban garden story The DIY Garden

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Blogwatch Garden

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Tropical That‘s Amore

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Wedding at the beaches of Mui Né / Vietnam

Franziska Naether about new beginnings in Ancient Egypt

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Our Contributors Text & photo

Text

photo

Rachel Ball

Monika Abraham

Eric Ryan Anderson

Smilla Dankert

Corinna Blaich

Christian Burmester

Fabienne Dauplay

Nadine Brendel

Jessica Preuhs

Charlotte Franklin

Diana Dua

Janan Shakur Kilcher

Virginia Horstmann

Victoria Kau

Jasmin Wong

Barbara von Stackelberg

Julia Keith Franziska Naether

illustration

Styling

Matthew Petrucci

Claudia Herrmann

Amy Parker Anderson

Marlene Rathgeber

Theresa Neubauer

Clara Kirchner

Julian Rothkamp

Sarah Kopietz

Meliha Yangรถz

Eva-Maria Neubauer

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Hallway

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Symbols Cover Katharina Rose Anna Schmalfuß Denise Fickert E. & A. & T. Neubauer

translation Sarah Müller

This symbol shows an internal link to another page of sisterMAG. This symbol hints to an external link.

On the first page of each article you find this button at the bottom right corner. It lets you jump to the next article.

On the first page of each room (section pages) you can directly jump to the next section.

Antonia Neubauer

proofreading Jessica Gambacurta Rachna Sahni Jacqueline Schmidt Janan Shakur Kilcher

This symbol points to a download (e.g. recipes as PDF etc.)

This symbol tells you that you have reached an article in the category “Startup Spotlight”, where young companies answer our questions.

Brett Torres Haynes 02 /1 2 7

Dear Digital Ladies The past weeks after the launch of the first issue were like a dream for us.

We never expected so much response! So far 70.000 readers, more than 1.4 Mill. Page Views, over 50 blog posts about sisterMAG, mails from all over the world and a bunch of exciting and extraordinary ideas for cooperation. sisterMAG has definitely got to you - in both ways: you have read us and you liked us. We want to thank you for this wholeheartedly!

An important topic for everybody who dares to appear in public with his/her ideas is criticism. Naturally we are afraid that we are not liked, that things are completely wrong and that you, the consumer, gets angry and works yourself up on it. When the critical feedback finally arrives, most of the time it makes us think about so far unconsidered details, let’s us take up positions and develop better solutions.

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The length of the magazine, 270 pages in the German issue and 260 pages in the English issue, provoked some dis-

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cussions. For some of you definitely too much to read on screen, others feared that it would already exhaust our repertoire with this first issue.

Our decision about the length was a very conscious one. The ambivalence of the medium, digital in technique and layout – classic in content and frequency of publication demands profoundness with regards to content. We want to take away the fast pace from the digital medium. You as reader are requested to come back time and again and to read the magazine like a classic print magazine over the duration of two months. The second issue already shows that there is a lot of content again with 290 pages.

Probably the most interesting criticism targeted our image of women and our approach to journalism. Before we were asked this question in an interview, we had never thought about the first part of the question consciously because we were clear in our mind that we want to show a world of gender

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equality and equal opportunities. However, equality means for us that women can choose how to shape their lives. If they want to build a successful career in the corporate world, they should have the same opportunities as men to make it to the top. Just the same with alternative ways like family manager, entrepreneur, freelancer, social worker etc. The most important thing is always to have the choice in life. Of course we are aware that our wide range of topics from career to kitchen creates an utopia which is difficult to cover in real life. Again choice is the magic word.

This issue therefore begins with a long walk through our garden full of flowers (wedding feature with Maria & Pietro .), herbs (Herb Garden from Clara & Christian .), vegetables, fruits and berries (a few ideas for your next berry breakfast from Jeanny .). One wing of our blossom appartment houses a new room: the library. We are glad to have met new and exciting

Everyday we read a lot about bad news and negative examples. We feel obliged to the positive journalism known from radio programs like Deutschlandfunk in Germany or BBC Radio 4 in the UK which show opportunities and bolster up. We are grown up in an environment where first and foremost the infinite opportunities are seen. This positive attitude will also characterise sisterMAG.

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Photo: Angela Kohler

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Imprint sisterMAG

companies like Fair Observer . or Binooki ., which we introduce to you in this section. Maybe we can even inspire you to start a new project: you can find the tutorial for the apron from our “En Vogue Dans La Cuisine” shooting in the workshop area. Last but not least, Smilla takes us on a long tour through the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul . and shows us hidden vintage stores and treasuries.

We do wish a splendid start into spring and a lot of pleasurable hours with our second issue.

Thea & Toni

Address

Korsörer Straße 7 10437 Berlin Germany

eMail

mail@sister-mag.com

Editor & Art Direction Theresa Neubauer Strategy & Advertising Antonia Neubauer Conception & Illustration of appartment Claudia Herrmann Cover Model

Anna Schmalfuß

Logo Design

Jim Leszczynski,

Final editing

Anna Schmalfuß, Antonia & Theresa Neubauer

Contributed to this issue Monika Abraham;

Eric Ryan Anderson; Amy Parker Anderson; Rachel Ball; Christoph Blaas; Corinna Blaich; Nadine Brendel; Christian Burmester; Inci Byrhaniye; Smilla Dankert; Fabienne Dauplay; Aidan Dockery; Diana Dua; Robert Eberhardt; Denise Fickert; Charlotte Franklin; Jessica Gambacurta; Claudia Herrmann; Virginia Horstmann; Igor Josif; Victoria Kau; Julia Keith; Clara Kirchner; Sarah Kopietz; Sarah Müller; Franziska Näther; Eva-Maria Neubauer; Matthew Petrucci; Jessica Preuhs; Marlene Rathgeber; Katharina Rose; Julian Rothkamp; Rachna Sahni; Jacqueline Schmidt; Janan Shakur Kilcher; Kim Sutton; Brett Torres Haynes; Barbara Von Stackelberg; Selma Wels; Jasmin Wong; Meliha Yangöz;

Advertising queries si st

eMail

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Theresa Neubauer ads@sister-mag.com

s e v o l i n o T

PANSY'S YELLOW

a n a i k c o r itt w a l o Vi

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1 Leather in lotus yellow via stoffe.de – 92,80€/m l 2 Ray-Ban (RB 5257 5110) in Light Yellow – 150€ l 3 Platform Sandals from ZARA – 79,95€ l 4 Yellow typewriter from Present & Correct – 140£ l 5 Vero Moda PALM JOSEPHINE - Dress - limelight – 24.95€ l 6 Robert Abbey Delta Butter 22 1/2“ High Table Lamp via Lamps Plus – 166.91$ l 7 Paco Rabane – Lady Million via flaconi.de – 43.90€ l

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8 Cambridge Satchel Company – 13-Zoll-Satchel via ASOS – 146,63€ l

Thea likes

FORGET-ME-NOT-BLUE

Myosotis

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1 mint&berry dress - bleached via zalando.de – 59.95€ l 2

Dipped Pitcher from LEIF – 60$ l

3 Light Object “Die Herrschaftliche” from Die-Erleuchter via Dawanda – 120€ l

6 Travel Diary from Maid-und-Held via Dawanda – 6.95€ l 7 Henriette Wedges from Anthropologie – 178.00€ l

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4 Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue via flaconi.de – 44.90€ l

5 Rhinestone Earrings (studs) from nurstrass via eBay – 4.99 € l

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Haven‘t you thought before: It would be really nice to have a garden! Imagine this garden with flowers and vegetables. A wonderful balance to all of these hours in front of the computer!

The success could be seen in real life: forget-me-nots and roses, sweet tomatoes, firm zucchini and fresh herbs … hmmm!

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Exactly this scenario had been a dream of mine. When my life – almost not noticeable – became too fastpaced and stop signs were popping up everywhere, I fulfilled this dream. And I noticed that all the tasks – nuzzling through the earth, sowing, planting, caring and harvesting – really free up your head. It relaxes you. Shutting off becomes easy.

Actually this is not true. Shutting off does not describe what goes in your head. It is more a case of turning to other things. On the one hand I am totally focused upon my plants. However at the same time ideas for other areas in my life are shaped in the back of my head. That‘s why I sometimes go into my flower bed in the middle of a problem-solving period.

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KELBER C A T S N O V A R A B R A B y b

There is even more to gardening: Right now we are enjoying our fried eggs on fresh spinach or parsley garnishes our beetroot. For lunch there is the choice of numerous salads and in the evening I am looking at the choice of broccoli, leaf beets or the first peas. Oh my, this green stuff is just too good! I wonder whether this is just the pride of your own harvest? No, the taste of my own vegetables is indeed more intensive than the one of storebought vegetables which have travelled far too long.

Doesn‘t this set you in the mood for gardening? Then you should start NOW. You only have a balcony? No problem. Tomatoes and cucumbers grow even there. No balcony? Don‘t be sad.

Your window sill has enough space for a little herb garden. The little plants do need more fostering when growing inside, but this brings us to the starting point: gardening as contrast to other tasks.

You will cherish the first curd cheese made with your own herbs like no other.

By then you will have found out: Gardening bestows moments of happiness upon you.

All pictures © Barbara von Stackelberg

Garden

u Explain in your own words the idea of your company! What do you do?

rage everyone to grow their own food— even in the heart of the city.

An allotment is a small piece of land that is let for private gardening and growing. Here in the UK, and in many countries across the world, there is a lack of space to grow food. We simply moved the allotment to urban areas and put everything you need to start growing food in a beautifully designed box. We provide magnificent Grow Your Own seed kits to encourage anyone to grow food at home. On urban farms, small balconies, terraces or even rooftops, we believe that growing food is fun, healthy and enjoyable; everyone in the family can join in.

u How do you earn money? How do you finance your company?

u Where did the inspiration come from?

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We noticed a shift in how people made decisions about what to eat. We wanted to turn the idea of growing food on its head and banish shrink-wrapped supermaket vegetables from the household. We also wanted to encou-

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Our company creates and invests its own money into the ALLOTINABOX® products, which we develop and sell from our own Web site (www.allotinabox.com l) and through select retail partners. We have also just launched a small design studio which enables us to develop ideas. In addition, we also get involved in events and projects with other large brands that have implemented sustainability initiatives. Our company is privately financed. u Who is your target group?

Our target group is urban dwellers, because all you need is a simple balcony or windowsill to get growing. We describe our community as urban farmers, city growers and urbanists, and many are young professionals. Growing food should appeal to anyone; it’s one of life’s great gifts. Sowing and then

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harvesting a crop is very satisfying and zen-like, so we think the potential for growing food is huge. It is hard to believe, but over 50% of the worlds population now live in cities. By 2014, it will be around 75%—that’s a lot of mouths to feed and provide for!

to grow crops. We do send our boxes internationally, though we are restricted by local import regulations, which limits our reach. However, we are happy to say that we are in discussion with partners to help us to deliver to more global growers.

u What do subscribers find in a box?

How does the subscription system work? Do you send the boxes internationally?

u Where do you see yourself in five years?

Our subcribers get four of our bespoke boxes per year. Each box is designed to match the season, so from spring right through to the end of the year you will have grown some tasty and easy

We see the company expanding into other products and projects. Everything we do has to be sustainable, and as we are passionate about local food, we want to try and deliver themes around this. So for example, our dream is to develop everything—from our own food right through to developing local projects that might involve securing land or roof spaces for growing food. There is also massive potential to work with a global food charity foundation, to help the poor or even to develop local food growing programmes. u Who do you see as your main competitors?

That’s a great question. Of course, there are large seed producers who fulfill their obligation to customers who enjoy

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books are aimed at our market, but is it very scientific and often hard to understand. Here at ALLOTINABOX®, though, we show everyone how easy it is to grow food. From that perspective, we like to think that we appeal to a different, more measured customer. uu What did you do before?

As we mentioned, we have culinary and design backgrounds. Gavin worked in the entertainment sector for many ­years as a marketing director, so we blend all of that into our brand—including a little rock and roll! uu In which city are you located?

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growing, but some are not very ethical in their approach. Ours is a more organic approach, and we make it ­simpler and easier to grow food. We also ensure that what we source—in terms of our seeds—is untreated and has a strong heritage. Some of TV shows and

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We are located on the South Coast of England in a place called Southsea, which we always emphasise. We’re proud to represent our area as a part of our brand. Southsea is a district of the naval town of Portsmouth, which looks out onto the Solent; it is a wonderful place to live, about an hour and a half away from London. All of our suppliers are within a bike ride away, and we try to involve the community in ALLOTINABOX®. Porstmouth is one of the most dense areas in Europe; it’s a big city and ripe for one of our city growing projects.

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u Who was your first team member?

We started the business on £100.00, bought a few seeds to experiment and then developed the business from the ground up. You might say that we really are a grassroots business! We worked with the local university to select out first team member, whose emphasis was on the marketing end. So whilst Gavin worked on the branding with the student, Loraine developed our seed range to ensure that the crops we chose would grow favorably. u How did you come up with your company’s colours?

We wanted to develop a range of colours that were a reflection of nature.

We visited Kew Gardens in London

and took inspiration from The Picture in the Tate and even from trips to the allotment throughout the season. We created a simple mood board and presented it to our designers. u Who did design your company’s logo – external or internal? How long did it take?

We came up with the concepts and put together briefing documents based on a sketch that we had developed some years earlier. We then approached I Love Dust, a fantastic creative studio based here in Southsea. We just got on really well and they instantly understood the concept. It took about twelve months of development between the two teams, and we think of it still as a collaboration. We also change our design partners every 12 months to keep the brand fresh and maintain its natural evolution. u What was the main food you ate during the starting up phase?

Gavin is a great chef and is trained to Michelin Star standard, so I’d say we ate soups in the winter preapred in the ALLOTINABOX® Kitchen—mainly from crops grown here at headquar-

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ters. In the summer, we love salads.

Fish from the Solent and garlic from the local farm also play a big part in what we eat. uu What’s the Secret Seed Club?

The Secret Seed Club l has just launched! It’s a club whereby you can subcribe to recieve packs of seeds every month or on a bimonthly basis. Then, when the seeds arrive, you have to seek out the variety on our social pages. The seeds are a little more challenging than those we provide in our boxes, so the service is trying to encourage growers to push themselves into cultivating more creative and interesting varieties—who knows what you might be able to grow!

The club also encourages seed swaps and events, and the sharing of growing tips via our Web site. uu What’s your favourite plant?

We love herbs, especially when you cook with them! Some favourites include grilled fish with peppers and basil, or lemon and thyme, or a parsley butter. It’s a hard one, but I think we

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would say that we love pretty much all varieties. It’s really encouraging to see chefs foraging more and also discovering new techniques. uu Last but not least: a gardening tip everyone should know?!

Chili plants, especially those very hot chilies, do better when grown undercover, as this helps develop the heat and the flavour. Watering the chilies too much dilutes the heat and flavour.

In late summer, the plants should be brought indoors to ensure good ripening which makes them perfect for growing in containers!

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PHOTOS CHRISTIAN BURMESTER STYLING CLARA KIRCHNER

T h e h er b garden

The herb season 2012 has just started and you can grow a lot of new seeds and plants in your own gardening pots at home. To prove that these herbs do not only taste exceptionally but also look formidably, Taste-Sheriff Clara Kirchner l and photographer Christian Burmester l took the herbs of this season and presented them for sisterMAG in their best light. You‘ll also find tips what to make with these herbs in your kitchen.

You can order all of these herbs in Germany via kraeuter-und-duftpflanzen.de l (Kräuterhandel Rühlemann). There are many online seed shops for different countries in the world.

In order to have all the information around our herbs at hand you can also download our sisterMAG Herb Table l to print and hang in your kitchen!

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‌ for wonderful herb butter

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Viola suavis RUSSIAN VIOLET Duchesse de Parma

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Allium ursinum RAMSONS

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‌ for tasty pesto

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LESSER CE-

Ranunculus ficaria LANDINE

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Rumex species RED

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SORREL

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… for pickled tomatoes with rosemary and thyme

Rosmarinus officinalis ROSEMARY

‚SANTA BARBARA‘

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Ocimum basilicum

SWEET BASIL

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SOCIETY GARLIC

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Tulbaghia violacea

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‌ for pickled rhubarb

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with mint

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Calamintha nepeta LESSER CALAMINT

H er b T a b l e PLANT

CHARACTER

KITCHEN TIPS

Russian Violet

Used to be valued decoration, herb butter or also as Viola suavis Du- because of its chesse de Parma sweet and powcut flowers dery smell, often used in confectioneries

8 cm VIO02 3,90 €

Ramsons

8 cm ALL09

Allium ursinum

Red Sorrel Rumex species

Lesser Celandine Ranunculus ficaria

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buy at…

completely eatable

Pesto, Dips & Sauces, herb butter or as vegetable

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l

hardy, has a lot of Prepare just like Vitamine C spinach, in curd cheese, soups, delicious in omelettes

8 cm RUM04 5,20 €

Leaves have a Salads, in junlot of Vitamine C, kets and curd which is why it cheese used to be eaten by sailors on long journeys

8 cm RAN01 3,25€

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l

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PLANT

KITCHEN TIPS

buy at…

Rosemary Very robust spe‚Santa Barbara‘ cies with dark blue blossoms, intensiRosmarinus ve smell, resinous officinalis (lightly bitter) taste

Pickled vegetables, soups, stews, roasts, with mushrooms

8 cm ROS18 5,20 €

Thyme

Strong spice for mediterranean kitchen, e.g. pickled tomatoes

9 cm THY06 3,25 €

Tastes and smells Especially for sweet and peppery South European cuisine, for dips, salads, egg and noodle meals, good with meat

8 cm OCI30 4,55 €

Fine garlic-like taste & smell, leaves usable like chives, tubers usable like garlic

In salads, with curd cheese, use blossoms to garnish

8 cm TUL01 5,85 €

Very aromatic

Especially in Italian cuisine, use for making a great mint tea

8 cm CAL02 3,25 €

Thymus serpyllum

Sweet Basil Ocimum basilicum

Society Garlic Tulbaghia violacea

Lesser Calamint Calamintha nepeta

CHARACTER

Helps against coughs, strengthens digestion, eases womenly pains

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RUCCI l T E P W E H T T A M y b t x Te

A garden is the best teacher, even with only a small space to plant and sow. And in the case of Matthew Petrucci l and Jasmin Wong l this space is his grandmother‘s little garden plot behind the house. The two of them live in Sydney, Australia, where they dream of having their own backyard one day. Today they share with us what they have learned as urban gardeners.

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My grandmother’s garden was not always a garden. It was once a welltended chicken coop bustling with the commotion of feathers and feet, but even before that, it was a neglected mess of rubble, clay and glass from the construction of the house.

It took an enormous amount of effort to rescue the land to a fruitful state.

In its recovered state, like all welltended gardens, it is a child forever cycling through birth to puberty and back again; nobody has ever heard of a geriatric garden. It is ripe for reproduction but intensely demanding for its needs for attention, nutrition and love.

IN Photographs by JASM

WONG l

This garden has supported a wide variety of vegetables and fruits across the seasons of the year, from blue-tinged heads of broccoli to the ruffled leaves of silverbeet, peppery leaves of cherry and Roma tomatoes, sweetly-scented lemon and mandarins and a small assortment of herbs and fruiting runners such as strawberry, basil and oregano.

The recipe for a well-prepared garden bed for planting is no secret. Think of your own needs, physical as well as emotional, and apply the same concepts to the soil.

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A garden bed requires air to breathe, an occasional haircut, defense against harmful pathogens, water to drink, fertiliser for nourishment and a healthy supply of sunshine. It is important to rest your soil between planting sessions, to allow the soil to recover, in much the same way as we must retire to bed to regenerate our energy.

You will find that many fruiting plants also require training wheels to develop and support strong limbs; climbing beans need to twine and many varieties of tomato require staking for support, fruit trees, as they mature, may require a ‘walking cane’ to support their old branches laden with blossoms and leaves. Tending to a sizeable garden is almost a full-time occupation.

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Any beginning gardener who is keen to grow their own, should start with a small patch and become thoroughly familiar with it – depending on your local climate, perennial herbs, such as rosemary and marjoram, are a good idea as they are very easy to grow and are the most tolerant of neglect. Many herbs will happily grow in well-fertilised large pots on sunny balconies or verandas, provided you are attentive to feeding, watering and trimming. For those who are blessed with additional space, even as small as one or two square metres, may consider growing bulbous vegetables such as beetroot in the winter, onions in the spring and carrots for all-year round.

The DIY Garden

by MARLENE RATHGEBER l

You‘ll need: u u u u

Clay pots with saucers seeding or herb soil different seeds ribbons, umbrellas, flags to decorate

First of all you have to decide, what you want to plant: flowers or herbs, perhaps a mini vegetable garden? Below you‘ll find a list of seeds which are suitable for growing in a pot and don‘t have to be replanted:

herbs: Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Chives, Parsley, Cress, Dill

flowers: Marigold, Nasturtium, little sunflowers

vegetables: Rocket, Radish, Asian salad mix

exciting ideas: Chickpeas, peas, a piece of ginger root, lemongrass

Fill your clay pot with ears. Be careful not to plug up the hole in the bottom, because the water has to drain off. You can use a broken clay fragment to put over the whole.

Lightly dampen the soil and sow the seeds. I decided to go for Rocket, Marigold and Cress seeds.

Carefully read the instructions of the seeds. It might be that they are not allowed to be covered with soil.

If you want to give the pots as a present you might want to wait a little while until seeds have sprouted.

Pay attention that soil is always a little damp. Use a spray bottle to water the plants because watering with a watering pot may destroy the little plants.

The plants on the pictures on the left are one week old.

I embellished the pots with ribbons, a fabric flower and a little umbrella.

However you can be creative! Have fun seeding, caring and harvesting!

Garden

Garden DEAREST NATURE

LA BUENA VIDA

http://dearestnature.com/

http://nicolefranzen.

blog/ l

blogspot.com l

@ dearestnature l

@ LaBuenaVidaBlog l

Our favourite nature blog on the web! Donaville just started this venture, where she and a fair amount of contributors blog about everything related to plants, natural materials, gardens and nature inspired art!

GET the free download checklist “5 Senses Of Spring” which reminds you of things to do during springtime. Have you stopped to smell the roses yet? l

The pictures of Brooklyn based Nicole Franzen are to die for: whether she shares the latest Rhubarb Galette recipe or gives you a sneak peak into Brooklyn Botanical garden.

