Trinity 007

Thomas Kettner. As the publisher of TRINITY MAGAZINE I would like to greet all readers of the new TRINITY 007 edition with the topic „cultures in fashion“. Cultural insignias are to be observed in design and tailoring every season on the runways in Paris, New York and Milan. In this issue TRINITY 007, diffe- rent cultures are melting together in one fashion brand. Students from the HSRM ( H o c h s c h u l e Rheinmain), un- der the super- vision of Prof. Ruediger Pichler, - Durrah Al Omar, born in Iraq, Mais Quqa, born in Palestina, both living now in Jordania and Jihee Hwang from Korea, were the winners of the autumn semester 2016 with their project „Dash’nClash“. When I met the three students, Prof. Ruediger Pichler and I immediate- ly knew, that this would be a pro- ject for a new TRINITY edition, due to the fact that our world urgently needs a cultural interchange to bring people of diverse cultures and religions closer together. Most remarkable in this project is the persistence and energy, with which these young students went about the design and production of their fashion collection. I had the privilege to attend them on a small part of their journey, to learn about their cultures and to let us all be in- spired by them who so brightly and open-minded communicate about their provenience and at once were so keen on learning about other cultures. I would like to express my respect and gratitute to Durrah, Mais and Jihee for sharing their pro- ject, a real heartfelt wish, with our readers. The result of this inspiring process is TRINITY MAGAZIN 007. Let yourself get entangled into this amazing mingling of the cultures of Arabia and Korea. Enjoy this jour- ney into an unknown world of linked cultural insignias in fashion . Yours, Thomas Kettner

I M A G I N E T H E P O S S I B I L I T I E S Three students from Arabic and Korean backgrounds, Durrah, Mais and Jihee, created „Dash’nClash“, a fashion brand that unite their opposite cultures in a cross-cultural collection. They had the wish to display their reciprocal inspirati- on and to inspire us all with their melting process of seemingly anti- thetic backgrounds and religions in the process of creation. Their aim was: No matter how far apart cultu- ral differences are, communication, tolerance, cooperation, inspiration and friendship are possible. What started as a wish to throw a light on cross- cultural communication, grew into a fashion brand that offers eclecticism, unity and con- tinuity. For this season, the collec- tion is inspired by lavish Arabic and minimal Korean styles, combined together in elaborate clothes. As for the following collections, it might be an African- Japanese fusion or an Indian-Swiss mixture. Imagine the exciting combinable prospects that hopefully will contribute to a better mutual understanding of the younger generations through fa- shion… Durrah Al Omar a design student from Al Zubair, Iraq, 22 years old. She has been living in Jordan due to the conﬂict in her home coun- try and is studying design and visu- al communication at the German Jordanian University in Amman. She is involved in different ﬁelds of design that vary from script writing and mo- vie making to product design, packaging and branding. Durrah: „I appreciate this University project, as it gives me the possibi- lity to put part of my story and per- sonality in my work. I like challen- ges and the idea, that the work of designers inspire people, and that each person can relate to your work differently. My goal is to integrate the Arabic and the Western world, knowing that people can be uni- ted through great concepts, if they just have the opportunity to get to know each other and work together. I want to give the best I can in order to enhance cross-cultural commu- nication.“ Mais Quqa, 22 years old from Palestina, born and raised in Aman, Jordan. She is currently studying visual communication design at the German Jordanian University in Amman, Jordan. Mais: „I have chosen design as my career path because I have been always passionate about anything that is related to design or arts. I am curious about learning and in

creative play with movement and elements and loved experimenting with sound, light and 4d design and taking drawing- and handcraft courses. Jihee: „This gave me the freedom to think and discover my style as a designer. I disco- vered my passi- on for car design: But working hard on this issue I found myself ex- hausted, pushing myself too hard. I started to think more about life and applied as an exchange student at University in Wiesbaden. I was ready for a new path. I met lovely people and en- ded up on this amazing fashion project. We live in a world, full of emotion and sensibility, every day life is full of changes and mo- vement. As a designer, I am in- spired by that dynamic and nature. Nature‘s creations can‘t always be explained by geometry. My mission is to understand that principles and to translate them into my design.“ constant search for methods that will develop my skills. I am obser- vant to every little detail that I use in my designs, and I like to share my experiences with others. As a part of my studying program, I am having an international intern- ship in Germany. During my ex- change semester at the Hochschule Rheinmain in Wiesbaden, I had the opportunity to team up with great people from all around the world and to create a fashion brand that mingles cultures together which aims to bring knowledge about different cultures through fashion. With the help of Professor Rüdiger Pichler who guided us throughout our jour- ney and helped us to develop our brand and Photographer and Crea- tive Director Thomas Kettner who took us under his wings and show- ed us the world of fashion editorial and production. I am aiming to work hard to bring our brand to life, and to share our values and knowledge about new cultures with the rest of the world.“ Jihee Hwang is studying industrial and communication design at Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea, 21 years, she is keen on a

