Who we are, what we do, and why things never remain the way they are.
About eigensinnig wien
Just fashion? By no means. We create and curate. We think and experiment. We break new ground and take breaks. Avant-garde, fashion, art and philosophy go hand in hand, frequently in black. The essence of our activities? Making each person’s very own character visible. That’s what eigensinnig represents. And has represented for almost a decade now.
Pare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry.
LEONARD KOREN
FASHION AND DESIGN – INSPIRED BY PHILOSOPHY, ART AND CULTURE
We create handcrafted unique pieces for obstinate – i.e. “eigensinnig” – characters. Collections that are enriched with a wide range of thoughts, which we transform into shapes in an experimental process.
We think and act within a clearly defined but amply dimensioned framework. Because without boundaries, creativity will choke on itself. We like to call this space an ‘oversized corset’ in which anything is allowed. A space for us to think, create, take breaks, discard, deconstruct and reassemble, a space for us to break new ground and sometimes change direction. The process is part of the product, and sometimes the results are surprising, even to us.
Discover the avant-garde fashion of eigensinnig wien here.
ABOUT OUR PREDILECTION FOR NATURAL MATERIALS
Linen, cotton and silk. Merino wool, yak, woolen fabrics and cashmere. Leather and buttons made of metal, horn or wood, especially manufactured for us. These are the materials nature provides us with and which we shape in creative and experimental ways, thus creating unique pieces for obstinate characters. They are timeless fabrics and materials that address all the senses and which we like to join together in asymmetrical, avant-garde designs.
Black is poetry without words.
EIGENSINNIG WIEN
ABOUT OUR PREDILECTION FOR FASHION IN BLACK
Black represents duration, stability, straightforwardness, minimalism. It is not an expression of the zeitgeist, because the zeitgeist is tomorrow’s past. Black does not follow any trends, it is a non-color – and yet it is so dense, compact, full. It graciously stays in the background and lets the design, ideas and silhouettes take center stage. Black is poetry without words.
Read our essay: The darkest color - Our tribute to black.
CURATED PIECES FROM THE WORLD OF AVANT-GARDE
Our own label “eigensinnig wien” label is one thing. The curated brands from the world of avant-garde fashion is the other. Both form a symbiosis. Local eigensinnig wien and the best things the world has to offer. Rare, scarce, unique pieces. Brands that represent true craftsmanship and true rarities with scarcity value. In other words: truly unique pieces.
Discover international avant-garde fashion brands.
ARTIFACTS: BETWEEN CRAFTSMANSHIP AND OBJET D’ART
Inspirited, exquisite, rare, mystical objects, crafted by hand, which sensuously enrich the present eigensinnig pieces without being just an “accessory”. Extraordinary bags and wallets, hats, perfumes and candles, unique pieces of jewelry and sunglasses from all over the avant-garde world – all these are gathered under the high vault of our showroom in Vienna.
Discover all artifacts here.
TONI WOLDRICH - THE OBSTINATE ONE
eigensinnig wien’s history has always been eventful. Many things happened since its beginnings in 2012, one change is followed by the next. And yet there are two constants in this equation: the location and Toni Woldrich. The former has always been one of the oldest buildings on Sankt-Ulrichs-Platz in Vienna, and the latter has always been the founder and creative mind behind eigensinnig wien. He is also the one who enriches the avant-garde fashion with ideas from philosophy, art, culture, photography, society or politics. All activities and thoughts are connected by one leitmotif, the wabi-sabi philosophy: “Pare down to the essence, but don’t remove the poetry.”
EIGENSINNIG WIEN AS STAGE, GALLERY AND SHOWROOM
We chose the ground floor of one of Vienna’s oldest buildings as the home of eigensinnig wien. The house is located next to a large church on picturesque, cobblestoned Sankt-Ulrichs-Platz square, where time seems to have stopped in fin-de-siècle Vienna. As non-urban as this place may appear, we are nevertheless at the heart of the city, just a few steps away from the MuseumsQuartier. It is a place where you can feel the city’s calm and steady pulse.
Anyone who enters the showroom with its high vault can feel the coalescence of supposed contradictions: global and local, old and new, warm and cold, male and female, nature and design, craftsmanship and art. The warm natural wood on the floor relativizes the hardness of the raw concrete on the walls. Soft leather elements make the cool steel furniture appear fragile and yielding.
All elements and pieces of furniture display a personal wabi-sabi aesthetic, reduced to the essentials and consciously imperfect. They gathered here in order to be frequently arranged and rearranged like props in a theater. Thus our loft-like showroom becomes a stage on which we regularly present new themes.
These changing, temporary programs and works on the walls, which create the atmosphere of a fashion gallery, draw their inspiration from the ideas of great thinkers, artists and philosophers which we combine in unusual ways. All this makes eigensinnig wien a hybrid between a stage, a gallery and a showroom; a kind of living organism that constantly, creatively self-destructs in order to reemerge in a new and different way.
Visit us in our showroom in Vienna. We kindly ask you to make an appointment.
Just Fashion? - By No Means!
For almost one decade, eigensinnig wien has been the epitome of lived individuality and depth. We were never just about fashion; we have always introduced our own thoughts on philosophical and social topics – in the collections, in our conversations with customers and visitors, in the world of curating and in our words. At eigensinnig, philosophical questions meet pop culture, depth psychology meets local art. Topics and notions such as the Nothing, the Between, deconstruction, negative space, chaos theory and links between these concepts not only buzz around our heads, but also permeate our space and everything we manufacture, select, say and write.
We want to provide impetus, activate, and inspire people to think outside the box. We want to promote obstinacy in every possible way – to make each person’s very own character visible.