MAKE Nicole‘s Spring Pilaf today and check out that vibrantly purple lilac picture at the end of this post! l

MILES OF LIGHT MY LITTLE PLANT LOVE http://mylittleplantlove. blogspot.com l

Julianna is a lover of everything green and growing. On her blog she shows her plants, projects, shares garden inspiration and you‘ll also find a recipe in between. Interesting to read and follow this new bloggy!

milesoflightprints. blogspot.com l ETSY-Shop l

miles of light is a collection of photographs of natural elements that was started by Romina in 2010. Her blog shows the creational and inspirational process which goes into her products, she sells via Etsy.

BUY this beautiful photo of dried roses. A dreamy and fun piece of art! l

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The wedding of Maria and Petro takes sisterMAG to the beaches of Mui NĂŠ / Vietnam. Explore the beautiful decoration of this tropical themed dream.

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Garden

It was the perfect Vietnamese-Italian bouquet which was bound together on this late December day last year. Maria and Pietro from Italy sealed their matrimonial bond on the pristine beach of Mui Né, Vietnam – being the bride’s country of her forefathers.

This very special day was completely under the green-pink spell of the lotus flower. The couple got married in an open-air ceremony on the beach, the fresh breeze from the sea providing the perfect background. Adapted to the light beach atmosphere the bride wore a beautifully designed Cocktail dress and was barefood, the groom was dressed in a beige linen suit.

The guests, a colourful bunch of flowers from all over the world, enjoyed the emotional ceremony seated on bambus chairs decorated with flower chains and chinese laterns in the thematic colours of pink and green.

This colour scheme continued through the day with a magnificent party at the adjacent Seahorse Resort. Flowers were the key for the guests to find their table at Hibiscus or Orchid.

Seated under a white canopy and a baldachin of lampions the day quickly drew to an end but the party only started.

Photographer: Wedding Planner: Wedding Venue:

AIDAN DOCKERY l BLISS WEDDING l SEAHORSE RESORT l in Mui Né Vietnam

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x The dress of the bride is a duchesse satin dress with an organza lurex detachable train. It has been custom made

by OFFICINA DELLE FATE in Milan. www.lofficinadellefate.it.

The groom wore a linen suit custom made for him

by SARTORIA ROSSI in Milan. www.sartoriarossi.it

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The duchesse satin orchids on the dress are custom made by FINART Milan.

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Sektion Kitchen

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RECIPES, STYLING & PHOTOS:

Virginia Horstmann l

Breakfast

t r a t s t e A swe A daily new beginning: having breakfast in the morning. In order to make this extra delicious we asked wonderful Jeanny from the German food blog zuckerzimtundliebe.wordpress.com l to prepare some sweet surprises for us.

The theme: seasonal berries. Whether you like strawberries, blue- or raspberries – the promise of one of these healthy treats will turn anyone into a morning person!

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Baked granola bar with mixed berries

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Breakfast

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Berry sandwiches

Breakfast

Orange cream cheese & raspberries

Goat‘s curd & blackberries

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Cottage cheese & blueberries

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Dutch Babe ‌

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Oven pancake with strawberries

Breakfast

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Breakfast

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Raspberry-coconut “Bircher muesli”

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Pikelets ‌

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with blueberry &

Breakfast

ginger sauce

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Breakfast

Ricotta-Fool with braised vanilla strawberries

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Breakfast

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Cinnamon buns

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Redcurrant cornmeal mini muffins

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Strawberry

Raspberry banana

Blueberry coco

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Breakfast

Blueberry coco 125 g frozen blueberries 1-2 tbsp brown sugar little grated ginger

Raspberry banana 1 banana 150 g frozen raspberries 200 ml milk 1 tsp honey

Strawberry 400 g strawberries 240 g creamy plain yogurt

100 ml coconut milk

2 Tbsp sugar

Put all ingredients into a Put all ingredients into a mixer and puree them mixer and puree them really well. Pour into a glass. really well. Pour into a glass. For a nicely marbled effect, only mix half the coconut milk in the mixer. Pour other half in glass and top off with the blueberry smoothie

Put all ingredients into a mixer and puree them really well. Pour into a glass. Add ice cubes if you like.

Baked granola bar (square pan, ca. 22x22cm)

180 g Wholemeal wheat flour 140 g oatmeal 50 g walnuts, coarsely chopped 1 ½ tsp baking powder 225 g cold butter 180 g brown sugar

1 pinch of salt

1 large, lightly beaten egg

400 g mixed berries, fresh or frozen 6-7 tbsp marmelade

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C upper

and lower heat. Line a square baking pan with parchment paper. 2. Mix flour, oatmeal, walnuts, baking powder, sugar and salt with a hand mixer. 3. Add cold butter in cubes and the beaten egg and blend everything into a crumbly dough. 4. Put half the crumbles into the form, press down. Bake for 15 minutes, let cool. 5. Spread marmelade onto the cooled dough, top with the berries. Lastly put the remaining crumbles on top and bake for another 20 minutes. 6. Let cool and cut into bars or squares.

Berry Sandwiches Toast baguette slices until crisp and crusty or lightly grill them in the oven.

COTTAGE CHEESE & BLUEBERRY CROSSINI Mix 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese with 1/2 teaspoon of honey for each crossini. Spread on the bread and garnish with blueberries and cinnamon.

ORANGE CREAM CHEESE & RASPBERRY CROSSINI Per crossini mix 2 tablespoons cream cheese with 1 teaspoon of orange chuice. Spread on the bread and garnish with a raspberry.

GOAT‘S CHEESE & BLACKBERRY CROSSINI Per crossini 1/2 slice goat‘s cheese (e.g. Picandou), add a blackberry and top off with a drizzle of honey.

Dutch Babe – Oven pancake with strawberries

2 eggs

120 ml whole milk 60 g flour

pinch of salt

grind of a lemon ¼ tsp cinnamon 1 tbsp butter

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Breakfast 250 g strawberries, sliced 3 tbsp powdered sugar or maple syrup (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 430°F/220°C top & bottom heat. 2. Mix eggs, milk, salt

and cinnamon as well as lemon grind to get a smooth dough. 3. Put butter in an oven-proved pan and let it melt in the oven. 4. Pour dough into the pan and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until pancake is browned and no more runny. 5. Take out of the oven, garnish with berries and powdered sugar or sprinkle with maple syrup.

Raspberry & coconut Bircher Muesli for 2 portions 75 g oatmeal juice of one lemon 120 ml water 1 grated apple 150 g creamy plain yogurt or Greek yogurt 3 tbsp lightly beaten single cream 3 tbsp honey 125 g raspberries, lightly squashed with a fork 2 tbsp roasted coconut flakes raspberries or coconut flakes to garnish

1. Mix oatmeal, lemon juice and wa-

ter. Let the mixture rest overnight in the fridge. 2. In the moring add yogurt, apple, raspberries and coconut flakes. 3. Fold in lightly beaten cream.

4. Garnish with raspberries and coconut flakes.

Pikelets with blueberry ginger sauce PIKELETS 150 g flour 1½ tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda 2 tbsp sugar 170 ml milk 1 large egg 1 tbsp melted butter

1. Sieve flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar into a bowl. 2. Quickly

whisk milk and eggs together, add to the flour mixture. Add melted butter and blend everything into a smooth dough. 3. Lightly butter a pan and put over medium heat. 4. Per pikelet use 1 tablespoon of dough in your pan. Only turn over pikelets when bubbles are forming on the top. Fry from both sides until nicely browned. 5. Lightly spread a little bit of butter on your pan between each frying batch to avoid sticking.

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BLUEBERRY SAUCE 500 g blueberries 160 g sugar 240 ml orange juice pinch of cinnamon pinch of grounded ginger 2 tbsp corn starch 2 tbsp water

se for 15 minutes in the oven. Remove the vanilla bean 3. Stir together yogurt and ricotta. Layer ricotta mixture and strawberries into glasses. Garnish with strawberries, pistachios or walnuts.

Strawberry Sugar Cinnamon Buns

(for ~8 cinnamon buns)

1. Heat sugar and orange juice to a boil FOR THE DOUGH in a pot. 2. Add half of the blueberries, 1/8 l milk

sugar and ginger and let the mixture simmer on low heat until blueberries are soft. 3. Add second half of the blueberries and let simmer for another minute. 4. One teaspoon at a time add corn starch and water until the sauce has the desired consistency.

Ricotta-Fool with braised vanilla strawberries

(for 2 glasses)

250 g ricotta 2 tbsp creamy plain yogurt 500 g fresh strawberries 4 tbsp sugar

1 vanilla bean

1. Preheat oven to 400째F/200째C top and bottom heat. 2. Wash strawber-

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1/3 cube of fresh yeast

250 g flour 2 tbsp sugar 30 g butter FOR THE STRAWBERRY SUGAR 3 tbsp soft butter 4 tbsp sugar a hand full of dried strawberries 1 tsp cinnamon FOR THE FROSTING 25 g butter (room temperature) 50 g cream cheese (full fat) 250 g powdered sugar (sieved) 1 tsp strawberry juice or syrup, alternatively you can use red food colouring

1. Preheat oven to 390째F/200째C top and bottom heat. 2. Lightly heat milk in a pot over medium heat. 3. Whisk

Breakfast 2 tablespoons of milk with yeast, add 1 tablespoon flour and 1 teaspoon sugar. Let mixture rest for 15 minutes. 4.

In the meantime mix remaining sugar and butter with rest of the milk and stir until butter has melted. 5. Add flour to milk, add yeast mixture and knead everything to make a smooth dough (by hand or with hand mixer). 6. Let the dough rise for about half an hour at a warm place. Roll out to 1 cm thickness.

7. For the filling mix dried strawberries, sugar and cinnamon with a hand blender until you have rose-coloured sugar.

Spread the soft butter onto dough and sprinkle evenly with strawberry sugar.

8. Roll the dough from its long side and cut the log into 8 equally sized slices.

Put them onto a baking pan (lined with parchment paper) and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. 9. In the meantime you can prepare the frosting: Mix butter, cream cheese and strawberry syrup/ juice with the whisks of your hand mixer and gradually add powdered sugar until you get wanted consistency.

½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp baking soda one pinch of salt 75 ml buttermilk 1 large egg, lightly beaten 20 ml neutral vege 2 tbsp sugar to sprinkle on top 125 g redcurrants, washed

1. Preheat oven to 390°F/200°C top

and bottom heat. Lightly butter a mini muffin form. 2. Mix flour, cornmeal, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and baking soda and salt, sieve this mixture.

3. Whisk together buttermilk, egg and oil, add to the flour mixture and quickly blend together to form a smooth dough. 4. Fill mini muffin forms with dough (~3/4 in height), sprinkle with rest of sugar and bake for 10-12 minutes. 5.

Eat them when still warm with butter or syrup.

Spread the frosting onto warm cinnamon buns.

Redcurrant cornmeal mini muffins (für 12 muffins) 40 g flour 40 g cornmeal 2 tbsp sugar

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Pastry chefs When reading articles about pastry chefs, they all have something in common: they are passionate, they want to constantly evolve and to innovate, they are highly motivated, creative and artistic and last but not least, they are generous. Characteristics that make you want to know more about them and their doings.

Pâtisserie has significantly evolved since the 50s in France. It used to gain not much consideration from kitchen chefs. For a long time it stuck to classics with heavy creams and heavy decoration.

The 60s brought a wind of change: the women looked after their silhouette, wearing mini-skirts and tight trousers.

The Pâtisserie had to adapt and in the 70s Gaston Lenôtre modernized the heavy pastry making it lighter, finer, more desirable and more beautiful.

He applied the “nouvelle cuisine” – the “new cuisine” – concept to Pâtisserie, opening his Pastry school in 1974 in Paris. He was the first to use marketing and communication to make the field of Pâtisserie known to the public. si st er M AG

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Pierre Hermé, who learned with Lenôtre, marked the 90s.

Pierre Hermé © Copyright Jean Louis Bloch Lane

The “Picasso of pastry” or “The Dior of desserts” as he is referred to, revolutionized French Pâtisserie. He got rid of the heavy garnish on cakes, used exotic products like wasabi or litchis, mixing in flowers like roses, thereby creating new flavours. His cakes are seasonal and available on demand (Macarons).

His cakes are pieces of art and he does not hesitate to work with designers who help him to shape some of his creations.

He first opened a store in Japan before a Paris branch was added. The minimalism in his work probably comes from this.

Kitchen

Yl A L P U A D E N N IE B A F y b PIERRE HERMÉ

LEFT: Paris-Brest Ispahan – Pât à choux with grilled almonds spli ters, mascarpone cream with ros raspberries puree and litchis.

RIGHT: Millefeuille Ispahan Caramelized puff pastry, mascarpone cream with rose, raspberries puree and litchis. © Copyright Pierre Hermé Paris

Claire Damon (Des Gâteaux et du Pain l) – the only woman owning her patisserie – among many others.

Pâtisserie has become appealing, sexy and modern – thanks to good marketing.

Never before were there so many books, articles, blogs, courses or TV programs dealing with the topic. It is popular, creative, accessible and it sells.

There are great Pastry Chefs in France whose work has made French pastry the epitome of this field and what it stands for today. Some of my favourites are: Emmanuel Ryon (Café Pouchkine l), who mixes French and Russian flavours; Philippe Conticini (La Pâtisserie des Rêve l), Christophe Adam (Fauchon l), Pierre Hermé (Pierre Hermé l),

CAFÉ POUCHKINE TOP: The éclair tvorog – A moist pâte à choux, a crème Tvorog (russian quark)

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Café Pouchkine © Copyright: Café Pouchkine

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BOTTOM: Fraisier de la datcha – Almond and vanilla biscuit, fresh strawberries and pistachios, a light vanilla and orange blossom cream, white chocolate cover.

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FABIENNE DAUPLAY studied Asian languages and Photography. She waited tables in various restaurants in London & Berlin to finance her studies. Used to helping in the kitchen (her parents would host large dinners at home), her real encounter to food, wine and the business was as a waitress. Somehow, this love for hosting and cooking never left her.

She has wanted to open a small cafĂŠ for a long time and decided to learn French pastry.

TOP: Almond cream, griottes on a crusty almond biscuit LEFT: Red berries Charlotte Š Copyright: Fabienne Dauplay

Kitchen

In just a few decades, French Pâtisserie has taken a drastic turn: beautiful, creative, innovative and open-minded, it has shown a new side and is still has more to be discovered.

I’ve re-discovered baking since baking with my grandmother but this time with more ambition. Wanting to open my business since years I decided to study Pâtisserie in France at the ENSP (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Pâtisserie) owned by Alain Ducasse and Yves Thuries.

It is a 6 months course for people, who wish to have a career change and are too old to follow a 3 years training at a state school.

The school is located vin a castle. We work in the “labs”; you don’t call it a kitchen.

We are 13 students in one group, coming from all parts of the world, aged between 22 and 44 years. Our daily life is pretty simple: we live in Yssingeaux in the Auvergne region and go to school every day – 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. My training takes place from mid-November until June with a 1-month internship. I will do mine at a MOF (the best craftsman of France) and World Champion of Pâtisserie: Bruno Montcoudiol. (http://www.patisserie-montcoudiol.fr).

We started right away with baking on the first day, making a flan pie, minipastries and an apple pie (blog post here l). The first fingers were cut with our sharp knives. The excitement of starting over and meeting new people was quite exhilarating.

After the first exercises we moved on to the classics. We made a Millefeuille: a puff pastry that is tricky to make. Even more difficult is the glazing with sugar and spreading the chocolate for the typical pattern. Once you are done laying the last layer of puff pastry, you have to spread the sugar.

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The next step is making a cone out of paper, preparing the chocolate and using it at the right T°. I was shaking, holding my breath the whole time, whilst the others were encouraging us with “that’s it, that’s it” before they applauded at the end. You cannot wait too long otherwise the sugar and chocolate get solid. Thus when using the knife to make the patterns, it can easily break and look poorly.

But what a treat once you are done!!!

This kind of glazing is quite obsolete though, nowadays you see it caramelised and powdered with ice sugar, it’s lighter and better looking.

Later on we studied the Choux filled with cream pâtissière and glazed with caramel. One has to be extremely careful with caramel; it turns dark very quickly but most of all, it really hurts when dropped on your skin. The Opéra is a famous classic, a layer cake topped with coffee butter cream and chocolate ganache, the Moka a fluffy cake sliced and filled with a rich butter cream. We also do a lot of charlottes, tartes, croissants and brioche.

The classics are good but we asked to make modern tartes and entremets too.

Apart from working on my blog l and photography, the leisure possibilities are restricted to walks in the forest and “sucs” (small volcano mountains of the area). Without a car it can be difficult to do things here.

I’ve been very lucky to have met 4 wonderful girls with whom I have tied a great friendship. We have dinner once a week, have the Saturday “Brainstorming” at the launderette and the cultural Monday with the magazine aisle at the local supermarket. They are between 22 and 25 years old and were studying in medical school, business

Kitchen

school, product design and languages. All were unhappy with their lives and decided to get into pastry.

Even though this field of culinary is still dominated by men in France, women are more and more present. The finesse and the beauty of the creations, the freedom

it provides in terms of tastes, textures, designs, but also in terms of work have attracted me to it. Many travel abroad, bring their expertise along and learn from other cultures. All of that makes becoming a Pastry Chef my dream job.

Lemon blackcurrant cake Š Copyright: Fabienne Dauplay

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SPRING SUPPERS

with Charlotte Franklin l

I’ve been longing to remove dairy and sugar from my diet - not necessarily permanently but enough for a fresh start - and this Spring is the perfect time.

These recipes are based around a mix of Japanese and Western ingredients and inspired by my everyday way of cooking. Enjoy!

For a glossary of ingredients you can visit Charlotte‘s blog lovelyfoodblog.com

Kitchen

LEMON AND PISTACHIO Makes 24 BISCUITS d These biscuits are very unsweet so if have have a sweet tooth I’d suggest you use maple syrup, honey or agave syrup instead of the rice syrup.

125 g sunflower oil 1 cup rice malt

2 lemons (rind)

1 tbsp ground flax seed

1 cup white spelt flour

1 cup almond meal (ground almonds) 1 tsp baking powder

130 g whole raw pistachios

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. 2. In a plastic bag pound raw

pistachios until fairly well smashed (try to get each nut into quarters) 3. Mix sunflower oil, lemon rind and rice malt thoroughly 4. Mix flour, ground flax seed, almond meal and baking powder. Add pistachios. 5. Add wet ingredients and stir until just mixed. Do not overwork the mixture. 6. Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper 7. Using a desert spoon, take a lump of biscuit dough and roll into a ball 8. Line the balls up evenly with a good amount of space – 12 on a large baking sheet 9. Gently press biscuits down with a fork to approx 1.5 cm thickness 10. Bake for 15 minutes, swap top & bottom trays to ensure they brown evenly, bake further 5 minutes or until very gently browned. 11. Using a fish slice, gently transfer biscuits to a wire rack to cool (they might come out of the oven a bit soft but will harden as they cool) 12. Store in an airtight container.

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LEEK AND ONION MISO TART Serves 4 - 6 with leftovers d

PASTRY

2 cups spelt flour pinch of sea salt 1/3 cup sunflower oil 1/3 cup water, chilled in freezer

FILLING

3 large onions

3 leeks Oil for frying 1 tbsp miso (paste - not soup mix)

TOPPING

A delicious alternative to the Alsace tart we love. The Alsace tart is full of eggs, creme fraiche, butter and bacon - this is a much lighter version with the rich taste of the miso really packing the punch.

Lemon and tofu make a great creme fraiche and the filling is so full of flavour the whole family genuinely loved it.

1 1/2 1/2 cup 600 g 1 tbsp

tbsp kuzu (or arrowroot) lemon juice tofu (2 blocks) agar flakes (optional – not essential) pinch of sea salt

PASTRY

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1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C. 2. In a big bowl, sift flour and sea salt together 3. In another bowl whisk sunflower oil and chilled water together - mixture will become thicker as the ingredients emulsify (= join together) 4. Add wet mix to the flour, mix and knead until it forms a dough- avoid overhandling. 5. Set aside for 10 minutes 6. On a floured sur-

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face roll the pastry out to fit the shape of your flan tin (the pastry is quite crumbly so you need to be careful when lifting). Don’t worry if it breaks as you will press it into the tin. 7. Press the pastry into your lightly oiled flan tin (use a 9 inch / 22cm round – or a 14” x 5” oblong dish with a removable base) 8. Blind bake* the pastry for 10 minutes make sure you use a timer!!

FILLING 9. On low heat, sweat* onions in a frying pan. 10. Once onions are transparent, stir in the miso and continue to cook, stirring continuously – on a very low heat for a further 5 minutes. Set aside. 11. In another pan sweat* leeks until soft (about 20 minutes). Try not to brown them. Set aside.

TOPPING 12. Dissolve the kuzu in the lemon juice. 13. Blend lemon juice and kuzu, tofu, agar flakes and sea salt together in a food processor. Set aside.

ASSEMBLE & BAKE 14. First put onion and miso layer into your pastry case. 15. Follow with a layer of leeks. 16. Finally top with the tofu mixture and spread evenly to form a smooth topping. 17. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

18. Serve hot and garnish with sliced spring onions. Tart tastes even better the next day.

Kitchen

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LEEK AND ONION MISO TART

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BROWN RICE AND LENTIL RISOTTO WITH FRESH PEAS AND ASPARAGUS d Serves 2-3 mains or 4 sides

Because this is brown rice I prefer to cook it a bit before embarking on the whole risotto stirring thing. To speed things up I use a pressure cooker which means I can have perfect brown rice in 25 minutes. It’s fun to mix it up a bit with - rice and - something else which might be lentils, spelt grain, oat groats or millet.

PHASE 2

PHASE 1

RISOTTO

3/4 cup short grain brown rice 1/4 cup lentils 3 cups water

1 vegetable stock cube, crumbled

2 onions, sliced

~3 cups boiling water (just keep the kettle warm as you won’t be using it all at once)

1 lemon (juice)

sea salt to season

VEGETABLES

2 cups fresh or frozen peas

8 fresh asparagus spears

oil for frying

1. Put rice, lentils, 3 cups wa-

ter, crumbled vegetable stock into a pressure cooker or large saucepan.

