The Berlin-based fashion designer Isabell de Hillerin wowed crowds at the Berlin Fashion Show this month when she unveiled her latest collection, Eclectic Line, which showcased a fashion-conscious fusion between Moldovan handmade art and contemporary fashion design.
Backstage at Isabell de Hillerin © Claudia Weingart
“The unique art of weaving and embroidering is hardly practised nowadays and is falling into oblivion,” says de Hillerin, who is committed to capturing the traditional techniques and introducing them to modern audiences. She has been working with her sister Silvana de Hillerin, and the organisation Casa Parinteasca based in Moldova, to bring the collection to life. The fashion show is the latest success story to emerge from the Tandem creative collaboration, which culminated in a festival in Moldova in May. The festival was quoted as the “most-covered artistic event in the last 20 years in Moldova”.
The Tandem programme is supported by the European Commission Culture programme, Robert Bosch Stiftung and delivered by ECF, MitOst, Centre for Cultural Management, Soros Foundation Moldova and Cultural Action Europe.