The Korean people reﬂect the natu- ral environment of their homeland, a terrain predominately covered by hills and mountains, bound by the sea on three sides and marked by four distinct seasons. The traditional dress known as hanbok has been worn since an- cient times. The hanbok consists of a shirt (jeogori) and a skirt (chima). These clothes typically feature graceful lines and forms that create the serene aura characteristic of the traditional Korean clothes we know as hanbok. Although Korea has a long tradition of colorful clothes with complex designs depending on the period and the wearer’s social status, history reveals that Korean people in the past tended to prefer simple, white clothes. That is why they were often referred to as “the white-clad people” among their neighbors who admired them for being a peaceful folk. Korean people today seem to prefer clothes inspired by modern Western styles to their traditi- onal clothes, although some people still insist on wearing the latter on traditional holidays or for special family occasions such as weddings. Their love of traditi- on and yearning for the new sometimes led to the creation of an attractive “mo- dernized hanbok.” The city of Seoul, South Korea is basi- cally the place to be if you‘re looking for pop culture and fashion and is home to many talented fashion designers who have earned an international reputation with their creative designs which com- bine traditional Korean designs and pat- terns with a modern artistic sensibility. The impact of k-pop and media make people adopt new styles easily moving onto the next style crush. Korea is the online retailer’s third biggest market af- ter the UK and US. The beauty of tradi- tional Korean clothes has been introdu- ced to and praised in many parts of the world thanks to the remarkable success in recent years of many Korean ﬁlms.

The Arabian world consists of 22 countries, which we can breakdown or divide in to four main areas: North Africa, Sudan, The Gulf, and finally the Levant. Which happens to be our main focus in this project. When it comes to clothes, Arabians love patterns and colors for both men and women outfits. Each coun- try in the Arabian world has its own traditi- onal clothes, they all share the same value of modesty. Back in the old days, Arabic fashion was mainly influenced by different customs, tradition, and of course religion. Nowadays, Western fashion has deeply influ- enced the Arabian traditional fashion, that you barely see anyone wearing any traditional clothes on an everyday basis. Traditional clothes were once famous for the quality of their fabrics and the beauty of their embroide- ries, that’s why it is still possible to spot some traditional garments and outfits in special occasions such as weddings, engagement parties, religious celebrations or a pilgrimage. Also, traditional garments are usually worn by elderly people, the younger generation tend to wear Western clothes. That’s the reason why we see a lot of Western fashion mixed with local fashion and traditional garments. Howe- ver, this isn’t the case for people living in the rural areas and small towns; there women and men prefer traditional clothes which offer comfort, protection from the wind, sand and sun. Arabian women living in the cities are more up to date to the latest fashion trends, some women cover themselves not only as a religious or cultural sign of belonging to a cer- tain society, but as an important fashion state- ment. There are women who choose to let their hair uncovered. Thob, Jilbab, Abaya, Dara’a, Hashemi, Besht, Dishdasha, Sherwal: These are only a part of the vast array of clothes worn. They might sound so different, but they have a few things in common, they are long, wide and comfortable. Some have hood while other don’t. It can be black and it can be very colorful and filled with patterns. Some have floral embroideries while other has beads. When the garment is simple and don’t have a lot of decorative elements, it is used in daily life. When the garment has heavy hand work, a lot of beading and embro- ideries it is usually worn in special occasions. There is an infinite variety of Arabic garments and what we have mentioned represents only a minimum part of it. Clothes remain a funda- mental element in the cultural identity of each country in the Arabian world. Some countries have followed Western footsteps in terms of fashion, namely the Levant and North Africa, while others are still holding on tight to their traditional clothes like Saudi Arabia or Yemen.