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If using a pressure cooker, heat it up and then cook on high for 15 minutes, turn off the heat and rest with the lid on for 10 minutes. 2. If using a pot: bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for 35-40 minutes. The rice will be mostly cooked – don’t worry if you have excess water at this stage.

3. In a very large pan sweat the onions in oil on low heat until transparent. 4. Add the pre-cooked rice and stir in. 5. As the rice needs it, add more water, 1 cup at a time.

Add the next cup of water once the rice has soaked up the previous cup of water 6. Add lemon juice. It will take approx 20 minutes for the rice and lentils to soak up the cups of water. 7. The risotto rice is ready once it‘s soft, easy to bite and not too wet

VEGETABLES

8. In a small pot, boil peas for 3 minutes. 9. Drain, remove from heat and set aside. 10. In an oiled pan

fry asparagus spears with a pinch of sea salt until golden and tender.

11. Remove from heat and cut into 1 inch long pieces. 12. Add the peas to the cooked risotto and stir in.

13. Spoon the risotto into bowls and top with asparagus spears

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CHICKEN UDON SOUP d

Serves 4

STOCK

An energising, light soup made with a chicken stock that I make over the course of two days. The longer you boil your chicken bones the more flavoursome the stock will be.

1 large chicken carcass (rooster is actually better) 3 celery stalks, sliced 3 carrots, sliced

Sea salt to taste (5 generous pinches)

SOUP

Water to fill your stock pot fully (I use a 6.5L pressure cooker - but as long as you can cover the chicken in water you’re fine) 2 boneless chicken breasts 3 leeks

2 tbsp oil for frying

2 carrots (we used white carrots but any colour is fine) 1 lemon (juice)

1 pack udon noodles

Sea salt to taste Small handful of soaked Arame (Japanese sea vegetable)

DAY 1

1. In the morning put chicken with

celery, carrots, salt and water

into a big stockpot with the lid on.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer all day, ensuring water levels are kept topped up – and that you remember to turn off the stove if you go out! 2. Around 8pm turn the heat off and let the stock cool.

Once cooled, put a breadboard in the fridge to protect your fridge shelf and cool stock in the fridge overnight.

DAY 2

3. In the morning bring stock

back to boil and resume simmering.

4. About two hours before you would like to serve the soup, strain it to remove all chicken bones and stewed veges. 5. Grill or fry the chicken. 6. Set chicken aside to cool.

Once cooled, shred the chicken into approx 5 mm thick shreds and add to soup. 7. Thinly slice carrots and add to the soup. 8. Add lemon juice.

9. Sweat* the leeks in oil on low heat – once cooked, add to the soup.

10. Boil udon until cooked, drain and add to soup. 11. Let everything brew on low heat for a further 15 minutes and season to taste.

12. Ladle into four bowls and serve with Arame garnish.

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SOUR LEMON AND BLUEBERRY UPSIDE DOWN CAKE d

Makes one cake or 12 cupcakes

This is super healthy macrobiotic cake!

DRY

It’s not at all sweet because of the nature of rice syrup. However if you love tart - dense and a little bit salty - this will be right up your alley. Try it sliced thinly - about one centimeter thick - or use this recipe to make cupcakes.

They come out a bit more light and less dense.

1 1/2 cups white spelt flour

1 1/2 cups almond meal (ground almonds) 2 tsp baking powder

WET

Good pinch sea salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 cup sunflower oil 1 cup rice syrup 1 cup soy milk

2 lemons (grated rind)

TOPPING

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 cups frozen blueberries

1 tbsp kuzu (or arrowroot) 1 tbsp agar flakes

CAKE BASE

1. Pre-heat oven to 180° C. 2. Mix dry ingredients together. 3. Mix wet ingredients together - you see the mixture becoming thicker and as the ingredients join together and emulsi st er M AG

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sify. 4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix together without overworking the mixture (this might be runnier than you think a cake ought to be - don’t worry!) 5. When making cupcakes, just spoon mixture into 12 cupcake cases and bake for 25 minutes until skewer comes out clean.

TOPPING (FOR UPSIDE DOWN CAKE)

6. Heat frozen blueberries on low heat in a small pot 7. Stir in kuzu and dissolve 8. Stir in agar flakes.

FINISHING

9. Lightly oil a savarin mould or oil

and line a 12” shallow tart tin with baking paper 10. Pour in blueberry topping 11. Very carefully pour in the wet mix – you will see the blueberry mix coming up and mixing with the cake mix – don’t worry about that, just be as gentle as you can 12. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean 13. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes 14. Turn tin onto serving dish and peel away baking paper. If you are using the savarin mould, you might need to give it a bit of a thump. I turned this cake out onto a breadboard and transferred it to the cake plate using a giant pancake spatula. Don’t fret over any blueberry topping stuck to the tin. 15. Serve in thin slices – lovely with yoghurt or lemon sorbet.

Kitchen

SOUR LEMON AND BLUEBERRY UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

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u Explain in your own words the idea of your company! What do you do?

Barcoo l brings more information about products to consumers. Just scan the barcode on groceries, consumer electronics or whatever with your smartphone camera to retrieve independent information, including price comparison with local retailers, environmental and health information and test reports. u What was the inspiration behind your idea?

We discussed advantages and disadvantages of various organic certifications and discovered that the assessments are available online. However, they are still not accessible when you really need them—while shopping. It was soon clear that more information could be added, so we launched barcoo. u How do you earn money? How do you finance your company?

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Greenpeace and Co. don’t pay us money when we link to their information.

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However, for complete transparency, information from non-profit organisations as well as from producers themselves are included. Those groups do have to pay when they want to publish their sustainability reports to our large audience. u Who is your target group? What is your market potential?

We don’t set restrictions. Everytime someone wants to know more about a product, he or she should use barcoo.

We continuously integrate new content—like lactose information or which cosmetics producer forgoes animal experiments. This can sometimes be specific to special interest, but it’s also relevant for everyone. u Where do you see yourself in five years?

We want absolute transparency for consumers. This is ever-changing and we can only get closer to this objective, so we hope that in five years we’ll be much closer than we even are now. In

Küche

five years, for example, I will be able to find out the carbon dioxide footprint of each individual product. This will work with barcoo and more than 10 million Germans will be able to utilise it. u Who do you see as your main competitors?

from Computer Science to Information Systems), we have done an interesting bunch of things—planning satellite missons, winning RoboCup World Championships and founding a software and consulting company. u Who was your first team member

Google with its Shopping app and Amazon in the non-food segment are competitors. The sheer size of our competitors shows how interesting our market is, but also that we have to watch out.

Those players possess an extremely strong market position and thus we need to be at least twice as good.

(which department?) outside the foun-

u What have you done before?

blog posts.

After finishing university (ranging

u How did you come up with your

ding team?

Our first team member outside the founding team was in marketing. In fact, we haven’t done (and still don’t do) any real marketing but instead focus on word of mouth PR. This position’s work revolved around social media and

company’s colours?

We have consciously decided against green, because we would have been perceived as pure eco app—and barcoo is so much more. We liked raspberry red from the beginning, and we stuck to it. u Who designed your company logo – external or internal?

This is a funny story: it was designed by my co-founder’s colleague’s intern.

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Nowadays he is a well-known artist with exhibitions in Moscow, as well as an academic position in design in Berlin. u Most often used software?

On laptops—besides basic functions like Windows and Chrome—it is Microsoft Office. It doesn’t sound exciting, but is part of the job. And I really like very good Power Point presentations. u Main food in starting up phase?

Right at the beginning during the home office phase, we cooked together nearly every day. Spot number one goes to pasta in all varieties. We cook mostly vegetarian. We are too engaged with issues of ethical consumption, energy efficiency and health topics to eat antibiotic-full chicken in quiet conscience. u Is the barcoo service especially interesting for women? If yes, why?

Yes, barcoo is very attractive to women.

The labeling of items as light helps female consumers to evaluate a particular food’s fat and sugar content at a glance. Women are often very good role models, in nutrition and also in maintaining a health-conscious lifesi st er M AG

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style. Another way we serve women is through our information about animal testing and cosmetics; we collected information about cosmetics companies that do not test on animals with the help of animal rights groups like Deutsche Tierschutzbund e.V., PETA Germany e.V. or gocrueltyfree.org. u What is in the pipeline for future developments? What new features or applications are planned?

Yes, we always work on new features and think about what information we could display in barcoo. For example, we will soon be able to show more wine information, like about producers and taste. Another important topic on our agenda is to display whether a food product is genetically modified or not.

Our users can look forward to what is coming up next.

FOUNDERS

l.t.r. Benjamin Thym | Martin Scheerer | Tobias Bräuer bottom Tarik Tokic

Kitchen

by MELIHA YANGÖZ l

The Kitchen Scale Dilemma My citrus coloured kitchen scale and me – we are best friends. We do trust each other, it never lets me down!

Mixer, whisk or coffee machine and even my oven – no one is able to hold a candle to my kitchen scale!

I need it everyday: for cookies, muffins, tartes and crumbles. Even when I make pasta I use the scale!

Since I found out that Italians weigh their noodles before cooking I do the same. 70 g per person is the amount each person gets in my household (although this is a mini portion). However the Italians must know their pasta.

My husband recently noted that I couldn‘t live without my friend anymore and whether it really was necessary to weigh everything – but really everything? The simple answer: yes!

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1 Mint-coloured scale – € 29.90 via Nostalgie im Kinderzimmer | 2 Weylux Queen Scale £75 via Objects of Use | 3 Scale from Terrain – $368.00

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However one day it happened: the scale got weaker, the lights did not blink anymore. In less than an hour we were awaiting guests and I hadn‘t baked or cooked anything.

“Can‘t you improvise and estimate?”, my loved one asked.

However I had always been relying on the scale. Blindly I had worked with her, thus ended up not even knowing how much 150g flour should be. The only thing I could “estimate” were the 2 eggs which the recipe called for.

The situation was quickly resolved by buying new batteries. However to prevent a situation like this I developped an emergency solution: a cup cake (not a cupcake!) and I also bought a retro scale without batteries!

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COCONUT-YOGURT BUNDT CAKE WITH LEMON SYRUP butter + flour for the form

2 cups plain yogurt (à 150 g)

2½ cups sugar (ca. 175 g)

1 Pck vanilla sugar

Salz

6 eggs 1½ cup neutral oil (ca. 250 ml)

1 cup flour (ca. 120 g)

2 cup semolina (ca. 130 g)

1 cup (ca. 65 g) + 1 tbsp coconut flakes

1 Pck baking powder

3–4 lemons

DOUGH 1. Butter a bundt cake form and sprinkle with flour. 2. Put yogurt into a bowl and wash the cups to use as measu-

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ring cups afterwards. 3. Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C. 4. Whisk 1½ cup sugar, vanilla sugar, salt and eggs with a mixer until creamy. Add oil to yogurt and fold into sugar mixture. 5. Mix flour, semolina, 1 cup coconut flakes and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add to the yogurt mixture. 6. Pour dough into the Bundt cake form and bake for about 50 minutes. 7. Remove from oven and let cool for around 20 minutes.

SYRUP 8. Squeeze lemons and measure 1/8l juice. Heat the juice with 1 cup sugar and bring to a boil. 9. Remove cake from form, then put it back in and pierce the cake with a long wooden skewer to make little holes. 10. Pour syrup over the cake and let cool for 1 hour.

Remove from form and sprinkle with coconut flakes.

Kitchen

by XX At times we find blogs we are instantly smitten with. Then a short scroll and a quick look at the sidebar reveal that there is so much more to explore from this blogger! Exactly this happens when opening Rachel Ball‘s blog . Not only her photography and recipes are worth spending a Sunday morning with.

You‘ll also find lovely kitchen goods in her online shop MIGNON. For sisterMAG she chose three of her favourite recipes and paired them with the perfect product!

SHOP

BAKE

PHOTOS & RECIPES:

© Rachel Ball l

MERINGUE COOKIES Makes about 2 dozen cookies Blog recipe l | Adapted from AllRecipes l Meringue Cookies are so easy to make because they only require two ingredients. Feel free to add in other flavors (like peppermint or lemon extract) or a even a little food coloring!

2 eggs at room temperature 1 cup powdered sugar Separate the yolks from the whites (save them for something else). Whip the egg whites until foamy (on medium speed if using a stand mixer). Slowly add in the powdered sugar a little bit at a time, while continuing to mix. Continue whipping until the mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form. Using a stand mixer, this took me about 10 minutes. The mixture should stay put if you hold the mixing bowl upside down.

Preheat your oven to 200째 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue (or use a plastic baggie with a corner snipped off). Pipe the meringue onto the parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 200째 F for about 90 minutes, or until they are crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.

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MERINGUE COOKIES

Kitchen

MINI BOXES Package these adorable treats as gifts in these mini boxes (set of 10 for $5 USD) l.

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APPLE GALETTE Makes 1 galette that serves 2-4 people A galette before is basically just a freeform rustic tart. They can be made with lots of types of fruit, but my favorite is one made with apples. A galette is a wonderful dessert for a party.

Blog recipe l | Adapted from eats.pinjing.net l

1. For the dough, sift flour in a large bowl.

Mix in sugar and salt. Cut in butter, working quickly, to prevent it from completely melting.

Continue until the biggest pieces of butter are roughly the size of large peas. Add chilled water a tablespoon at a time until the dough just FOR THE DOUGH 1 cup flour (I used a 50/50 holds together. 2. Gather dough into a disc, mix of white and wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 wheat) minutes. ½ tsp sugar 3. When the dough is ready, roll out on a flou 1/8 tsp salt red surface or on plastic wrap to a 14" circle 6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, about 1/8" thick. Transfer to a parchment pacut into small pieces per-lined baking sheet. Preheat oven to 400°F. 4. For the filling, place apple slices in a bowl chilled water, as needed (I used about with melted butter and sugar. Toss to coat.

6 tbsp) 5. Overlap the apples in a circle 2" from the edge of the dough. Continue spiraling inward FOR THE FILLING until you‘ve reached the center. Fold over the

2 medium apples edges of the dough, and sprinkle dough edge peeled, cored and sliced with turbinado sugar if desired (I do this for added texture more than for sweetness).

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted 6. Bake on middle rack of oven for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Rotate the galette every ¼ cup sugar ~ 15 minutes for an evenly baked crust. Serve turbinado sugar for topping (optional) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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Kitchen

APPLE GALETTE /1 2

HEART BALLOONS

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These heart balloons are lovely party decor to pair with the apple galette (set of 9 for $4.50 USD) l

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MEASURING SPOONS si st er M AG

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These small amount measuring spoons are perfect to use for making this cake if you‘re scaling down the recipe ($6 USD) l

Kitchen

BROWN SUGAR SPICE CAKES Blog recipe l

Makes 12 mini bundt cakes

The spices are what make this cake special. None of them are overpowering, and they all work together to make a tasty, comforting dessert that is so cute when baked in a mini bundt pan.

1½ sticks butter 1½ cups of packed brown sugar ¼ tsp nutmeg ¾ tsp cinnamon ½ tsp allspice ¼ tsp ginger ½ tsp salt ½ tsp of baking powder 3 eggs 2 cups of all-purpose flour ¾ cup of orange juice powdered sugar (optional) 1. Warm the butter in a mixing bowl. It should be nice and soft, but not completely melted. Add the brown sugar, spices, salt, and baking powder. Mix until well blended. 2. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until smooth. Lastly, add the flour into the mixture a little bit at a time, alternating with the orange juice. Keep mixing.

3. Pour into a cake pan and bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (In a mini bundt pan, it took 20 minutes.

4. For a single deeper cake, it takes about 30.)

When done, let cool on a wire rack and then dust with powdered sugar.

New Beginning in Deidesheim Spring has finally arrived and its rich green colour cheers everone up. Already some lunch meals can be enjoyed outside, especially when taking them in the sun-spoiled German wine-growing areas in Breisgau and Kaiserstuhl, on Bergstraße or in the Rhine Palatinate. The last one, more precisely the wine village Deidesheim is the topic of this wine column.

The Pfalz, as the Rhine Palatine is called in German, is Germany’s second largest wine-growing area with 23.500 hectare (the largest one is Rhinehessen). Riesling is the grape variety which is grown most often.

Meanwhile also remarkable red wines are grown here, especially Pinot Noirs.

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The wine from the Pfalz is deemed powerful, fresh, juicy and animating.

It is less delicate than Riesling from Mosel, Saar and Ruwer and not as strict and steely as the ones from the Rheingau region. Thus, the dry Riesling from Rhine Palatine can be a good start in the world of Riesling.

The region’s wineries in Southwest

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Germany offer a wide range of wine ranging from easy drinkable pint wine to more complex and durable world class white wine.

While during weekends happy wine festival atmosphere and drunken pint wine happiness predominates along the Southern wine route and its touristic centre Bad Dürkheim, the wine village Deidesheim in close neighbourhood has smarten up carefully and attends with great wines, cultivated restaurants and exquisite hotels.

The advertising entrepreneur from Neustadt, Achim Niederberger, has earned hereby a great deal of merits.

As passionate wine lover he bought step-by-step the Deidesheim wineries Geheimer Rat Dr. von Bassermann-Jordan l and Dr. Deinhard and led them to prosperity again with great effort. Another Riesling Blue Chip, the winery Reichsrat von Buhl l, is still leased to a Japanese wine merchant but also belongs to Achim Niederberger and is anxiously awaiting the upcoming modernisation.

The Buhl Riesling and also the spar-

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kling wine from vineyard locations in the region is especially clean and can be already recommended again like 100 years ago.

Results of Achim Niederberger’s restoration efforts can be seen in the formidable Bassermann-Jordan vinothek as well as in the associated boutique hotel Ketschauer Hof l (belongs to the Small Luxury Hotels of the World). Also associated is the restaurant Freundstück which owns a Michelin star. Equally recommendable is the wine bistro Bassermännchen, also situated in the cosy courtyard of Ketschauer Hof. The latest gem is the Winning winery l. Besides traditional wines of Dr. Deinhard, recently also spontaneously fermented Riesling as well as

some Pinot Noir and even Sauvignon Blanc from vineyard locations Deidesheim and Ruppertsberg are grown and offered under the name of “von Winning”. The claim is no less than to become the new flagship of Rhine Palatine wine.

As the brand Deinhard was secured by volume producer Henkell (remember the TV spot “Where ist the Deinhard?”), the name of the new Niederberger prestige project is von Winning – a tribute to the first cellar-master of the winery Dr. Deinhard in the 19th century. The descendants of Winning who live in Berlin will be delighted!

Excellent regional cuisine can be enjoyed in the attached restaurant Leopold with its carefully modernised interior which also lends itself to celebrations on a larger scale.

Photo © koja niska on Flickr l

At this point it becomes clear that nobody involved in this project wants to make big money with wine and gastronomy but the main concern is to create a monument for the owner.

All of the Niederberger objects are characterised by their quality – the owner’s marketing know-how is visible in the furnishing, the facilities as well as the high-quality design of the labels.

tine specialities – like the legendary Saumagen – have been enjoyed by several presidents and crowned heads. It’s still a pleasure today, even so Manfred Schwarz moved to Heidelberg and Stefan Neugebauer cooks in his stead und the Deidesheimer Hof radiates a certain 80s charm. But this makes it distinct and some people appreciate it more than the above mentioned perfection.

The reputation of Deidesheim has been established by others, specifically the former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and his “personal chef” Manfred Schwarz who was the responsible chef in the former leading restaurant in Deidesheim “Deidesheimer Hof” until 2003. The Rhine Pala-

Diagonally opposite the winehouse Zur Kanne l is situated. It belongs to the winery Bürklin-Wolf l from nearby Wachenheim, one of the largest privately hold German wineries, which produces premium Riesling since 1597 on 86 hectare acreage – the author likes especially the Rup-

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pertsberger which is typical for the variety. Regularly “Die Kanne” serves old Riesling by the glas and the annual slaughter festival is legendary.

Deidesheim and its wonderful old town with half-timbered houses and the adjacent Mittelhaardt vineries should be best visited if possible during the week starting with a wine tasting session during the morning (when the sense of taste is most pronounced), followed by a little tour through the vineyard locations and an opulent lunch.

Wine tastings and a tour of the wine cellars are normally possible by appointment – sometimes also sponta-

neously. Here are some other excellent wineries nearby, for example: u Traditionally produced, long-living Riesling from Kallstadter Saumagen

by Koehler-Ruprecht l (for experts) u Pinot Bianco by Bergdolt l or the upcoming Philipp Kuhn l u Riesling and wines made of the rare Scheurebe by Müller-Catoir l based in Neustadt-Haardt which itself is well worth seeing u Pinot Noir from Laumersheimer Kirschgarten or Großkarlbacher Burgweg by Werner Knipser l and Volker Knipser l The (Rhine) Palatine is about one hour’s drive away from Frankfurt Airport.

ALL LINKS FOR YOUR TRAVELS www.bassermann-jordan.de www.ketschauer-hof.com www.von-winning.de www.reichsrat-von-buhl.de www.buerklin-wolf.de www.gasthauszurkanne.de www.koehler-ruprecht.com www.weingut-bergdolt.de www.weingut-philipp-kuhn.de www.mueller-catoir.de

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www.weingut-knipser.de

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Winemaker‘s Column THE YOUTH OF TODAY

In this issue Monika Abraham again takes us on a tour through the world of wine Today she has interviewed her colleague Philipp Laipple – member of the talent initiative “Next Generation” The youth of today has a lot of potential. I have noticed this increasingly lately especially when observing the wine sector more closely. When I’m allowed to count myself among the “Young motivated”, I’m still nothing compared with some of the other young women and men I have met during my studies.

One of them is Philipp. We already met each other during our apprenticeship in the course of a competition with the title “Best Young Winemaker Germany”. Then it was a question of showing what we had already learned during our apprenticeship.

Today different things matter.

Not to be proud of yourself but of the wines you produce.

Not to be proud of yourself but of the wines others produce. si st er M AG

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Not to be proud of yourself but to be part of it.

To be solemn and passionate is really great and nearly inevitable when you work with wine.

I asked Philipp for an interview under this specific head note. Not only because we know each other for a long time, but also because he is part of a project for young winemakers. Born into a family of winemakers, he can tell a lot more about the topic “wine” than I can. Philipp is part of the group “Next Generation”.

