BA - Abschlusskollektion von Josephine Kraus
WiSe 2023/2024

The inspiration for my bachelor collection comes from my childhood memories: My mother kept almost all of my drawings and those of my four siblings in a large old suitcase. From time to time, she collaged and framed drawings that were particularly beautiful or painted them on large canvases with oil paints.
Even as a child, I liked the way she dealt with our drawings, but now I also see the drawings with different eyes and am fascinated by the ingenious ideas that you have as a child and the sometimes strained, but mostly expressive way of realizing them. The gesture of transforming and presenting, my mother‘s good eye for things that would otherwise go unnoticed and her efforts to juggle work and children are the essence of the collection. I find it impressive how my mother managed to be successful at work and raise 5 children at the same time, mostly as a single parent.
I can still remember how I sometimes secretly took office utensils such as hole punches, staplers and stamps from my mother‘s desk and experimented with them. I have always been fascinated by their appearance and for me they symbolize adulthood.
In kindergarten and at home, we also often painted on misprints, perforated „endless paper“ or large unfolded cardboard boxes, which can be found as a quote in the textiles and design of my collection.

As a child, I never really questioned what my mother did at work, „work“ was a mysterious place where you wore fancier clothes than at home and looked important. I tried to capture this childlike perspective in the outfits.
To summarize, the collection is about nostalgia, work-life balance and how our parents shape us. The result is a dialog between the perspectives of mother and child.