It consists of 14 people whose parents are all members of “Fellbacher Weingärtner”, a cooperative wine-growers association near Stuttgart from the production region Württemberg.

Especially the cooperatives have caused a stir in recent years. Not too long ago their image stood for rather

Wine Rack

by XX

low quality. But this has changed visibly during the last years. Here it is not the case that too many cooks spoil the broth but rather: “When we all act in concert, we are much stronger”.

Cooperatives consist of an association of wine-makers who grow and harvest grapes either full-time or parttime and who then deliver them to the cooperative wine cellar. Especially in Württemberg this accounts for a large share of the wine production.

Ralf Bauerle, Supervisory Board Chairman of the Fellbach Cooperative, launched the project “Next Generation” in 2008. His reasoning behind was to integrate the young members more closely. They should not just deliver their grapes but also accompany the wine from the vineyard to the cellar to the bottle and finally to the customer.

The new generation also wanted to strike out in a new direction with the product.

The objective was not a cookie-cutter wine but a product which reflects both the diversity of the region and also its character. A young dynamic wine which exploits the natural resources to the maximum.

As Philipp is talking about this, I have to laugh a little bit. Of course character and naturalness are often used terms in wine marketing. Similarly most familiy businesses describe themselves as quality and tradition orientated.

But in this case it is really true!

Not only the wine itself is convincing – but also the enthusiasm of the people takes you away.

A relatively old facility is maintained in the vineyard. Although it does not deliver such big grape quantities the flavour of the harvested grapes is especially intensive. The aroma is mainly concentrated in the skin of the grapes, and the smaller the crop, the larger the share of the skin on the whole harvest.

Flavours are even more exploited through a very slow and cool fermentation. In this way a Riesling is

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produced which cannot be found every day.

Strong, diverse, intensive and thereby not a bit nimble.

Young, fruity, extraordinary.

A great type, produced by one woman and thirteen man.

Or as we would frame it among my student colleagues: cool stuff!

its freshness and colour, Pinot Noir infatuates with dark fruits and the Lemberger puts a spicy and velvet coat around the wine.

Résumé: Beautiful wine, great idea!

Of course I had to take advantage of the situation and to ask Philipp about his personal ambitions.

Standard question: “Where do you see yourself in a few years?”

Youthful appearance is also emphasised when it comes to the visual presentation of the wine.

The design of the label is minimalistic, eye-catching and logical.

Thereby not only the inside of the bottle is taken up by the boys and the girl but also the target customer is addressed. Clearly the wine is special but this should not be the reason to remain a niche product. It will please ‚trend drinker’ as well as young wine drinkers in general – beginners and experts.

A cuvee – a blend of wine – from Acolon, Pinot Noir and Lemberger. Three varieties of wine, each contributing their best to the bottle. Acolon brings si st er M AG

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He grins: “I have seen a lot of the wine world already, I have done my apprenticeship in the Pfalz and in Lower Württemberg, have seen South Africa

Wine Rack

by XX

and the Austrian Burgenland during my internships. I still want to get out in the world once and see wine from a different perspective. But then I want to come home. I would love to add some more hectare to the two and a half I already own.

“What is your objective?”

“To look back as an old man with the sentiment that everything I have done was right.”

“Great objectives! Realistic?”

Seriously! Wine – is enjoyed everywhere in the world. Wine made by more experienced winemakers is not inferior or superior to wine made by the young generation. There are so many good wines.

And the best thing about it: there is something in it for everyone. Fruity, strong, sweet or dry. If you dedicate yourself to this life and to wine, you will become a happy old man.

Isn’t that beautiful?

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u Explain in your own words the idea of your company! What are you doing?

u How do you earn money? How do you finance your company?

Wine in Black l sells excellent wine to a young quality-oriented target group.

The special feature: Wine in Black is an exclusive members-only club. Our members gain access to continuously changing, interesting wine offers. Each wine is only available for a very short period of time and in limited quantities.

In this way it is easy also for people without extensive experience in wine to buy the right one. Our clients can try exciting wines which you have to drink at least once in your lifetime in our opinion.

As eCommerce business we earn money with the sale of goods – in our case conveniently with firstclass wine!

Thereby we are supported by several Venture Capitalists who help us and other start-ups with capital and experience.

u What was the inspiration for your idea?

Another wine project which we have founded before. There we recognized that a young target group which enjoys quality wines but hasn’t got a lot of experience is not served well by existing Online wine shops.

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u Who is your target group? What is your market potential?

We target people between 25 and 45 who value quality and get enthusiastic about good wine. People in this age group find it rather difficult to gain access to the world of wine which sometimes comes across a bit aloft. Furthermore, time is scarce to consistently discover new inFOUNDER

Christian Hoya & Stephan Linden

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teresting wines and to develop the own taste. We make firstclass wines tangible and accessible for the target group.

We form with our very sophisticated selection the understanding of quality and the wine taste of our customer group.

u Who designed your company logo – someone external or internal? How long did it take?

u Where do you see yourself in five years? Currently we can’t even plan 5 weeks successfully. Exactly this dynamic we still want to feel with Wine in Black in 5 years time.

We were first located in Mainz but have moved now to Berlin, the (Internet) capital.

u Who do you see as your main competitors?

There are different camps in our company: lovers of crisp Riesling vs. fans of classic Bordeaux or racy red wine from the New World. What makes it into the Wine in Black selection was extensively tasted and has passionate advocates in our team! A clear favourite could not yet be determined.

Hawesko, Vinexus & Co. are established mail order companies for wine but their target group and customer age is very different. We reach a completely different and younger segment with Wine in Black. u What have you done before?

We discovered our interest for firstclass wines and good taste. u Who was your first team member (in which department?) outside the founding team? Editorial staff for wine

Internally, two nights. u In which city are you located?

u Do you have a personal favourite wine?

u What was the worst criticism so far? Up to now we have actually heard only positive things. u Main food during starting up phase?Coffein in all product forms, chocolate and of course wine.

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THE COLUMN

Native?

The buzz phrase “Digital Natives” is used in an inflationary way by many authors to explain what they perceive as the absurd behaviors of todays‘ modern generation. Whether we look in the comments column of a newspaper or the posts of proactive bloggers, the two words have gripped the world. Often the description has a somehow negative connotation, because the real meaning of the phrase mostly gets covered in a subordinate clause, while the reader stays unclear about these natives of the digital world.

Just a few weeks ago I was talking to a photographer friend about Twitter, Flickr and Facebook – services she uses intuitively and several times a week. However, she refused to call herself a Digital Native because she pictured some nerds dependent on the internet without a viable social life. What a pity! Truthfully, there is so much more to the phrase, which was introduced by Mark Prensky back in 2001.

DIGITAL NATIVE on duty

Not without distance but smitten by the digital possibilities, one true Digital Native will talk about her life and experiences at this spot of sisterMAG from now on.

I do fit a lot of the clichés, which are said to be true about Digital Natives and have made peace with a lot of the stupid terms we’ve been named – FacebookAddict, Online-Nerd or Web-Youngster.

For more than 12 years I‘ve worn a pair of eye-catching glasses every single day. Last time I went dancing I was carrying my iPad in a pastel blue purse and answered a blog comment in between cocktails – and purses are nowadays chosen entirely on their ability to fit a laptop. A few weeks ago I was bestowed the nicest title: I was called an internet bee, which collects links like pollen and disperses them again in the World Wide Web. Instantly I was imagining Willi – the little friend of Maya the Bee – with large Ray Ban glasses and an iPad tucked under his wing!

Today however, I want to start with a short technical discussion of the term, which is supposed to start our engagement with this topic.

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It is hard to clearly identify the group known as Digital Natives. Many experts only use the property of age to define the matter: according to that, all youth and adults born after 1980 are said to belong to the group, because they grew up with digital technology.

Thus, technology is embedded in their life so deeply that they cannot identify it as “technology”. In a second article Prensky proved, with the help of findings in the field of neurobiology, that the digital lifestyle can indeed change brain structures and thought processes. This is because the brain stays pliable to a certain extent through all of our life. Allowedly, cognitive processes do not change arbitrarily or randomly.

It actually takes hard work. According to Prensky (Digital Immigrant Part II – 2001 l) it took test subjects over 50 sessions to somehow change the thought patterns in their brain. Hence the constant preoccupation with hypertextuality or telecommunication via web can indeed change thinking processes of adults.

The definition strictly along age borders is therefore not viable. On the one

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hand not all youths and adults under 30 are “digitally literate”. To some extent young people consciously choose a lifestyle, which rejects the digital world. On the other hand not only young people show characteristics of Digital Natives.

If we group people according to their engagement in the digital world, we can identify following clusters: uu Digital Natives = People who were born in the digital age and do live a digital lifestyle uu People who indeed were born in the digital era (after 1980) but do not (want to) live a digital lifestyle uu Digital Settlers = People who were not born in the digital age, but live a digital lifestyle uu Digital Immigrants = People who were not born in the digital age, who only find their way into the digital world slowly and ponderously uu People who were not born in the digital era and do not have anything to do with the digital world Just taking a look at my own circle of friends, I find fellow students, relatisi st er M AG

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ves or acquaintances who fall into these groups. There is the graphic designer who goes nuts about the internet and whose whereabouts I can always check via Google Latitude. Then again I think about a few encounters with quite intellectually chaffering people who were quite snotty about me tweeting and posting on a daily basis. When I slipped the word eBook into the conversation they indignantly turned away from me and I stared at the cool back of the dark green sports jacket. So unlike my own parents! It took a while to convince my mom that she would like Pinterest. However after she finally signed up, the typical pinmania soon started. Only a few days after we giggled about some of her tweets and even got told off via Twitter: “If you always clean a little you don’t need a cleaning lady ;) … and @xxx wouldn’t have to always do heave-ho actions around the house” – in a manner of speaking this was the digital-parental reprehension!

You may moan about the term being seriously overused, however there is something grand in the idea of the “Digital Natives”. As Danah Boyd l, Social Media Researcher and one of the most influential women in technology,

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stated quite tellingly in 2007: “It is not a term that demarcates a generation, but a state of experience. The term is referencing those who understand that the world is networked, that cultures exist beyond geographical coordinates, and that mediating technologies allow cultures to flourish in new ways.”

It is less about staring on a monitor 24/7 and slowly drifting into an unreal digital world but much more about understanding that technology opens the possibility to communicate and befriend people without the restrictions of

geography or status. “In other words, a ‘digital native’ understands that there is no such thing as ‘going online’ […]”

(Danah Boyd) A wonderful thought for everyday life.

However, you cannot always live by that.

And when given the choice between a handmade strawberry crumble tart in a small corner café and the hundredth Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin you may still end up choosing the latter. Because in this moment you can only “go online” in the Starbucks on the high-street!

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E M O H T F R E S H START A vourite a f ir e h t r o f ogger l b s k s a G A eriorsisterM t n i y p p a h m r fro o g I y a d o T . s rites u product o v a f is h f o s which u s l l e t l m blog.co me! o h w e n a o t fit perfectly in cool litta s d e e n rt ta s h s e fr A daily 1 this corner e k a m n a c u Yo r. e rn co le breakfast shions, u c e m o s g in d d a y b t happy and brigh bric with flofa t n ra b vi is th f o t u o for example borne & s O m o fr n o tt o C R U B ral pattern: BA Little.

Light is crucial, especially when moving into a new flat. This chandelier from Lindsey Adelman is a real showstopper! If you keep the rest of your furniture simple and cheap you may be able to afford one of these artworks!

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Every day should sta rt with a good breakfast. As long as yo ur tableware is as ‚hap py‘ as these bowls an d cups from Kate Spa de, you cannot go wrong!

Kate Spade Wickford Sea Cliffs Stripe Colle ction: Bowl $30.00 | Cu p $19.00

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Every new beginning n eeds a littl of art. On a e bit new, white w all you shou ‚reminder‘ ld have the that each d ay on our g a ‚blossom reat planet ing new be is g i n n i n g ‘ Double M Print: €50. errick 00

by XX

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SELEeCng TEeDsteBlYlt vIoGnOIG ROJROJSOISFIF l

When you have all the essentials of your new furnishings, you can concentrate on details.

For example with these geometric cushions from Ferm Living â‚Ź54.00.

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6 Nothing adds more coziness and warmth to a new home than the light and aroma of a great scented candle. My favourite: Tisane Kerzen from Tatine!

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Being amazing designers, bloggers and online shop owners some of you might have heard about Bre Rademacher (http://blog.imbreannarose.com/) l and Emma Robertson (http://emmadime.com/) l. The sisterMAG team followed their sites and doings for a long time and was thrilled when the two of them agreed to answer some questions about their latest project: Our Paper Shop l. Read our interview and find out about their new beginning, what inspires them and what is lying on their desks right now!

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Our Paper Shop is a collaborative online store run by paper What is Our Paper and design enthusiasts. The shop focuses on all things PAPER Shop?

- a medium that we personally feel is amazing! There is something special about holding rich paper in your hands, reading the message that has been carefully printed on it, and enjoying every inch of the carefully designed piece. Our Paper Shop understands and appreciates the process of giving and interacting with well designed paper products - we hope that our shop inspires you to do more of both!!

How did you meet?

We have actually never met in person before: Emma lives in Los Angeles, California and Bre is in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We met thanks to Twitter - Emma was looking for a web coder to work with on a regular basis so she tweeted about it. Bre responded and we very quickly became a great team and tackled web based projects on a regular basis. After working together for a while and becoming good friends, not just work mates, we started brainstorming about opening a little paper shop that would allow us to create for ourselves and not just clients. We haven’t looked back since. We have plans for Bre to come to Los Angeles this summer so we can finally collaborate IN PERSON on our second line of products. We can’t wait.

When did you come We started working on the shop last year and then right away in up with the idea?

January of 2012 we had a shop - it came together pretty quickly!

I guess time flies when you’re working on something you’re passionate and excited about! We feel so lucky to have received the support that we did - we were left with plenty of resources to design a second line and design we will!!

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Do you only sell your own designs? If not, where do you find your contributors and designers?

The majority of our products are designed by us. When we first launched, we designed a calendar, collaborating with the photographer Laura Dart l. We are both big fans of her work and knew her images would yield an incredibly beautiful poster sized calendar. It ended up being one of our best sellers! We have plans to collaborate with other creatives in the future, based on who we think would fit best with our aesthetics.

EMMA

BRE

With our busy schedules as Where do you see freelance designers, Emma Our Paper Shop in a and I have made it a goal to refew year‘s time? lease new lines a couple times a year for Our Paper Shop.

With that said, we take extra care in perfecting every detail until we‘re 100% ready to release it to the world. I believe that with our design aesthetics and business practices, we‘ll continue to grow and hopefully find ourselves in stores all over the world in a few years time.

BRE I really love our house line set, What is your favou- for its simplicity and colors, rite item from your as well as the desktop details own shop? calendar. We constructed the calendar by hand and came up with something very sleep for modern desktops! si st er M AG

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I know that we both want our products to eventually be sold in stores. We have started compiling a list of shops that we’d love to have a presence in - that expansion will hopefully happen in the next year. If we keep it up, I’d love to be in the same city as Bre. We’ve done just fine being apart but I can only imagine how we would grow and improve the shop and as business partners if we were office mates.

EMMA I really love our Type Inspired line. They are bold, to the point, and are in a super beautiful font - who doesn’t love all of that?

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For us, anytime is a good time. We started Our Paper Shop, after all! We‘re both on the computer & our phones WAY too much, so when we can interact with someone away from those platforms, it’s incredibly real and refreshing. We are both big fans of snail mail and are always writing letters and putting together packages for friends.

One of the hardest things that each of us has had to do was create our independent freelancing businesses from the ground up. After attending undergraduate school, we were both faced with the rest of our lives and what it was that we wanted to do.

Honestly, it‘s a scary situation that numerous people could relate to! Each of us ended up on the path of a freelance designer and slowly developed our processes, networks, and portfolios.

Needless to say, it was a lot of late hours, little money, and fear of the unknown. However, we‘re both extremely happy with where we are in our lives ... working for ourselves. It‘s hard work, but 100% worth it.

EMMA

BRE

I of course look up to many creatives, whether they're graphic designers or not. One person that always stuck out to me, however, was Andy Warhol. In his time, he tried new things, took chances, and made colorful + modern work. I wouldn't say that I have a similar style to Warhol, but rather similar thoughts : modern simplicity, with a little bit of flair.

Why do you think, writing a real paper card is still important in this all-digital time?

What was the hardest or most frightening new beginning you ever had to live through in your life?

What designer insTo tell you the truth, my pires you the most as peers inspire me the most a graphic designer?

right now. Not only do I love to see the work their doing but I enjoy watching everyone succeed and do what they love. It helps me keep my chin up when I get frustrated or overwhelmed with the life of a freelancer and shop owner.

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14.00 l Paris Life Postcards $

4.00 l You Are Sweet Card $

left:

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0 - $18.5 .0 4 $ rd a C e in L e s u o H right: hank You Card $4.00 l

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EMMA

BRE The one thing that inspires me withWhat other things in out a doubt, is travel. Send me off anylife inspire you for where you please, and I‘ll be inspired new designs? in seconds. There‘s just something about leaving your usual workspace and experiencing new things that open up doors inside. My family took loads of road trips while I was growing up, so some of my most fondest memories are from watching different sceneries pass by me. I have big plans to travel all over the world and take in as much as I can, along with my handy dandy notebook.

BRE I choose to work through alWhich software do most everything in either Inyou use most often? Design or Illustrator. I enjoy having a large canvas in front of me with the ease of moving things around. I use photoshop for photo editing.

BRE

si

I‘ve been sketching a ton What product deve- in my kraft notebook, colopment is on your ming up with new ideas desk right now? for our line! But for the most part, I‘ve been playing around with fresh color palettes and typography for our next lines!

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I adore Magazines. They are a great way to step away from the computer and still be exposed to ideas and inspiration. It’s nice to have a tangible item that you can keep and display however you like. I love nothing more than when a friend comes over and finds joy in a pretty publication that I have out.

EMMA

Adobe Illustrator is my program of choice - Photoshop comes in second! I find that I have the most freedom in Illustrator and can really dive into getting messy with an idea or design!

EMMA

Right now, I have 3 tiny bottles of paint that are the prettiest colors you have ever seen! All of our current products were created on the computer or are photo based. For this next round, we wanted to introduce new materials and methods paint was my first choice! That’s all I can tell you for now.

THE FIRST EUROPEAN BLOG CONFERENCE MAY 19-20TH 2012 IN BERLIN

www.thehive-conference.com

The SoLoMo Shopper SoLoMo – A new era for eCommerce Who among us hasn’t shared a product recommendation via Facebook or Twitter, checked in via foursquare to find the most attractive offerings or coolest cafés around or pinned a pair of “Musthave” heels onto “My Style Pinboard” on Pinterest?

Social.Local.Mobile or short SoLoMo is the newest craze around.

In a nutshell, SoLoMo defines the fusion of social networks, local services and mobile applications. At the same time, it also represents a fundamental change in the way we use the internet and has resulted in new offerings on the World Wide Web. The way consumers behave is changing. Technology and culture continue to grow together in an unprecedented way because of the omnipresence of the web.

What does SoLoMo really mean - particularly to eCommerce?

New dimensions are being added to digital commerce on the internet: the components of social, local and mobile buying. The infographic below (adapted from a design from marketing compa-

ny CommerceInMotion l) shows the characteristics of the SoLoMo shopper and gives tips how to use that knowledge in real life.

Recommendations from friends via Social Media is becoming a vital factor in influencing purchase deicisons and helps us to filter through products and discover new ones. Due to mobile internet these recommendations are available instantly, anywhere. Mobile phones are a gateway into the real world. We can buy products in every place and ask friends for their help in every situation. Thus we can ask our friend network for advice and recommendations even standing in the store.

Studies prove that over 50% of consumers use their mobile phones to gather information before making a purchase.

Around 60% tell their friends about their bargains using a mobile phone.

Besides the informative and social use of the mobile phone there is another exciting area: triggering the impulse to buy through mobile services at the point of sale (cf. article “Augmented

by NADINE BRENDEL l

Reality: Fashion meets Technology�, sisterMAG Issue 1). Tablets are particularly handy in these scenarios. What used to be a printed catalogue can be now delivered to the customer via tablets and the digital world.

Two areas essential for a successful SoLoMo strategy are: interaction and networking. The seamless integration

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of online and offline offerings is most important. The appearance of the brand in the web as well as in real life should be consistent. Another vital point is the complete infrastructure of information throughout all relevant social networks and making sure that people can access your products and offerings no matter which channel they choose.

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The French beauty company Sephora, for example, just revised its whole digital strategy – a spring “social, local and mobile makeover” you might say! There is not only a renewed iPhone app but also a new mobile website (m.sephora.com). Sephora also wants to enhance its products’ experience in stores, furthermore offer all of its product information digitally. For this purpose the cosmetic giant plans to install iPads in over 100 stores. These tablets are also supposed to be used to collect their customer’s data. Products can be purchased again using this data, therefore remembering your favourite tone of concealer. The integration of Pinterest, using the “Pin It Button”, enables you to share their products via social networks. “One major reason for Sephora being almost a digital thinktank is the fact that our headquarter is in San Francisco” says Julie Bornstein

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(Vice President Digital Operations) in an interview with Techcrunch. San Francisco – the mecca of tech industry – gives Sephora new impulses and engagement to start-ups on a daily basis.

One thing remains crystal clear: SoLoMo applications and platforms do play a huge role in commerce these days.

Imagine for a second, there were no such applications and offerings in your daily shopping routine. SoLoMo strategies offer great possibilities in the field of data gathering and measurability.

New technologies and services use the data on your device (such as local search results or social streams) to get your local position to find the perfect offerings for you as an individual customer. It remains interesting to see whether we really get accurate information, at the right time, at the right place through this method of “hypertargeting”.

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by XX Music brings back memories or triggers moods. On the other hand you sometimes remember a long forgotten song when looking at a picture. Visual impressions and acoustic experiences are very often connected to each other. That‘s why we introduce the new section “Pic & Sound”. Here we show you a beautiful photo/image/artwork and ask music enthusiasts for their matching song tipp.

PIC&sound

Music tip from Christoph Blaas

Carousel in Paris / France (Photo 8 x 10) from magalerie found on Etsy

Song: 12 Juin 3049 Artist: Caravan Palace Album: Clash

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Pic found by Thea Neubauer

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Sound&pic

Music tip from Anna SchmalfuĂ&#x;

Song: Florac Artist: Pantha du Prince Album: This Bliss

Pic found by Thea Neubauer

Artist: Susann Carter Hall Titel: Red Light, Limelight (2011) Size: 12 x 12 inches Material: Oil on Canvas

You love music and want to find the music counterpart to next issue‘s visual beauty?

Then write to us at mail@sister-mag.com! l

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by CORINNA BLAICH l

Band review : Kaizers Orchestra Kaizers Orchestra l is one of the bands which haven‘t really been discovered outside of Scandinavia. Otherwise their melodious pop music should be on the tip of everyone‘s tongue, because I cannot think of anything that would withhold the comparison.

Maybe it is because of their Norwegian heritage. The Scandinavian countries full of darkness, lonely woods and idyllic lakes are said to be drawn to melancholy and dreams.

Kaizers Orchestra however is not only incredibly imaginative and romantic.

The videos remind you of Tim Burton‘s “Alice in Wonderland”: complex and intricate production with costumes which could have scared you as a child.

The music of Kaizers Orchestra is as film-like as their visual representation in the music videos. The Norwegian language plays a big part in this, it sounds very three-dimensional and obviously does not prevent Kaizers Orchestra from being successful outside their home country.

Two years ago a writing session got out of hand and Kaizers Orchestra ended up with over 50 songs which could have

been released with the next album.

That was completely impossible. The solution: a trilogy. The first two parts have been released already. At the end of this year the story comes to an end with Violeta / Violeta Vol. 3.

THE STORY Violeta is the daugher of a caring father and an oddish mother, Beatrice. This woman is possessed by demons and is able to communicate through dreams by planting her visions in a garden.

The father cannot come to terms with this situation and decides to kidnap his daughter and hide Violeta from her mother.

For a period of seven years Beatrice bemoans the loss of her daughter.

Every day a bucket is filled with tears.

However after seven years she decides to find her daughter and to bring her back.

Even who doesn‘t understand the Norwegian language is able to understand the songs from Kaizers Orchestra. I promise!

DEFINITELY LISTEN TO: Hjertenknuser l on tape.tv

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On a Treasure Hunt with Leslie Feist An Evening at Royal Albert Hall, London.

An unusually sunny weekend draws to a close on this Sunday evening. The London Hyde Park is full of life. Londoners enjoy the last sun rays of the day. In the south of the park the Royal Albert Hall shines majestically in the sunset and attracts a diverse audience on this evening: from student to broker, from hipster to classical opera visitor. Leslie Feist, Canada‘s most unusual voice talent, has invited and nearly 6.000 fans follow her call.

All the very big names in music business have been guest in this concert hall which evokes memories of a Roman amphitheater. Also Feist plays in a different league since her 2007 album “The Reminder”. The record itself was already a complete success. But then Apple called and made her song “1234” soundtrack for its new iPod campaign.

Suddenly she played her concerts in stadiums. The success has left it‘s traces.

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peared from the scene for nearly two years.

With “Metals”, her fourth studio album, she came back last fall. This album lacks the poppier ease of the predecessor. It sounds more melancholic, more difficult, louder, less mainstream.

And still she achieved her first Top-10 position in the US-American album charts with it. Feist considers it a “treasure hunt” - after everything in her life - and takes the audience with her on the journey.

Hereby she is supported by her band as well as by the acapella trio “Mountain Man”. Conjointly new pieces of music are performed as well as classics like “Gatekeeper”,

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by JULIAN ROTHKAMP

“My Moon My Man” and “Let it Die” in new arrangements. Feist let‘s her unique voice carry through the room up to the top rank and creates despite the impressive size of the hall a special, intimate atmosphere.

Whether reciting solo vIntuition” or performing together with special guest M. Ward who opened the evening, Feist enthuses. And so her musical visit comes to an end much to early despite numerous encores.

She plays music and with her audience. They sing, laugh and dance together. To “So Sorry” she transforms her audience in one gigantic choir of thousand voices and to “Let It Die” she invites there and then all attendees on stage for a dance together. Airs and graces - no.

We left the hall longingly, wanted to listen more to her voice. A voice which enchants with touching texts and music that remains. It was a special evening at a special place.

versal

Photos: Mary Rozzi. © Uni

TO LISTEN AND READ Feist l Official Site www.listentofeist.com/ Mountain Man l mountainman.bandcamp.com/ M. Ward l http://mwardmusic.com/ Current Album

“Metals”

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u Explain in your own words the idea of your company! What do you do?

When we have to describe stereomood l, going straight to the heart, we like to start by telling a simple story.

“Imagine… a late night: you‘ve turned down the lights, maybe poured a little wine… and someone else is there with you. You still need one more thing: mood music. stereomood is the only web service that turns your mood into music”.

With the click of a button you can access the original music selections to listen to and to share, always tuned with your own emotional desires.

Actually, stereomood allows you to listen to music without being forced to choose a genre, artist or album. Our mood-based programme is an insight which gives rise to a new listening experience, perfect for those who are ready to open up for different or unexpected discoveries, as well as those who don’t have enough time to create the best soundtrack for their day: from a candlelit dinner, to sunday morning si st er M AG

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awakening, to the perfect playlist for studying or for a theme party. stereomood sources the music from the best independent music blogs worldwide. We already have classified over 50.000 tracks, rearranged in more than 100 mood playlist, listened by 1M monthly unique visitors. Music curation is made possible thanks to “social tagging“: the users add tags of their choice to a song according to the related mood. u What was the inspiration for your idea? stereomood’s idea was born in February 2008 in Milan (Italy) when we worked together in Mtv. Giovanni. We were absolutely exhausted by Maurizio who played “apocalyptica” in an unbelievably loud volume. We therefore wanted to provide him with an online tool to arrange and share the newest tracks from the best international music blogs. How many times do we get up on a sleepy sunday morning with the

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desire to play great and lively songs on the spot, without wasting a lot of time looking for the right CD or MP3 file? u How do you earn money? How do you finance your company?

Our revenue model is based on moodadvertising. Brands are invited to promote their products through homepage backgrounds and customized mood playlists to reach our young, curious and passionate audience. u Who is your target group?

Our users are smart and young people that love to discover new music coming from independent labels. We have mainly female listeners.

We are proud to say that our followers are really loyal and quickly get addicted to the stereomood concept. As you can see from our facebook fan page, the

community counts more than 110.000 faithful lovers!

And we didn’t spend 1$ in advertising – word of mouth is our only marketing tool! u Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In 5 years? A lot of time for a startup company! We have the dream that we want to become the top music recommendation service, based on moods.

Our mission is to enrich people‘s lifes by enabling them to share their emotions with music, enjoy music they know and discover music they love … anytime, anywhere. u Who do you see as your main competitors?

Compared to direct competitors such as Musicovery, The Sixtyone and Song-

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za, stereomood is already the first music website to provide playlists based on moods or emotions, but we compete with all the streaming web radio and music recommendation systems ….

The market in this field is pretty lively, and every day we see the rise of several and innovative service. We know that consumers are driving the digital music revolution, and we listen to their suggestions to improve our product. uu What did you do before?

We worked at MTV Italia as graphic designers and web developers. Daniele was web developper and SEO at MTV and freelancer.

Eleonora worked at MTV and Walt Disney as graphic and UI designer. uu Who was your first team member outside the founding team?

Claudio, our music manager, was the first to be hired. uu How did you come up with your company’s colours?

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Colours and images influence our emotions in a variety of ways. Most importantly, it‘s the first touch point with a customer. Because of our close connection with music and emotions, we

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decided to use images as the main subject of our site, amplifying the emotional experience on the website. We change the background image every week choosing from a selection of Flickr users, and in the future we would like to use the background as mood branded pages for commercial use.

The other colors we use are basically black/white and a fluorescent green.

We chose that after an analysis of our target customer and the world of independent blogging. After two years we are now working on a soft restyling. uu Who did design your company’s logo – external or internal?

We designed the logo internally as visual representation of everything our company stands for. The logo is supposed to build loyalty between our business and our customers, establish a brand identity – providing the professional look of an established company.

The gradient colours we chose for the icon and the claim immediately generates a warm feeling. We have spent a lot of time deciding the final version you see on the website, but we really love the result!

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u In which city are you located?

Now we are in San Francisco, to discover the land where music meets the web! We will come back to our headquarter in Rome in the next months. u Most often used software?

A while ago we started using some project management tools to organize all the task we have to do, to deliver support to our customers and collect the files we’ll never email again! We are using Apollo, Zendesk and Dropbox. u Main food during starting up phase?

Due to our Italien spirit and heritage: pasta and Italian wine with a pinch of Mexican guacamole! u Anything you’d like to add?

We’re going to launch the app both for Android and iOS to allow people to take the stereomood experience with them.

sisterMAG Favourite from stereomood.com

Perfect to find new artists. Our favourite playlist while layouting this issue: CHILLOUT l. An excerpt:

KEEP SECRETS Kova BUY l JUNGLE RAG Anon DOWNLOAD l GOLDEN MORNING – Nostalgia 77 BUY l LIMBO Jaws vs. Paws DOWNLOAD l IN FIELDER Miró Belle DOWNLOAD l

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Notion of time in Ancient Egypt

The constant return of the “First Time” One is not disappointed when asking for new beginnings in the land of the Pharaohs. The potential for changes and new beginnings through new dynasties and foreign sovereigns is immense in 5000 years of cultural history with which students and scholars of Egyptology occupy themselves – speaking only of political change. Additionally, there are ritual dynamics, climate changes and natural catastrophes or the use of technical innovations in military and agriculture. The following article does not want to be a dry history lesson with lots of facts but wants to take on the main topic of this sisterMAG’s issue much more centrally: “New beginnings”.

NOTION OF TIME When dealing with breaks and new beginnings one has to know that the ancient Egyptian notion of time differs considerably from ours today. This manifests itself already in the two words for “eternity”: one is Nechech – the cyclical time, and the other Djet – the linear time. Inscriptions for good wishes or invocations to deities attest that wishes were made e.g. for the pharaoh both in the Nechech and the Djet eternity. Even in Christian prayers it is often said “... from eternity to eternity”. How can we imagine these two notions of time?

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R

by FRANZISKA NAETHE

l

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Recurring events like the seasons, the Nile flood when fields were flooded with fertile mud and especially religious feasts were meant with cyclical time. Although natural phenomena determine the calendar and ancient Egyptians were definitely aware of this, religious rituals are more important for this. It was not sure whether the sun would rise again on the next day!

The sun god Re rode with his ship – the sun barque – hour after hour across the day sky and was shining in his brightness. In the night he passed the underworld and had to fight many opponents.

These included the gigantic snake Apophis which drank away the water so that the barque – and thus time itself – was always in danger of being stopped. As a result rituals and prayers had to be fulfilled so that the rise of the sun was secured for every new day. This is to be understood with cyclical time: the return of the “First Time”, i.e. the creation of the world which has to be defended over and over again. A constant new beginning is observed, day after day. The linear time, Djet, is closer to our progressive notion of time.

SEASONS The Ancient Egyptians differentiated only between three seasons: Peret – the “going out”, the time of seeding; Akhet – the time the fields were flooded with fertile mud from the Nile and Shemu – the time of heat and harvest. The period of Akhet offered the opportunity for big building projects like temples, pyramids and tombs to be brought forward.

The year was divided into twelve months à 30 days. The ancient Egyptians worked a ten-day week. After 360 days five more days were added: the “dangerous days” (professional term: Epagome-

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nal Days). Each of these days was under patronage of one god: Osiris, Horus, Seth, Isis and Nephthys. In these days people had to be especially careful of dangers. They believed that harm could strike quite quickly at that part of the year. The same was stated in a 3000 year old hemerology (calendar of lucky and unlucky days, book of fate) which included a prophecy for every day of the year.

One example for the forth Epagomenal day, it runs as follows: “Day 4: Birth [of Isis]. Words to be recited on this day: Oh Isis, this goddess which follows […], daughter of Nut, mistress of Upper and Lower Egypt. Save me against all bad and harmful things! Save (your?) son Horus on (this) day! The name of this day: “which gives horror”. ”

We encounter the phenomenon of “dangerous days” also in European manuscripts from the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age: even there it is referred to it as “dies aegyptiaci” or the “Egyptian days” which one has to be careful of.

365 days have been reached now. But also the quarter day to fill the 365,25 days of a year was known to the ancient Egyptians.

Therefore, from time to time the reigning pharaoh prescribed intercalary days. When the Roman APPROX. general Caesar met the Egyptian SEASON MONTH EQUIVAqueen Cleopatra in the 40s B.C., LENT Akhet (flood) Thoth June not only a lovers’ relationship with Paophi July a son born to the couple develoHathyr August ped but also the Julian calendar Choiak September reform – created predominantPeret (seed, “win- Tybi October ter”) ly by a scholar from the Egyptian Mecheir November Phamenoth December metropolis of Alexandria. The taPharmouthi January ble gives an overview of the EgypShemu (harvest, Pachons February tian calendar. “summer”) Payni March Ephiphi Mesore

April May

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Thus, the end of the year is not like in the Gregorian calendar at the end of December but in spring. The Nile flood and therefore the New Year with the season Akhet began together with the heliakian rise of the star Sirius. plate: Sopdu, the Egyptian personification of star Sirius) (Wikipedia.de, lemma Wepet-renpet, by Jeff Dahl, GNU licence)

The ancient Egyptian rulers are counted according to families, i.e. dynasties. When a new ruler acceded to the throne, a new year counting started. The time periods were clearly defined by mourning rituals for the dead pharaoh and crowning rituals for his/her successor. So a new year started even though it was not the end of the calendar cycle. Chronologies are not easy to use, especially when you compare dates from ancient texts (e.g. ancient Egyptian and Babylonian dates) or you are confronted with objects that are dated with scientific methods like the C14 analysis. However, Egyptologists can determine most dates accurately to two days.

But how did dating in Egypt work? Here the example of a marriage contract: “Year 3, month Mesore, of king Ptolemy (IVth), son of Ptolemy (IIIrd) and Berenice (IInd), the beneficiant gods, when Demetrios, son of Apelles, was priest of Alexander and of the brotherloving (and) beneficent gods, when Nymphais, daughter of Nymphion, was kanephore (= female priest) of Arsinoë, the brotherloving goddess. The Blemmye born in Egypt (= representative of a Sudanese tribe) Harmais, son of Harpaesis, his mother is Wen-Isis, has said to the woman Taesis, daughter of Chayris, her mother is Hemdjert: I have made you my wife.” (papyrus Hauswaldt 6)

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An exact day is not stated in the text. After converting this to the Gregorian calendar the month Mesore in this year was between 8th September and 7th October 219 B.C. – which means 2229 years and some months ago.

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WEDDING AS NEW BEGINNING The wedding marked a new beginning in the life of women and men. As a general rule the bride moved into the household of the husband. Marriage contracts – like the above cited – on huge papyrus scrolls with long information about dates retained the rights of both partners and prescribed meticulously which estates, valuable clothes and jewels as well as other assets were dowry of the wife. In case of divorce the husband had to pay those back. The marriage itself was foremost a formal act through the settlement of possessions and not a vow. Only a few sources inform us about festivities. For example on this quite plain papyrus with the invitation to a wedding it is stated: “Herais asks you to come to the meal celebrating the wedding of her son in the great Thoëreum (= hall of the hippo goddess in the temple district) tomorrow, on the 26th, from the 9th hour onwards.”

Fig.: Papyrus Oxyrhychus 75, 5057. The invitation was written on a big papyrus which was then cut up. On the left, the rest of a second invitation is visible. (Source: Papyrological Navigator, Text Database)

TOUGH TIMES

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There are of course also difficult times in 5000 years of cultural history. In historical review these are periods in which no central government in one residence but local principalities existed.

These might have been times of prosperity for the individual local ruler but history perceived and still perceives these periods as crisis for Egypt. Under the name of Ipuwer a complaint from the 19th century B. C. is preserved which says:

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“Truly, hearts are violent, epidemics swipe through the country, everywhere is blood, there is no lack of death […] In fact, the country is rotating like a potter’s wheel, bandits have ownership, the [rich?] are the raiders.” (from the front side of Papyrus Leiden 344 V, column 2)

This text does not offer a conciliatory ending – unlike most other literary complaints of this kind. Often these are designed as prophecies which announce dire phases. However, they almost always give hope with the reference to a future “messias” or a “golden age”. Then the country would be loved by the gods again.

LIFETIME For a person 100 or 110 years were considered to be the ideal lifetime which could be bestowed by the deity. In a teaching the individual life phases are named: “He (= the human being) spends 10 (years) being young without recognizing life and death. | He spends another 10 years taking on work and learning whereof he can live later. | He spends another 10 years saving and earning possession so he can live on. | He spends another 10 years until he reaches seniority, before his heart reaches understanding. | 60 years remain within his whole lifetime, which Thoth (= ancient Egyptian god of wisdom) awarded to the pious ones. | One in a million is blessed by god and experiences them (= these years) when fate is well-disposed.” (Papyrus Insinger 17, 3-18, 4)

Every reader might determine for her- or himself which blossoming new beginning she or he is just pursuing. But the lifetime periods should be taken with caution: they only applied to the ancient Egyptian elite and with a much shorter life expectancy than in today’s Western industrial world. Twenty-year-olds had already finished their education and were concerned about a splendid tomb because life expectancy amounted – even for the privileged ones with access to health care – only around 60 years.

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There is probably no place on earth, which is better connected to the world of entrepreneurship, tech startups and the dynamics of founders, as the Silicon Valley. To have your office space in this hub of young companies and innovative ideas is every founder’s dream. This dream came true for Fair Observer° after being given one of the first scholarships of the programme “German Silicon Valley Accelerator” by the German Ministry of Economics. However a closer look at the ‘scholar’ does not reveal the cliché app full of easy-scalable technology, absolutely independent of resources. It rather suggests a new approach to news journalism. sisterMAG got hold of one of the founders of the multinational team in Germany and we talked about the vision of Fair Observer.

Fabian Neuen sits across the table on a mild and sunny spring day. He’s just arrived in Berlin after a short stay in Munich where the German office of the international startup is located.

It is, however, only a short stop and he’ll be off to Istanbul and finally back to the Silicon Valley sson. Travelling around the world and a form of international homelessness is nothing out of the ordinary: Neuen grew up in different countries, Congo and France among them. He studied in Germany, Philadelphia and Singapore before working as consultant on projects in India and China. He himself therefore represents the target group of si st er M AG

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his recent project: the news platform Fair Observer wants to reach educated professionals in the whole world.

The articles, texts, background stories and so-called 360° perspectives are supposed to appeal to three groups of people: “First of all people who work in the academic sector – which also includes students – but also people who work in high positions in politics or economy.

They all have one thing in common: typically they’ve undergone an education where they lived, studied or even worked in a foreign country. Hence they have a natural connection to other places and an inner joy to deal with other countries and cultures. In their professional life

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they usually have to research but also take decisions, which are enmeshed in foreign affairs, and they have to handle these on a daily basis.”

I wonder – which problem Fair Observer wants to resolve? What do these people miss in their daily life full of information and in an almost unmanageable media landscape: ‘The first problem we see is the one-sidedness. We do have a wide variety of media offers, especially in a country like Germany or America, however they only differentiate via a political shading. Simultaneously today’s life is much more global, which means that events have a global impact – whether it is the Arabian Spring or Fukushima. It is therefore fatal that we don’t have a media platform which shows us how people in other parts of the world think about and judge these events.

The second problem is the focus on events. Most of the time we only consume the short and hasty news. No one takes the time to pause and reflect – a service like Twitter evidently shows this development.

Finally we criticize the missing context: people cannot understand current events without background information and explanations.’

A closer look at the few publications which are still growing in this time where “newspapers are the fastest shrinking industry of the world” gives

360°

Make sense of the world An interview with Fabian Neuen – Co-Founder of Fair Observer fairobserver.com l

the founders hope: The Economist doubled its circulation over the last ten years (www.economistgroupmedia.com l), the circulation of German newspaper, ZEIT, is also slowly increasing. Both newspapers stand for quality journalism and well-researched content: ‘There is an incredible variety of media out there, however it gets more and more difficult to find quality offers. There are a lot of niches, but the mainstream flattens, gets more and more driven by events. I strongly believe that there are enough people who want more. Those have to laboriously search for information, which is why we see a potential for Fair Observer.

The idea for Fair Observer didn’t come overnight. Life in different countries, growing up in an international context regularly showed Neuen and his partner – the Indian originated Atul Singh – different viewpoints: ‘I sat in a politics course in my MBA covering Europe in 19th century. In Germany we talk about this time under the headline of “The German question” whereas English people will discuss “The si st er M AG

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German Problem”. Great Britain and Germany are culturally really not that far apart – how different must be the viewpoints in other cultures, how much must opinions drift apart globally!’

The tipping point that resulted in the inception of Fair Observer happened at the “Global Media Summit” in New York, 2010, where “analysis” became a buzzword for the attendees. The duo, which met during an entrepreneurship course at Wharton School in Philadelphia, started conceptualizing a media product which would offer analysis and background articles to a bigger mass market: ‘Not because we are journalists, but because we suffered from the lack of information ourselves. We just started this project although our chances to succeed are not the greatest.’

The duo now has a third co-founder, Christian R. Becker. The studied medical doctor closely worked with Neuen in India and is now driving the Business Development side of the news platform. The most recent addition to the team is Christian Gehl as CTO of Fair Observer who previously

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Fabian Neuen | Atul Singh | Christian Becker

worked on the startup Trifense. They met in Silicon Valley. Obviously thrilled about Fair Observer’s newest acquisition, Neuen seems confident that this will take the technological side of the platform to the next level. Common knowledge in the entrepreneurial world: developers and tech experts are a rare and precious find.

The editorial concept of Fair Observer quickly reveals that we look at a product of the digital and globally connected world. An editing team of voluntary helpers check every article in terms of lingual and factual correctness. The authors come from all corners of the world: ‘In the beginning we activated our own networks searching for great authors.

Then we started an intensive phase of cold acquisition: we set topics and researched the leading experts in those fields. We then simply wrote to them and this approach worked quite well.

We now still do this to a certain amount, but a lot of authors now approach us and want to write.

How do we make sure that the quality is satisfying? We do not only look at the CV but at the actual written piece. In our pool of authors you can find every level of seniority: from students up to pensioned diplomats or generals. People may write fantastic articles but you won’t find evidence of that in their CV. Simply judging from their career you’d probably end up rejecting them. We want to avoid that.’

Right now all the writers work for Fair Observer at no pay. The monetisation of such a media project is a huge challenge – even the giant publishing houses feel this nowadays. Fair Observer pins its hopes not only on revenues from advertising but also hopes for synergies with other national media and project intakes.

Think big and be innovative is one lecture the team is constantly hearing in the Silicon Valley since February. The programme “German Silicon Valley

Accelerator” wants to offer innovative startups an opportunity to get to know the American market.

Practically it means that young companies move to the valley for three to six months. There they sit with an incubator and compare notes with the local startup scene: ‘It is much bigger and a lot crazier than the local scene we know in cities of Europe. The people here have literally seen everything and quite frankly tell you what you have to do better. At this point it is the right input for us. We have worked about one year to build a large and – as we think – qualitatively good content network. Now we have to execute our idea and need mentors who show us how to do this.

To position yourself with a media idea isn’t easy wherever you are in the world.

Especially in Germany it is difficult because people are much more afraid of risks. Therefore we see this programme as huge chance to find affirmation – hopefully in financial aspects as well.”

Moving to the Valley does not only mean getting an office space – which pragmatically means a cubicle in a si st er M AG

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bunker-like building – but to explore the traces of great role models: ‘Driving along the motorways you pass some of the biggest names – Intel, Google, Apple or Motorola. You cannot fight the thought that history was written in this part of the world. These visionaries just went for it – not only one time. Probably millions of ideas failed.

However the few which succeeded encourage the willingness and joy to found.’

We talk further about the differences of startup life in Germany, especially Munich, and America. Openness is important: even at the earliest stage of an idea people will tell you every‑ thing about it looking for feedback and intending to spread the word. In Europe people are much more reserved in that sense and don’t talk as much about their ideas. Furthermore, everyone thinks bigger and instantly on a global level. Another characteristic is the focus on technology: ‘Everyone puts all its hopes into technology, less into humanity or the intellectual curiosity of people. With our project we

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for sure are the exotics. First we attract attention as a duo of German and Indian founders. Secondly it is not usual to focus on the content side of things.

Although we are noticed more often than the typical startup, a lot of people therefore do not understand our business model!’

A lot has to be done for the future of Fair Observer. The present platform is still in beta phase and not representative for the actual product, Neuen explains. On the one hand the share of the 360° analysis articles is only at 20%. On the other hand the visual representation hasn’t been finalized.

Prospectively the reader will find different 360° topics on the front page of Fair Observer. Next to the so-called context article, users will be able to choose different perspectives from authors from all over the world using a global map. Thus Fair Observer also wants to introduce a kind of playful approach to using the service. For people with little time to spare, there will also be an automatically generated synopsis of different perspectives

– ready to print or to display on iPad and other readers.

Hence busy months lay ahead for the team. Obviously, Neuen and the team of Fair Observer enthusiastically believe in the power of great content: ‘If people search for background articles and quality, they should think of Fair Observer. That is the qualitative goal of our doings. If we succeed in that we will have accomplished a whole lot.’ Just before Neuen goes off again to work at this vision, I ask him for the best advice he was ever given. He doesn’t think too long before quoting a phrase he once read by Benjamin Franklin: “WELL DONE IS BETTER THAN WELL SAID.” ThN

soundSNIPPET Click here to hear what Fabian Neuen sounds like.

u Explain in your own words the idea of your company. What are you doing?

Skoobe l is a mobile library for smartphones and tablets. Our Skoobe members can borrow rather than buy eBooks from more than 70 publishing houses. u What was the inspiration for your idea?

The idea origins in the classic publishing world, we try to combine the advantages of a library with the advantages of the digital world with the realization of our project. u How do you earn money? How do you finance your company?

A Skoobe membership costs 9.99â‚Ź whereby the participating authors, publishing houses and Skoobe get their revenue shares. u Who is your target group? What is your market potential?

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There are many people already now who borrow books from their friends

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or from the municipial library. Moreover there are numerous readers who read on their Smartphone or Tablet.

Skoobe will expand the market for digital reading. u Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

The book market and our reading habits are changing because of new reading devices and new offers. We want to contribute our share to secure reading and books also in the future their proper place. u Who do you see as your main competitors?

Of course eBook retailers like Amazon, iBooks, Textunes or pubbles but also other offers like Gaming or Facebook because we all compete for the time of the reader. u What have you done before?

Henning is Chief Technical Officer.

After studying Computer Science at the University of GĂśttingen and at the

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Max-Planck Institute in Saarbrücken he was Co-Founder and CTO at Absolventa GmbH. Christian is Chief Business Officer.

After studying Economics at Brunel University and completing his MBA at IESE Business School he started 2005 at Bertelsmann, since 2006 he accompanied the digitalisation of books at Random House as Project Director Corporate Development.

u Who was your first team member (in which department?) outside the founding team?

In IT u How did you come up with your company’s colours?

We experimented with a lot of colours and green came closest to the Skoobe idea. u Who designed your company logo – someone external or internal?

How long did it take?

The logo was developed

by Hannah, our Graphic designer. We had several names and many logos, asked our friends and users and decided in the end for our Skoobe logo.

The whole process took several months.

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u In which city are you located?

We have our office in Munich, a few steps from Gärtnerplatz in the city centre. u Most often used software?

Skoobe u Main food during starting up phase?

Currywurst from Bergwolf around the corner, Leberkäse from the butcher, Pizza and Pasta, since recently Indian. u What book is most frequently borrowed?

In March it was “Freiheit“ (Freedom) by Joachim Gauck, the new German President.

BIBLIODYSSEY http://bibliodyssey. blogspot.com/ l @ BibliOdyssey l

A wonderful collection of links to sometimes obscure, but wonderful historical books and illustrations. The blog from Sydney regularly posts pictures for all lovers of history, libraries, science and literature.

INSPIRATION Ex Libris illustrations from John Starr Stewart Collection of the University of Illinois.

BOOK BY ITS COVER http://book-by-its-cover.

FOUNDER

Christian Damke & Henning Peters

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com/ l

For all lovers of good illustrations, Julia and Leah introduce their favourites on the blog. A special treat: the regular “Sketchbook Series” which gives an insight into the notebooks and doodles of designers and artists.

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by XX

the publishing time bar of new starts Often new beginnings feel a little rushed and harum-scarum. How long does it actually take from the first initial idea the finished product? sisterMAG asked young publishers of very different fields of interest to tell us the chronological order of their first steps: whether it is the discovery of their first author or the first printed book. This led to a publishing time bar, which notes milestones and successes of the first years of these young companies.

WOLFF VERLAG

Name of publishing house: Wolff Verlag l Founder: Robert Eberhardt founded 2008 Description: Publishing house for art, literature currently 8 titles in the and history Situated in: Berlin Mitte programme

SAFKHET PUBLISHING

Name of publishing house: Safkhet Publishing l Founder: Kim Maya Sutton und William Banks Sutton founded 2010 Description: Independant publishing house with 4 currently 7 titles in the imprints: Fantasy, Soul, Cookery & Select. programme Situated in: London

BINOOKI

Name of publishing house: binooki l Founder: Inci B端rhaniye und Selma Wels founded 2011 Description: Modern Turkish Literature in German currently 4 titles in the language. programme Situated in: Berlin Kreuzberg

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E-SHELf Two artists and booklovers from London start eShelf.info l – a compilation of independent online publishing.

Whereas you can find any bestseller or high-ranked book on Amazon these days, it is rather difficult to spot publishing projects outside the usual market. The young project eShelf wants to change this and provides interested readers with links and infos about artists‘ online publishing activities. The initiators Eleanor Vonne Brown and Rahel Zoller do not only compile an A-Z of online publishing activities which is indexed daily at eshelf.info over the time frame of four weeks, but will also host a series of live events in London. Publishers can introduce their projects to other publishers and individuals working across similar platforms at the project space called “X Marks the Bökship” l (see picture above) which was founded by Eleanor.

The two women are hoping to spread information and insight into independent publishing to their followers, rather than expecting anything from them. However if readers are interested in the project and working with similar ideas, they will be more than happy to hear from them.

Daily postings of publishing projects will be finished by 18th May when the two are organizing an exhibition at X Marks the Bökship to showcase some of the participants of eShelf. ThN

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An Interview the sisters & publishers Inci Bürhaniye und Selma Wels

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A big turquoise circle sports the program of the young publishing company binooki l. It reads in a serif typeface without scrolls “Beware! No clichés” – our interest is definitely aroused. We want to know which clichés are dismissed. Binooki – is run by INCI BÜRHANIYE and SELMA WELS, two daughters of Turkish immigrants from Aydin, born in Germany and publishers of Turkish literature in German since June 2011. The older sister– Inci Bürhaniye –masters her work as a publisher and a partner in her own law firm. While, Selma Wels, 13 years younger, was self-employed as a location scout and film/theatre production assistant before founding and running binooki fulltime. sisterMAG met up with the two lively sisters, shortly after the end of the Leipzig Book Fair, in their bright office in Kreuzberg, Berlin and talks with them about work, new beginnings and literature.

What is special about founding a publishing company for Turkish literature in Germany? How would you describe your motives to somebody who doesn’t know anything about the specific situation there? Inci: Since 1960 many Turkish immigrants came to Germany as foreign workers. The size of the Turkish minority has continuously increased so now it’s nearly a majority.

Turkish literature on the contrary was not an issue in Germany for a long time.

Only in 2008 when Turkey was a host at the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk received the literature Nobel Prize that interest be-

gan to rise. In 2010, then Istanbul became a cultural capital and even more people travelled to Turkey.

We assumed a wider range of Turkish literature and more translations into German would become available. However, this was not the case. In German and Turkish literature circles and in our own circle of friends people asked about this gap. Increasingly questions from my German as well as from my Turkish acquaintances and friends arose about how to get hold of these books. To both groups we could only answer: You must learn Turkish!

It’s not yet available in German!’

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Also many second or third generation Turks born in Germany have difficulties reading in Turkish. They are thankful as well to gain access to novels and stories originating in their original home country and background. In this way they get to know and understand their own culture better. Selma for example can read Turkish but finds it rather difficult. Selma: Actually I prefer to read in German because this is my mother tongue!

I: In this way my sister and I came up with the idea to bring Turkish literature to Germany.

How do you manage the translation of the Turkish titles? I: There are a handful of professional translators from Turkish to German. One quickly realizes who they are because it’s only about five to ten people. Among those there are approximately five translators who guarantee very high quality and we are glad to count them among our pool of translators. This is very important for us because a good translation is the basis to reach the readers otherwise the original work is damaged. si st er M AG

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Inci still works in her own law firm – i.e. binooki is your second job. How do you manage the double burden? I: I can combine both jobs quite well. In the chambers I cherry-pick and limit the cases to my actual specific field.

Furthermore, I’m not bound to a specific place with my work. Surely, I need to be in the chambers from time to time but the main part of my work I can do in the binooki office as well. Similarly it’s the case the other way round. Many tasks can be done online. However, you need to be active in both jobs. Neither the one nor the other is possible as a hobby!

Selma is working full-time for binooki already. S: I have handled projects as a freelancer until the end of August last year. In September I have realized: that I can’t do both anymore. I must concentrate fully on the publishing work.’

How is the publishing house structured? Who is responsible for which tasks? I [Inci] take care of the Turkish side and everything concerning authors, agents, contracts and everything related to law of course. Selma under-

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takes everything else: the coordination of all projects. S: Indeed: from editor to printer / typesetter, PR, all Social Media channels, website and shop!

How do you select your new books? I: We actually found the first books on our own bookshelf. I read – as I said – almost only books in Turkish. For years we picked from my reading circle the best works and read very consciously. Also, translators and agents representing their books make recommendations. They are happy that we now exist. Agents from Turkey were always quite successful in England and other nations but in Germany Turkish literature was not successful. Therefore, we have a wide range from which we can choose. But we have sworn that we will only publish material, which we like ourselves and of which we believe that the market takes it on.

Do you want to define program lines?

I: Originally we only wanted to publish Turkish contemporary literature. Many people have inhibitions towards the country because they don’t know Turkey and judge it only according to the

facts they can get hold of outside the country. To transport the “real life” and to give people an understanding of it through novels and books is very important for us. We want to show that life is not so different from life in Western hemisphere countries like Germany!

For contemporary literature work we have chosen a crime novel that was already made into a cinema movie and a Turkish TV series. Emrah Serbes is very famous in Turkey today.

On the contrary, the narrative by Oğuz Atay is a classic and known to everybody in Turkey. Accordingly, he should be known outside as well, because he has written extraordinary books in a very short time. He is a literary star in Turkey like Kafka or Hermann Hesse in German-speaking countries or Shakespeare in English-speaking countries.

soundSNIPPET Clich here to hear what Inci & Selma sound like.

What was your best experience during Leipzig Book Fair – both sisters just came back from Germany’s second largest book fair.

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I: There have been many great experiences. S: Day 1 – Mrs. Koch from German National Library came to our booth and asked directly for me. Standing in front of me she was saying: “Very exemplary! One day I’m reading of your formation and the next day I already receive the sample copy. This has never happened before!” I was very happy about this. We are not coming from the publishing sector so I was relieved that we have made something right and especially that we made somebody happy. There were also a lot of people who had read the article in the newspaper “Der Tagesspiegel” who came up to us and congratulated us.

It was a very nice feeling that so many people actually searched for us.I: What I really liked was the openness, friendliness and helpfulness other young publishers showed us. I don’t know this from my law background. A newcomer is not treated as somebody who doesn’t have a clue. The other young publishers rather include you in their

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community and report about their experiences and give advice.

S: I have moreover discovered that books are exchanged at the fair on the last day.

Shortly before the end the interns of the crime-publishing house came and asked if we also want to participate in the exchange. In this way we got to know each other and took home something from the others. Such a great feeling! It also goes back to the origin of the fair when a lot of things were traded.

What do you think of the digital revolution and the topic “eBook”?

S: A book is classic and timeless. I believe there will be always books. However, I’m also of the opinion that the future lies in the digital sector! One should never underestimate the digital revolution and block against developments in this area or treat those as evil. I sometimes have the feeling that classic publishing houses think: “This is bad.

What is happening there?” They can’t evaluate the fast develop-

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ment realistically or don’t want to deal with it. We are relatively inexperienced because we don’t have a tradition. If I give somebody a present, this will rather be a book that I can hold in my hand. However, if I sit on the train, I want to download an eBook quickly because I want to read exactly this book in that moment.

I believe future generations won’t think about this decision anymore, but intuitively deal with tablets and eReaders without anybody explaining this to them.

I: The eBook was our focus right from the beginning. There will be always printed books in our assortment but we don’t want to be a classic book publishing house. The digital possibilities will be our focus. Currently we are working on this. However, we need more time to ensure that everything is to our satisfaction.

Where do you see binooki in 5 years? We want to be THE publishing house that everybody is thinking of when Turkish literature is mentioned. It should be said: “Great books! Which can be read digitally.” When you have read a great book, you want

to own it. This is how I see the future.

I will read eBooks but also buy really great books with good content to put them on my bookshelf. This is also how I wish our readers will proceed.

What is the most difficult thing at a new beginning? How do you overcome the fear of a new beginning? S: Just doing.

Not thinking about it, but doing! I: But you should have a plan! Just to blindly dash off without a plan is most of the time not a promising approach. One should sit down and analyze whether the idea can be actually realized and what the market conditions look like.

If the result looks positively for both – then just start.

S: However after the projects is rolling you should not start thinking about it again. Just continue and continue.

How did your environment react to your plan to start a publishing company? S: Positively, but most people were hesitant and a bit skeptical: “Okay, if they want to establish a publishing house – let them do it!” The reaction afterwards, however, was great. I: Everybody thought we would do it as a hobby on the side. No-

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body expected that we would implement our idea so professionally. Now everybody is very proud. Especially my 12-year old daughter is excited: “Mum, it’s really great what you’re doing. I’m so proud of you!”

How are you financed? Are you a lean start-up, which has started without external resources and money? I: No, we started immediately with an office and full speed. There are some founders, maybe two to four, who also specialized in Turkish literature. They all began quite small and thus you haven’t heard of them in the big literary business. We decided at the beginning to start big.

S: We had to invest right from the beginning. When I have a look at the website of other publishing houses, they are often confusing, loveless and unorganized - simply not nice. For me things need to be beautiful. I: This is true for a website, a book cover and PR. S: Many of the small publishing houses have done their own translation, which I would never have dared! I: Print and translation costs are the most important cost po-

sitions – especially as we employ very experienced translators.

What experiences have you gained from your parents concerning new beginnings? I: I was very motivated by the experiences of our parents. Our father came to Germany in 1963, Mum 1965 and in 1967 I, Inci, was born. They were some of the first foreign workers from Turkey in Germany. During that time it was not possible to travel much. Our parents travelled thousands of kilometers to a country that they didn’t know, whose language they didn’t speak and where there weren’t many Turkishspeaking people. To come here and to bravely start anew has always given me a lot of strength and courage. Everything else compared to this is easy!

Are you venturesome? I: Yes, we are!

I believe anyone who has taken a step outside their normal environment and looked beyond their normal life is venturesome.

In what way is life different in Turkey?

I: From the view we have from outside about the life in Turkey, I would say they are definitely more relaxed, more ven-

Library

turesome and more courageous. They think: “What doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger” and according to this principle they proceed. This is great and makes a lot of thinks possible.

New things are tested more often.

Favourite place in Berlin?

I: I very much like the Gendarmenmarkt. S: Something conservative, but I love the Palace Gardens of Charlottenburg Palace.

Favourite place in Turkey?

I: Good question! I like Istanbul very much and there everything related to water – i.e. to look on it, to be on the water or near the water! But I also love the Aegean area.

S: There are two places on earth where I have the feeling of coming home: when arriving at the Berlin airport, the other

time when I land in Izmir and get off the plane. The Sea has a different colour and the air feels differently! We have our origins in this part of Turkey and spent a lot of time as children in this area –which explains the feeling of being home. Istanbul is also a favorite of mine. The city inspires, fascinates and takes you in.

How has working together changed your relationship as sisters? I: We were always very close and had a special relationship. We are actually a threesome our third sister lies age-wise between us. After all we are 13 years apart. Our relationship has further intensified through working together.

S: That is because we can separate both spheres of life! When we leave the office, we are just siblings. Here in the office we are still siblings but also business partners.

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u Explain in your own words the idea of your company / your product “The Cave”!

The CAVE by Heimplanet l is an inflatable three-man tent which is constructed in such a way that by using an air pump it is set up after a maximum of 60 seconds. This is perfect for festivals, surfing holidays or city trips. u What was the inspiration for your idea?

The first time we had the idea to develop a new innovative tent was in Portugal summer 2003 during one of our surfing trips (founders and friends Stefan Clauss and Stefan Schulze Dieckhoff).

Already then we planned to construct a new tent design that is set up quickly and easily, also during bad weather or in darkness. u How do you earn money? How do you finance your company?

We are a start-up and receive start-up financing from the City of Hamburg. si st er M AG

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u How long has it taken to develop the tent? 7 years u Who is your target group? What is your market potential?

The target group of The Cave are surfer, festival visitors, city travellers and everybody who needs a comfortable tent. u Is “The Cave” also suitable for women? Definitely, no other tent is so easy to set up. Some mothers have bought the tent for their childen and put it up in their gardens during summer. u What have you done before?

We have worked in Advertising and Sales.

Fitness Room

u Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Still as founders and MDs of Heimplanet. We really enjoy the start-up life. u Who are your main competitors?

So far there is no direct competition.

The tent which we have developed is unique. So far! u Who was your first team member (in which department) outside the founding team?

So far we have only interns. u In which city are you located?

Hamburg, Germany u Most often used software?

Excel

u Who designed your company logo – someone external or internal? How long did it take?

The logo is a “planet” with 5 dashes which analogously stand for the 5 air chambers “The Cave” consists of.

FOUNDER Stefan Clauss and Stefan Schulze-Dieckhoff Under the title BORN IN TENTS the two document their “Heimplanet” adventure since August 2009: insights into product development, beautiful pictures and interesting insights.

http://heimplanet.com/ bornintents

Do we still need gyms?

Preparing mentally. Packing the bag. Driving there. Lining up with others in the changing room. Changing. Then starting with sport.

Actually a nice thing such a gym. There are so many things we can do: Wellness, Yoga, Swimming, Cardio and Weight Training, Personal Training, Sauna, Learning to eat and drink healthy – everything goes somehow. If there wasn’t this stupid hurdle ...

“The worst is the way to the gym, only when I’m there, everything is fine.” – A sentence I hear as a trainer again and again and which I can absolutely confirm.

And exactly at this point a new trend seems to set in: Online Gyms conquer mobile phones: we check in and take part in yoga courses while sitting at home in our living room. Or at any other place we prefer to stay much more than in the gym. We can even train together with others without meeting them. Brilliant, right? Is this the blossoming new beginning of a very special fitness movement?

Does the route to more fun in sport, fitness and health look like this? Let’s have a closer look at it!

IDEAL FOR

Beginners who really want to start exercising VISUALIZATION

professional FUN FACTOR

middle

MOTIVATION

middle COSTS

9.99$/month

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DAILYBURN.COM DailyBurn asks us to make the first step now to change our life with a lasting effect. The video promises us after registering a personal coach and a personal trainer who will support us on our way to a new physical awareness.

We can train everywhere – as long as we are online. The first seven days are free of charge, afterwards we pay 9.99 $ per months. It is definitely less costly than a conventional gym. This is for sure.

Fitness Room

von DIANA DUA l IDEAL FOR

FITOCRACY.COM Here becomes fitness a playful pleasure. Points are collected for workouts, different levels can be unlocked, we can participate in special challanges and thereby literally work our way up. Online and in real life. Fitocracy is set up like an interactive computer game whereby the competition idea and the community factor is most important. A concept which is extremely motivating and successful. It is also already available as Mobile App.

FITKURS.DE Fitkurs works like a classic gym course. When we click on a video, the course instructor welcomes us and explains what we can expect. Ranging from abs, legs and butt sessions and back exercises over pilates or yoga to children fitness, Thai Fit or Streetdance courses – everything is available. Sounds very promising.

A small help for motivation is also available which can (maybe) really help and takes care that we continue.

Per video download we pay 2.99 EUR. Very nice: it works without subscription. (GERMAN) FIN.DE Fin.de is completely free of charge – thumbs up for this.

The website informs about training methods and nutrition. Everybody who wants to train a particular muscle group, just clicks the corresponding link and receives a video with suitable training instructions. Who feels bored with his/her current training plan, can find a wide collection of resourceful exercises at Fin.de (GERMAN)

All who like gamification and want to have fun battling VISUALIZATION

pleasant

FUN FACTOR

high

MOTIVATION

high

COSTS

none

IDEAL FOR

Beginners who want to have a wide choice of courses VISUALIZATION

conventional FUN FACTOR

middle

MOTIVATION

low

COSTS

Videos ab 2.99€

IDEAL FOR

Fitness fans who want to have further information VISUALIZATION

informative FUN FACTOR

middle

MOTIVATION

middle

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none

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COSTS

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IDEAL FOR

Stressed people who want to start exercising right away VISUALIZATION

innovative

FUN FACTOR

high

MOTIVATION

HOERSPORT.DE Hörsport scores with an amusing tutorial video known from children’s education TV. The website itself is designed in an appealing way: with personal log-in, integrated blog with helpful posts about healthy diet as well as tips for training. Hörsport is made by a likeable team. One is nearly inclined to meet these people rather in real life than to listen only online ... (GERMAN)

middle COSTS

from 9.95€/month

IDEAL FOR

Fitness freaks who also want to buy appropriate gear VISUALIZATION

innovative

FUN FACTOR

high

MOTIVATION

middle COSTS

from 9.95€/month

IDEAL FOR

Beginners and advanced learners VISUALIZATION

videos are a little weird FUN FACTOR

middle

MOTIVATION

middle

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3 days free, 25€/Monat

ONLINE-FITNESS-VIDEOS.DE The portal takes up the latest fitness trend of Functional Training which is good! In contrast to conventional gym training whereby motion sequences are determined and executed rather rigidly, Functional Training aims to use as many muscle groups as possible and to thereby train complex motion sequences. Typical training equipment: medicine ball, tubes, kettlebells, bosu balls. These small devices can be ordered directly on the webside and also corresponding excercices are available. However, for beginners or amateurs Functional Training is not recommended. (GERMAN) MYASHRAM.DE Like the mystic name presumes: this is a portal about yoga. Beginners as well as advancers get their money’s worth. Excercises can be selected according to individual training demands. The videos however do not always radiate the relaxed atmosphere who one wishs for during workout. But testing is worth it. Namaste, sports fans!

Fitness Room

MYYOGAONLINE.COM This site does not only feature yoga exercises but looks at the body and the topic of health holistically: meditation, wellness, being comfortable in your workspace, ecological lifestyle, healthy food – everything that is important to balance mind and body in this fast moving world.

You choose exercise videos (5-90 minutes), furthermore you‘ll find extensive tips and background know-how (for instance anatomy). Another plus: the lively community!

IDEAL FOR

People who want to improve their work life balance VISUALIZATION

informative FUN FACTOR

middle

MOTIVATION

middle COSTS

none

#TWITTERLAUFTREFF Runners are freethinkers among sports fans. And thus it is no surprise that on Twitter a lose bunch of runners finds together to enjoy their running passion. The most important is running together – also in real life.

But when this isn’t possible, helpful tips, competition experience or the latest trends are shared on Twitter and kilometres are collected. This is very motivating.

IDEAL FOR

Runners searching for motivation, wanting to share their experiences VISUALIZATION

plain

FUN FACTOR

high

MOTIVATION

high

COSTS

none

#SISTERMAGRUN Inspired by Heidi Klum’s “Summer Run” initiative the sisterMAG team started in 2011 the twitter initiative #sistermagrun. Again the motivation of the participants as well as the exchange of tips, links and experiences are most important. Everybody who owns a Twitter account can take part – don’t forget the hashtag and just report about your lust run. The initiative’s website will launch on 31st May 2012.

IDEAL FOR

All sisterMAG readers FUN FACTOR

high

MOTIVATION

high

COSTS

none

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summary DAILY BURN

Beginners who really want to IDEAL FOR

start exercising

FITKURS

HOERSPORT

FIN.DE

All who

Beginners

Stressed

Fitness

like ga-

who want

people who

fans who

mification

to have

want to

want

and want

a wide

start exer-

to have

to have fun

choice of

cising right

further in-

battling

courses

away

formation

FITOCRACY

ONLINE FITNESS VIDEOS Fitness

freaks wh also want

buy approp

ate gear

FUN FACTOR

professioVISUALIZA-

nal

pleasant

nothing

innovative

infor-

special

& fun

mative

TION

nice idea, po

implementa on

MOTIVATION

7 days free, then COSTS

MOBILE VERSION/ APP?

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9.99 $/

Videos None

2.99 €

month

iPhone, iPad, Android

from

iPhone

videos free From 9.95 € /month

None

more video

after regis ration

Podcasts für MP3Player

Fitness Room

Conclusion

SS

MYASHRAM

ho

Beginners

to

and advan-

pri-

ced learners

r

oor

ati-

Videos are a little weird

e,

3 days free,

os

25 €/month

st-

(monthly terminable)

#TWITTER Online Fitness – the blossoming MYYOGA LAUFTREFF new beginning in the sports scene?

ONLINE #SISTERMAGRUN Runners se- No, not completely. Of course those portals offer a nice alterPeople who arching for native to studio training. As far want to better motivation, as there is just an “instruction their workwanting to from afar” provided, there is allife-balance share their ways the danger that we make experience some mistakes during training which we don’t recognize. Really good is the concept to meet runners via Twitter which also takes Well-arranged, Easy idea, place in real life: pretty profesprofessional, plain implesional runners meet for runinformative mentation ning. Mutual rectifications and exchange of tips and tricks offer some benefits – and of course the training appeal is much higher face to face. Also a very good Premium: idea: to call in a trainer from 9.95$/month time to time and to ask him/her or 89.95$/year, None to show you the online exercises. a lot of free He or she will – if you like – also material come home. In this way you can be sure to complete the training in the correct way and that everyTwitter apthing runs in the right direction. plications for mobile devices

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An observation in fitness

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In the Gym I’m sweating. Quite a lot. I’m sweating heart shaped according to my favourite running buddie. On my back. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to verify it so far. Sweat is running down my forehead straight down my face. This is normal for interval training on the treadmill. But do you know how it feels when you wear contact lenses and a drop of sweat lands in your eyes? Not nice. I ignore the burning and give everything.

Sport makes you tougher. Really. But my tireless fighting on the treadmill is abruptly interrupted: a dull thud brings me back to the gym world. Somebody lies right behind me on the ground!

It is the man who was running next to me before. I shrug shortly because I believe I need to help. But as I see him lying on the ground it is completely obvious: this would be double humilation for him. As he is already recovering I’m not reacting and just keep on running.

I hope this is right for him. He grabs his belongings from the treadmill and gone he is. I will never see him again but I know: to fall or nearly fall of the

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treadmill,is somehow part of it. I finish my training. Completely exhausted I pass Mrs. K. who – like usually – sits on her recumbent, in front of her an open book, next to her a thermos bottle with coffee. It always gives me the creeps to see her. Yes, I know, it is not fair. But without her several beauty operations I would definitely like her more. Mrs. K. is now – and no, I don’t lie – cycling, reading and coffee drinking for two hours with a much too low heart frequence.

Afterwards she gets off and is happy about herself that today again she has been so busy. She doesn’t know that she could have stayed at home on her sofa with the same effect. A training plan needs te be changed after about 8 weeks because the body has adapted and needs a new challenge.

And just as I was thinking of a challenge, a colleague approaches: “Hey Diana, would you like a round of Burpees?”

“Oh my goodness”, I think. But I don’t show my emotions. Burpees is one of the hardest exercises you can imagine.

“Ok. I join you.” We bring our pulse up

Fitness Room

by DIANA DUA l

from 100 to 180, afterwards I lie totally exhaused on the mat. Next to me two of my girlfriends argue: “No, I’m pretty sure: anti-gravity-yoga is much better for fett burning!” – “I won’t jump round in some old cloths! Let’s go either to Zumba, Power Yoga or Body Pump!”

Going is a good idea, when I see a bulk of giggling teenager approach. All girls who admire the long-haired pansy at the chest strap. But he only has eyes for himself. And checks himself out in the mirror. He really looks great. I want to get up but my legs fail. Heieiei. Like an 80-year old I leave the training ground.

On the way to the changing room I walk over a little child. It screams. I apologize. The mother looks angrily at me. And then this: the tennis ladies are in my changing room and block all availab-

le storage space with their huge tennis bags. “Hi, could I maybe ...?”

I must have made something wrong, but I don’t know what.

“You could leave a little bit of room!”

Stunned I move my tiny gym bag aside.

On the way to the shower I’m nearly hit by the breasts of a pretty big woman, but can just get out oft he way. Puh. This was close, I think and feel like an outsider, because I’m the only one who has put her towel five times around her body. Everybody else is stark naked.

I’m afraid of them. Just reaching the shower. Finished. It was nice. Tomorrow again. Who joins me?

I’m looking forward to seeing you!

Diana

Are you fit for the gym – or are you more the home training type?

Do the test on Diana‘s blog! (GERMAN) l

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kolov | Creologica, from The Noun Project

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Dumbbell Icon – designed by Roman J. So-

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Photos & Text: Janan Shakur Kilcher l

Wardrobe

The style interview with Merin Guthrie Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Merin Guthrie (birdsofapleather.com l) and I am a Californian transplanted into the District of Columbia (Washington, DC).

I’m a stylist, I have been an editor of a fashion magazine and currently my business partner Emma Fisher and I are launching a creative consulting firm Pleatherette (www.pleatherette.com l) where we integrate style, fashion and lifestyle into broader platforms with larger marketing campaigns.

What do you love most about fashion?

Fashion allows you to play the chameleon and not to have to really commit to any style; I love that fashion can change with you.

Describe your style?

I always come back to classic cuts and shapes, dresses in particular. I like to evolve and try new things. I love vintage and the reason why I love the pieces that I inherited from my great grandmothers, grandmothers and mom is because the quality of the craftsmanship and material was so much better than what we have now.

I gravitate towards beautiful fabric, texture, lining and a good cut. Cut and drape are everything to me. So much of what is out there now is unflattering and boring and when I look at some of the pieces that I have from the 1950s and 1960s they are a lot more structured and have a shape to them even on a hanger and end up being so much more flattering … and it’s all about being flattering.

What does SISTERhood mean to you?

I don’t have real sisters, only younger brothers and I think this shaped my perception of sisterhood. My ‘sisters’ are a fairly small group of women that I’ve encountered over time and we’ve built a sisterhood of like-minded individuals who tend to be really creative, ambitious with type-A personalities. We use each other as sounding boards and involve each other in projects. We really value the personal and professional advice that we can give each other. They are talented, fabulous, smart women and this group of entrepreneurial creative partners in crime are my sisters.

en Vogue dans la cuisine

Photos: JESSICA PREUHS l Make-up & Hair: SARAH KOPIETZ l Styling: EVA-MARIA NEUBAUER l Model: VIRGINIA HORSTMANN l

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by XX

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Dress and apron – there is no combination of clothes which reminds us more of the 50s and our madly loved “Mad-Men”-Style than these simple garments. However you do not have to imagine the cliché housewife when wearing them. Successful food blogger Jeanny from the blog “Zucker, Zimt und Liebe” l (“Sugar, cinnamon & love”) proves this point.

She invited sisterMAG into her kitchen where she shows modern and very wearable dresses – teamed up with the perfect apron. The basic pattern for these aprons you‘ll find in this issue‘s workshop section.

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// Apron in Patchwork style with decorative piping – basic pattern in this issue

// dress sleeveless, straight-cut dress – Mango l

// sandals – Guess // leather headband – H&M

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// Wrapped apron in Green and Blue – self-made // White blouse & Jeans – private // Shoes in Sky Blue – nelly.com l // headband with Fabric Roses – Claire‘s

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// dress with plastic flowers – tutorial for flowers in this issue . // Alice band with Rhinestones – Claire‘s

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// Embroidered Apron – Vintage // Sleeveless cocktail dress – MANGO l // Jade coloured Pumps with metal toe – nelly.com l // Libro Clutch in Gold – Scout & Catalogue l // Alice Band in Leather – H&M

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// Apron, pleated skirt & top – self-made

// sandals – Guess // Alice Band in Gold – H&M

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u Explain in your own words the idea of your company! What are you doing?

UPcload l has developed a personal online shopping assistant which works as follows: our application captures the measurements of a user highly accurate via webcam. The measurements (e.g. chest measurement, arm length, collar size etc.) are stored in the personal UPcload profile. This profile can be used during shopping on all shopping sites which we cooperate with. Via matching of clothes and body measurements we can tell how an article will fit. So we ensure that clothes that were shopped online also fit offline. u What was the inspiration for your idea?

My Co-Founder Asaf and I often had the problem during university that many clothes bought online couldn’t be worn because they just didn’t fit. As we talked about this problem via webcam and Skype the idea for UPcload came up. si st er M AG

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u How can I imagine the measurement? Which tools do I need, i.e. what should I have at home or what should I wear?

The measurement is very simple and takes including preparation between 5 to 10 minutes. Only prerequisite is a laptop with webcam and Internet access. You start the application (everybody can try it out at http://100days.upcload.com), search an empty wall and put the laptop in front of it on a chair.

Put on a dark and tight top and start. u How do you earn money? How do you finance your company?

Our service is completely free of charge for the user. We earn money by charging the online retailer a fee each time a consumer uses our application on their side. It’s a Pay-per-use model. u Who is your target group? What is your market potential?

Our target group comprises all people who shop online. This is huge: in Ger-

ULZE

TIAN SCH S A B E S r e d n u fo y b d re answe

many alone more than 10 billion EUR were spent in 2011 online. We also cooperate with The North Face in the U.S. where the market is even bigger. u Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Hopefully integrated in as many shopping sites as possible and with many satisfied users. We want to offer the added shopping value online which was so far only available when products were tried on “offline” in fitting rooms.

Wardrobe

u Who do you see as your main competitors?

There is no other company in the world which can capture the measurements of a person via webcam. But there are of course interesting approaches how to take away the uncertainty about the right size during online shopping. As we want to stay innovative continuously, we don’t think in competition categories but rather cooperate with other companies to improve our product further – with Mimic.Me this will happen soon. u What have you done before?

I studied Business at the Humboldt University in Berlin, my Co-Founder studied Economics. We got to know each other during university. u Who was your first team member (in which department?) outside the founding team?

As both of us don’t have an IT background our first employee was a pro-

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grammer who takes care of the server infrastructure and who has implemented the IT architecture. u In which city are you located?

In Berlin. As part of the program “German Silicon Valley Accelerator” we will also open an office in Silicon Valley in California from July onwards. We are really excited about this. u You started your cooperation with Youtailor in 2011, what other online retailer are participating now?

Companies like nelou, styleserver, 7Trends, Cleptomanicx, Just Street Wear and Fair Queen are part of our launch project http://100days.upcload. com. Furthermore in summer, we will go live with one of the biggest online retailers – who it is, I’m not yet allowed to say.

u Are there new features planned? If yes, which?

We want to constantly improve our product and thus will implement continuously further features: soon social functions will be added – for example the possibility to share your UPcload profile with friends and relatives if desired. Then also other people can purchase and give as present perfectly fitting clothes to you. Furthermore, we have developed a solution to measure foot and shoe size. And we want to launch a Smartphone App in which your UPcload profile is stored. If you find a dress you like in a shop, you just need to scan the barcode to find out whether the size fits. So you can skip queuing in front of the fitting room.

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FOUNDER Sebastian Schulze & Asaf Moses

Wardrobe

s l e t s Pa n o e n w e n e are th

rson l e d n A r e k r a P y m A G IN STYL erson l d n A n a y R ic r E S O T O H P

Color trends have swung from the once bright and vibrant neon extreme, to the now other more subtle and sweet approach; the pastel hues.

Pastels are the paler version of the bright color blocking we‘ve seen take charge the past couple of seasons. The pinks, yellows, lavender, mint and tangerine tones can even be mixed into the popular floral and scarf looks you‘ll see all over the racks this year.

Take notice that it‘s not just a trend in clothing, but you will find these colors are also popping up in nail polishes, lipsticks and shoes.

On the next pages you will find examples of different ways to incorporate the pastel trend into your very own look.

om .c tc e r e k r a p : g lo B ‘s y m A

Fur Stole – H&M // Pink sleeveless button down – H&M // White jeans – H&M // Black wedges – Vera Wang // Clutch – Nancy Gonzalez

Liig LLight+ igh ght ht+ Simple

Wardrobe

+ It‘s ok to keep things simple when putting together a pale and airy outfit, it is summer after all. This is a great way to use an accessory to be the focal point for the outfit.

A bold clutch and matching lip color help bring in pops of pink to this subtle approach to the pastel trend.

Invest in a well-made pair of tailored cropped slim pant for summer. I find the lighter colored ones to be more flattering than a loud floral or animal print pant.

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Patterns +

// Flower print silk shirt – H&M // Pink lace pencil skirt – H&M // Nude wedges – Cole Haan // Purse – Cole Haan

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Mixing colors and patterns is a fresh way to wear some of the pieces that are out right now. This is the time to put two louder, but still structured, pastel options together to achieve a modern look. When a few too many soft items are layered, you run the risk of looking too precious. Nude is a great counter part to this style, as displayed with the wedges, and it keeps everything else very complimentary.

Add in some edgy necklaces and bracelets for a well rounded sweet, but not too sweet, combination.

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Safe + easy

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// Mint green maxi dress – Vintage // Leather vest – Topshop // Booties – Old Navy // Clutch – Red Velvet

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Mint green has been declared the color of spring/summer and no better way to welcome it into my closet than with a full-on mint maxi dress. If you‘re wanting to just dip your feet into the pastel trend, then mint is the way to go. To balance out the ease of the dress, I‘ve paired it with a white leather vest and added some mixed metal jewelry. Again, keeping the boots a nude color will help the look stay clean and streamlined. The addition of a chevron clutch brings a whimsical tone to the outfit and pulls in a great use of print.

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d e c n a v Ad Style It’s every fashionistas dream: Having one’s picture taken for a street photography fashion blog. Streetstyle has long ago become the new haute couture.

New York is a city predestinated for street fashion. There is no elsewhere for a huge variety of styles and fashion. No wonder the artist Ari Seth Cohen works on the streets of NYC. Here he’s looking for people for his blog called “Advanced Style”. His models?

Old people!

Victoria Kau talked with the artist from New York and asked him what inspired him to start this project.

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© Ari Seth Cohen

ER AND H AP R G TO O H P H IT W EW VI R TE IN BLOGGER ARI SETH COHEN l

„Side Swept Style“ l

Victoria: What is so special about ol­ der people being fashionable?

Cohen: We can respect their actual presentation – their way to put things together – because they’ve been dressing up for so long that they know their style. It’s a very personal statement that they’re making! It’s not like they’re going into a department store and someone is dressing them. They are not depending on trends. They are creating their own fashions.

© Ari Seth Cohen

© Ari Seth Cohen

Wardrobe

Joyce Carpati l

Victoria: Society is getting older and older. It was about time to discover the elderly as stylish people. Why had no one else come up with the idea?

Cohen: I think that people hadn’t really thought of the idea before because we tend not to look at older people in a positive way. When I looked on Google image search for “older people”, everything was negative, or had to do with illness, or was poking fun. And I really wanted to present a positive image of getting older, and showing the benefits of knowing yourself and knowing your

Peggy – „Elegance by The National Arts Club" l

body and feeling good! It’s not all gloom and doom when you get older. These men and women on my blog are still having fun, they are still dressing up and they are creating things.

Victoria: The ladies on your blog look very fancy. They’re wearing huge hats, glamorous jewelry and bright colors.

In other words: they are definitely indi­ vidual and brave! What else is so spe­ cial about your models?

Cohen: These women are doing only what pleases them. They have gone

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© Ari Seth Cohen

© Ari Seth Cohen

Mary – „Color Coordination“ l

Rita Ellis Hammer – „Springtime in New York“ l

to jobs where they might have had to dress in a certain way, and then they might have had to please the men they were in love with. And now they are at a point where it’s really about themselves and what they want to wear.

And it’s that freedom that I’m trying to catch. They’re old enough! They don’t have to listen to anyone else.

Cohen: The publicity is very important because it can change people’s ideas.

And it spreads the word of Advanced Style! I have young girls from all over the world emailing me “I can’t wait to get older now”. And then I also have older women emailing me “I feel so much better about myself.”

Victoria: You are getting a lot of pub­ licity for your blog. What is the best part about that? si st er M AG

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Cohens blog has become a must-read for photographers and fashion enthusiasts. His first book is available in May. There will also be a movie in summer 2012.

Wardrobe

by JULIA KEITH l

Renaissance IT-Girls

I have a poster with a portrait of a young woman hanging in my flat that I brought home from the Berlin Gemäldegalerie. The poster always induces my guests to make comments about the ideal of beauty during Italian Renaissance which seems to be everything but popular in the 21st century.

As a beauty blogger I am always very interested in present makeup trends and draw my inspiration from photos of fashion shows in Paris and New York. But also a museum visit fills my head with new ideas since old portraits are sort of the run way pictures from the old days.

Then, I often recognize how changeable fashion itself is. Not only has our clothing changed, but also makeup and hairstyle.

The young woman’s profile (tempera on poplar: 52.5 x 36.5cm) is from the middle of the 15th century and was painted by Piero del Pollaiuolo (1443-

1496). He and his brother Antonio were famous artists of the Italian Renaissance and worked most of the time in Florence and Roma. At that time, Florence had become a very important center of trade and finance and wealthy bankers and cloth merchants determined its politics. Portraits served as a self-projection of wealthy families, many of the women’s portraits were painted in occasion of their engagement or wedding.

The high forehead is the most conspicuous characteristic of the young woman’s portrait and is, according to my guests, most irritating. However, at the time of Italian Renaissance, a high forehead was considered as exceedingly attractive: Fashionable women shaved and plucked their hairline in order to achieve the desired effect – a high forehead. Nowadays, women would not pluck their hairline anymore but unwanted body and facial hair is still a problem.

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You want to see the whole picture?

Click here to see the painting. Your CLICK

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140€. Why? We‘ll explain that on our blog l in a few days! Be sure to check back!

Antonio del Pollaiuolo - Portrait of a Young Lady (1465) – Oil on Wood si st er M AG

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Wardrobe

During the Renaissance the most desired hair color was a golden blond.

Dark hair was bleached with tinctures that were everything but healthy. The woman’s hair is braided into a cap or a towel to have a higher back of the head.

The perfect skin was ideally light and clear with a hint of rouge on the cheekbones. The eyes and the eyelashes were not highlighted; the narrow and blond dyed eyebrows appear inconspicuously. A beige rose slightly accentuates the mouth’s protruding upper lip.

The dress made of gorgeous brocade velvet with pomegranate design is impressive. This precious fabric was only reserved for wealthy families and indicates the high social status that the young woman relished.

Her portrait is most certainly idealized, her appearance meets the era‘s classic ideal of beauty entirely. The

quite small painted ears, nose and mouth to underline the virtuous look is another characteristic of renaissance paintings.

Italian Renaissance portraits aimed at natural and idealizing elements and it is quite interesting that this also refers to severely edited photographs in magazines. The new advertising campaign of Helena Rubinstein shows for example a photo of Demi Moore that hardly looks like her.

I personally find that this portrayed young woman represents an It-Girl of that time’s high society. She probably was not allowed to act in public like a Paris Hilton. But today’s high society daughters also embody some kind of flagship to improve their family’s social status with their beauty. Even if the looks have changed over centuries, the principals still seem to be the same.

Opening Hours of the Berlin Gemäldegalerie l: Tue-Sun10 a.m.-6 p.m., Thu 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Matthäikirchplatz, 10785 Berlin

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x Vintage in Istanbul

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RT l E K N A D A L IL M S – s to o Text & Ph

Those who visit the Turkey capital at the Bosporus become witness of a city full of impressions, opportunities and contradictions, a city between tradition and modernity, between Orient and Occident where the vibrant life of Millions of people never stops.

Istanbul can be experienced with all our senses. Every corner of the city seems to be wearing a different dress: one time it is shrill and colorful, another time it is elegant or floor-length.

And then it has a completely different look at the next corner.

In Istanbul you really can let go of yourself without any worries. It welcomes its visitors with open arms and Turkish tea – a perfect host telling us: “Yes, you are not at home but go ahead and make yourself at home.”

And unlikely though it sounds, the city districts between the Taksim Square in the North and the Galata Quarter in the South do look very much like at home.

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LLER

Ü Translation – SARAH M

In a never ending zigzag course on foot one meanders through the Cihangir and Çucurcuma district, explores the neighborhood of Galatasaray and Beyoğlu to finally choose at the end of the world famous Istikal-Caddesi Street between boarding the Tünel underground train to get to the ferry wharf or immersing further into the Galata Quarter.

You really should take a few days to visit Istanbul since there is so much to explore, to see, to hear, to smell and to taste. The city is full of smaller and lager stores, shops and boutiques decorated with tender-loving care by their owners which gives them a unique and very personal touch. Come with us and take a walk through the colorful variety of vintage, retro and designer shops around the Beyoğlu district, board with us the ferry to get to the bustling and lively Bazaar Quarter and sit back, relax and enjoy a short boat trip across the Bosporus with a hot cup of tea, of course.

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Illustration: T

hN Symbols from The Noun Project Colle ction

Istanbul

You can find all mentioned shops and even more tips around shopping, cafés and restaurants, transportation and all tours on Smilla‘s digital map.

Just click on the map icon: !

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Leyla Selhani’s shop is a bit less confusing. She sells exquisite fabrics and fine linen: Her ottoman textiles truly invite you into another world.

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A perfect idea to end a wonderful day in Istanbul is the 5 KAT in the SoÄ&#x;anci Sokak Street. The restaurant owned by the actress Yasemin Alkaya has a lot to offer: A magnificent view over the Bosporus, home-made bred and delicious food. You do need reservations, though. And oh well, next day you can try again to spend less money but not today.

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a modern The Istiklal Caddessi ğlu is alshopping street in Beyo a Sunday n o t p e c x e d e k c a p ys a w ay it’s the d e th g n ri u D . g in rn o m d during n a rs e p p o h s te a n io s s pa e night th t h ig n t a r o g in n ve e the et. The e tr s e th m a ro t a th owls right ts u c in ra T l e n ü T c ri histo kes ta d n a s d w ro c e th h throug uare q S im s k a T e th m o fr tourists d of n E e th t a n o ti ta S l e n ü to the T the Street.

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is just t a th t e e tr S k S ir y a z The Ce door e th s n e p o r e rn o c e around th It is a . d rl o w e u q s re tu ic p r, to anothe ainp ytl h g ri b y n a m h it w short alley and s fe a c d n a s b u p , ts n ted restaura and enteric s u m e iv L . h s lu p f o a lot and here re e h w ry ve e re a t n e tainm sts sitting ri u to d n fi n a c u yo re e and th magnie th g n yi jo n e s e c a rr te on roof ficent view.

in the The B Y R E T R O klal ti Is e th n o ji s a P ye ri u S bul’s Cad is probably Istan est most famous and larg can vintage store. Here you ours spend many happy h but rummaging around lost! be careful: Don’t get got Many film productions ere, their costumes from h siss a p o h s e th r, ve e w o h ndly tants are not that frie and a bit gruff.

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istanbul Galata ry to -s o tw e th r ve o t o ither on fo e ü n ö in m E to t e g n a You c oat. The yb rr fe a n o r o , lf e s it icrocosm m a ts n e s re p re t a th Bridge . If you e u q s o m w e n e th to t x t is right ne e rk a -m e ic p s e th to e entranc d side, n a h t h g ri r u yo n o t e e up the str d n a e u q s o m e th d n u walk aro leads in a g a t a th rs te e m w t in just a fe ic tr is d r a a z a b e th r te n you will e enm m o c re s n o ti c ra tt a in nbul’s ma ta Is f o e n o r a a z a b into the big e. ded in every travel guid etween b e s o o h c n a c u yo Now e th re fo e b s e m o c crowe th The district that h g u ro th d e h s u p being c ti s ri u to s a t o n d the n u ro a bazaar district is g in lk a w r o r a a z ded ba n a e m t o n s e o here T . it z which, however, d a y e B s rd a w to bazaar re ti n E . d e d w desi d a C u that it is less cro rd O e th s s ro c we will e id w a h it w Istanbul’s t streets are packed u o b a re o m rn a le d n a ra d n a s d o o g t n re ding and a range of diffe tr r jo a m a s a ry to his i s s e d d a C r a in C if s eandem y ticles. The Va b r te n e c l ia rc e m com r o il a T e th f o le d id lleys of a ll is right in the m a m s e th h g u ro th ring y b d te a in m o d is istrict. d g a Quarter which b d n a e o h s r e th a the le . s re to s ry e h s a rd ferrye th fabric and habe to k c a b y a w t s ie s a The e n w o d s ir ta s e th take to is ü Those who take n ö in m E in s k c o boat d e b l il w J to the A L S A R O O am. tr e th s n o b b , ri surrounded by laces ries of e h s a rd e b a H . s k c tu and ndingly u to s a t a n o ti p ri c s e d every up the ll fi y a m s e c ri p le b a afford tanIs le a m fe e th ll a f o e suitcas sew. bul tourists that love to

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e their mind e fr to ve lo ld u o w o h w Those of shoprs u o h d n a lk a w y it c g n after a lo n a ferry e e tw e b e ic o h c e th ping have useum m a r o s ru o p s o B e th s tour acros is one N R E D O M L U B N A T visit. The IS docks t a o yb rr fe e th m o fr n tram statio Here . s ru o p s o B e th t a t h g in Karaköy ri inry ra o p m te n o c f o s rk o you can find w ts. is rt a h is rk u T d e n w o n ternationally re ibitions are h x e ry ra o p m te d n a l Specia r basis and la u g re a n o ll e w s a hosted is a nice e c a rr te n w o ’s m u e the mus place to take a nap

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lso an a is s ru o p s o B e th n o A ferryboat ander. w d in m r u yo t le to e c excellent pla nces’ ri P e th to e k ta l il w t a The ferries th tas, 2 tram a b a K m o fr rt a p e d s Island or Kadiköy , m u e s u m e th m o fr s station After Kal. u b n ta Is f o e id s n ia s on the A u will be yo d n a ü n ö in m E s e m diköy co sses for la g a te ll a m s in a te t served ho ing to s s ro c e th g n ri u d t n e about 50 C the islands.

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There are 4 Princes‘Islands, where people live on. The biggest one is Büyükada and it takes about 1,5h to get there. On the Island there are no cars allowed. You can either walk or take a horse carriage called “Fayton” which are being replaced by “electric Faytons” in the near future. In other words: Those who want to tour the island in a nostalgic horse carriage should not wait too long.

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Knitting and art Victoria Kau is our expert when it comes to knitting. Every issue she investigates the phenomena around the crafty trend. Today she talks about the interlacing of knitting and the art world.

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First the artists come, then the hipsters. That might sound a little too simple but it often applies to various cafĂŠs, stores, or neighborhoods. Sometimes the artists and hipsters come together and occasionally at the same time. The fact is that: artistic creation contributes a significant part to trendsetting, and before you know it everyone is there, and the once ever-so-individual piece can now be found in the grab box of your nearest department store.

With knitting it is quite similar: artists were the first to experiment with the technique, and then it suddenly became a hipster hobby. However, knitting as art is not a new thing. After knitting machines had taken over the work of hand knitters in the 16th century, those workers had to look for a new job. Thus in the beginning of the 17th century the handicraft of carpet, tablecloth and quilt knitting became popular. Those luxury goods however didn’t maintain for very long and it soon became silent around the knitting arts.

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Workshop

by VICTORIA KAU l

Then came the 1950s. At a time where you could easily be revolutionary with any kind of different material artists began to experiment with textiles and thus rebelled against predefined artistic criteria. Until the 1970s it was mostly women who left their feministic mark on their progressive art and who challenged their audience to look beyond the typical knitting clichés. Rosemarie Trockel l is probably the most famous German knitting artist. She’s been doing textile art since the middle of the 1980s. With her knitted pictures and sculptures she questions the traditional gender stereotypes, using an ‘inferior’ material that had always been associated with the feminine. In her work, Trockel compares such common symbols as plus and minus or the Woolmark and the Playboy-bunny. Her pieces are always digitally designed and mechanically produced, which makes her work even more ambiguous. The knitted picture that comes from a computer or a machine doesn’t seem to be related to the diligence and obedience of the bourgeois female knitter. Also, it’s mostly men who operate machines.

Knitting as an art however was not en vogue in the 1970s, it became popular as

a pragmatic and environmental hobby among students and The Greens. The new knitting artists did not appear until the 1990s, and they are still here today. The knitting technique was a great contrast to the technical progress that influenced and inspired many artists by the end of the 20th century.

In the 90s a lot of artists, designers and architects felt inspired by the world of computers and software. Hence they created artwork, which was near to the perfection of technology in aesthetics.

John Ive is a good example; he developed the iMac design for Apple in 1997 out of colorful plastic. Another case is video artist Bill Viola who shaped a generation of artists who made electronic, acoustic and visual techniques their means of expression. Not to forget Ryan MgGinness who created hyper symmetrical vector art on the computer.

These digital technologies, which seemed to be obscure and exciting in the beginning however turned into everyday methods. Soon every household had their own computer and could create digital worlds using simple software. The human being, it felt, moved around in a global village whose inhabi-

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tants were on their way to cultural homogeneity. Yet, art stayed critical – and there were a lot of antagonists against this development. These artists turned against the omnipresence of mass production and digital technologies. They rediscovered the art of manual labor.

Dave Cole l is one of these opponents. Whether it is a teddy bear made either out of fiber glass or cables or a bullet proof sweater – all of his artwork is knit by hand following a tedious process. Cole learned how to knit during a seminar for prospective teachers. He had always been curious about this craft but was never patient enough due to his hyperactivity, luckily a woman who specialized in teaching hyperactive kids finally taught him. As an art major he finally discovered knitting as his artistic voice. However, his projects do not look like knitted material anymore because his sculptures are enormous and the materials do not resemble wool or textiles. Neverthe­ less, he is never free from the female association. Cole says that he questions this connection by using very male materials, while still using a female si st er M AG

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handicraft. He furthermore would add a piece of manliness to the discourse of a homely atmosphere. Welcome to the gender discussion!

The Canadian artist Barb Hunt l is less subtle. She knits silhouettes of landmines out of pink and rose-colored wool. She therefore uses the associated notions of home and peace to start a dispute about war and destruction.

During her studies, the passionate sewer and knitter realized that textile labor was not considered art. She never let herself be deterred and started integrating textiles into her art. When she later started working with other artists who called themselves textile artists, she finally felt that she arrived.

Trockel, Cole and Hunt. Despite three artists who stand for knit art, needle and wool will never replace brush and paint; the knitted piece will never have the same standing as a canvas.

The notion of the rebellious and defiant sticks to the idea of knitting in the art scene. Whether female artists used textile media as an expression of feministic tendencies in the 1970s, artists use the technique to question role

Workshop

models or handmade art is meant as a countermovement to the engineered world – the usage of needle and thread is always heavily burdened with subconscious topics.

The question of the aesthetic worth of a knitted piece remains a question.

The regularity of the stitches, the color of the wool and the plasticility of many projects seem to be very important to the observer. Although, these are not

the only ways that one can immediately see how much effort goes into one piece. On the other hand the work of textile artists – such as Theresa Honeywell l who covered a whole motorcycle with knitting – is so objective, that the recipient is already overwhelmed and pleased by originality and effort and does not try to dig deeper to try to find the real interpretation behind the work.

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u Explain in your own words the idea of mystolt.de l.. What are you doing?

The sewing kits of stolt include everything to start immediately with sewing.

The idea is to make sewing as easy as possible, to have as much fun as possible and to design the coolest results possible. u What was the inspiration for your idea?

The idea for stolt was born out of necessity. As enthusiastic seamstress I was always bothered by the preparations. Until the work can actually start, a large amount of errands and preliminaries have to be done, e.g. copying of patters. I believe this should be easier. u Why does the DIY trend exist according to you?

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To create something with your own hands is a great balance to daily work at computers which is the reality for many people (also for me). You can feel how something evolves. You find a piece

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back of you. Individual pieces are created which nobody else possesses. Sustainability plays an important role in this. You always know where a piece of clothes comes from. This is more an attitude towards life than a trend for me. u How do you earn money? How do you finance your company?

As I’m still studying, the budget is tight.

All money earned through the stolt shop is re-invested in new products. u Who is your target group? What is your market potential?

My target group includes girls and women who like to make things themselves. Age etc. is not important. I have clients above the age of 50 but also girls who want to sew their first skirt. u Who do you see as your main competitors?

When I started I was the only vendor of sewing kits – now I discover DIY boxes more often on Dawanda or Etsy.

Workshop

u Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Hopefully surrounded by creative people in a lovely stolt office – full of fabrics, buttons, balls of wool and flowers. And I spend my time designing one stolt collection after another. u What have you done before?

I’m still studying Communication Design at the Offenbach University of Art and Design. u How did you come up with your company’s colours?

The colours, the layout and CI come from my heart and are chosen intuitively. It should be completely “me”.

u Who designed your company logo – someone external or internal? How long did it take?

Because I’m studying Design, I design everything myself. Starting from logo to homepage and the instructions. This is convenient. Howewer, it is also difficult to always fulfill the own demand for perfection. u Most often used software?

Photoshop u Main food during starting up phase? Everything without vitamines

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u What is your favourite piece from the collection?

At the moment I constantly wear the scarf “Caro” l – it’s nice to combine.

Furthermore, you will often see me with the beanies as they are prototypes for the fall collection. They need to be tested. u What is the most difficult thing with new beginnings?

To persevere after the first euphoria has ebbed down. To carry on when people shake their heads and begin each sentence with “but”. My basic understanding is luckily that everything will develop well. And you have to show yourself plainly why our own idea is great.

FOUNDER

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Meike Bambuch

Workshop

by EVA NEUBAUER

DIY expert preamble When the two founders of sisterMAG were little girls and wanted to help in the kitchen, they would always wipe off their smudgy little hands or faces on mommy's apron. They knew that it was always at hand and practical. I myself have inherited a lot of aprons from my own grandmother and have always worn them with a lot of joy. My grandmother was a exceptionally gifted crafter: I owe her a lot of the skills I have today. The aprons usually were embroidered and many of them even survived 30 years of daily use!

It therefore suggested itself that we should sew some aprons and show you how great you can look in them. I myself love to go in the garden, wearing a wrapped apron over jeans and a white blouse (see this outfit here .). I instantly feel chic. With our basic pattern you can sew your own favourite apron – with or without tucks, embroidered or painted, long or short – everything is possible.

We have indeed prepared a few DIY projects according to our topic of issue N°2: "Blossoming New Beginnings".

On the next pages you therefore find the tutorial for our aprons and how to make the roses from our cover. We also prepared a stencil for plastic flowers, which will turn every dress into a Louis Vuitton piece. Last but not least you'll find a luxuriously embroidered bomber jacket. Have fun!

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the apron si st er M AG

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T u t o r ia l

Basic Pattern d for the apron from our Fashion Spread "En Vogue Dans La Cuisine" .

one Cut the apron out of desired fabric. Use the

rest of the fabric (or different fabric) to cut bias stripes for the ribbons.

two Cut the ribbons for your apron:

∞ waistbands: 2x 50 cm long, ca. 6-7 cm wide ∞ bib ribbons: 2x 60 cm long, ca. 5-6 cm wide Use a rick-rack stitch for the edges of your binding ribbons or seam the edges.

three

Sew darts, seam the back borders, thereby already sewing on the waistband ribbons.

four

Debaste round edges with bias stripes (sew left on left, fold and iron, stitch).

five

For Jeanny we hand-stitched a little yellow "J" into the white apron. We used an old metal stencil from my grandmother (you can find these on flea markets or in antique shops). However there is also a huge selection of embroidery patterns online at the Antique Pattern Library l. You should definitely check them!

six Sew on bib ribbons. seven Cut pockets (in desired

size). Zick-zack around borders and fold edges to the wrong side.

Place on apron and sew onto the skirt part of the apron.

eight At the end work the hem.

There is no creative limit in this project. You can change the apron with more darts, use different fabrics or sew in piping as embellishment. Don't lose heart, it is not very difficult and also a perfect gift for mother's day ;)!

J with floral embellishment from "Cartier-Bresson. Monogrammes." l (Download PDF via antiquepatternlibrary.org d)

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the paper rose

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T u t o r ia l

one two three four five For these roses use cardstock, best with a structured surface Two For the middle of the rose cut a circle of around 5-7 cm diameter (use a wine glass as pattern).

Three Round the circle around a pencil and four secure with hot glue.

One

six Cut around 6-8 petals for each rose (Download stencil d) six Round the edges of each petal around the long side of a pair of scissors.

Five

eight seven ten nine twelve elf Wrap the first petal around the middle tube and glue eight Fold petals a little bit in the bottom middle and nine attach across the first petal. ten Glue all petals around in a staggered way.

seven

Practise a little, the fifth rose will turn out okay! elf Don't fold the last 2 petals, just glue the last ones to the outside of the rose. twelve Finished!

sisterMAG

VIDEO

Just click on the video symbol and see this instruction in full length to craft along.

T u t o r ia l

Collier

You'll find the rhinestone collier at the shop of nurstrass l on eBay

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beads

leather piping si st er M AG

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by XX

b ht e

r e b om

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Fabric flowers

satin roses: stoff-borte l on Dawanda

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press studs

from KnopfTruhe l

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First download d the pattern.

Cut out the jacket out of fabric. You can make the front parts out of another fabric than the back parts (i.e. a luxurious one with ornaments)

one

∞ Schmusikatzilein-Shop l ∞

Dawan-

da Appliqués in rose shape from stoffe. de l

four Sew edging ribbon onto the shoul-

der seams, the front and middle of arm two Sew two jetted pockets into the front seams. Best to use a needle feet for slipart – read instructions here l de fasteners.

three Embellish the fronts as you want. five

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Sew in pleats in the top neckline Some links for beautiful flowers and ribof your back part (around 3 cm in size) bons: six Close shoulder seams, close ∞ Stoff-Borte-Shop l Dawanda sleeves and sew them into the ja∞ Braids from Dawanda l

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cket body. Be sure to look for the connecting points on the pattern: the back part is a little wider than normal, that's why the side seam does not directly fit to the side seam (it is about 2 cm to the back). The jacket gets this blouson look through that. Who is good at using piping, may embellish the arm entries with it.

Make the collar and sew them into the neckline.

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Work the lining jacket in the same way. In the back I reduced the pattern in the middle by 2-3 cm (just fold the pattern here). This way the inner jacket is not as wide and it is more comfortable when wearing.

eight

Line the inner jacket with the outer jacket, sew together front edges and bottom edges just until the side seams.

nine

ten Line bottom arm edges, pin and

sew them together (on the wrong side)

elf Now work the bottom edge of the

back. Put in folds, so that the jacket becomes a little bulky. Turn over with the lining. Since your inner jacket is not as wide you may not have to put in folds. Handstitch the neckline of the inner jacket.

twelve Sew on press studs (here l), you may have to punch them in.

You are finished with an exceptional and one-of-a-kind bomber jacket!

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basket

ost-best l auf eBayÂ

Plastic

flowers Download stencil d

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T u t o r ia l

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These easy flowers out of plastic foil turn ­every dress – whether selfmade or store-bought – into a trend piece of this season. That's what you need for the look of Louis Vuitton Spring 2012 l:

∞ ∞knee-length dress or skirt (best in a pastel colour) ∞ ∞Plastic folder or PP-foils in suiting colours ∞ ∞Rhinestones to sew on (i.e. from Gogoritas l, modastrass l or amazon l)

Download stencil d and copy onto foil/folder (with a sharp pencil or thin overhead marker)

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Cut out flowers (cut out inner pieces with a cutter or nail scissors)

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Drill the holes for the rhinestones into plastic with a sharp needle.

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Four Pin the two flowers over each other onto

the dress (a little offset). Sew rhinestones and flowers onto the dress.

five Don't embellish the back of your dress with

flowers (you won't be able to sit otherwise). si st er M AG

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T u t o r ia l

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