WARDROBE CHRONICLES °02

The closet of Ramona Gschwend

09/24 ZURICH
Ramona Gschwend, Multidisciplinary Designer
Style curation by Noëmi Leonhardt

Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself?

I am a multi disciplinary designer and work between photography, art direction, object and space and like to experiment in this fields. I play with different medias and materials such as clay, photography and video. While I enjoy to experiment in the end I always like to break it down to the essential value of the work in this fields, this is the process I do when working.

How does fashion fit into your life and personal story?

As I try to break it down to the essence in my creative process when working I intuitively do the same with my wardrobe. Therefore my wardrobe is quite reduced to the essential and almost everything works with everything. This makes it very easy to mix and match. I don’t want to spend too much time into the decision of what to wear. Maybe that is why I also like to wear a two-piece set.

Is there a way you would describe your personal way of dressing?

I try to create a personal uniform. All the pieces are without patterns, have bold cuts or are made of interesting fabrics. I would say comfy but still elegant, timeless and neutral. It is highly important to me that I feel very comfortable and that I can move easily. Therefore I seldom wear skirts or dresses. And then there is a version of me in the nature in my leisure time where I dress very sporty for the sake of the activity.

How do you decide what to wear when looking at a new day?

Well, I like to think of the day and what it brings. When I spend the day on set I usually wear all black and when I go to the office I probably go for a bit more elegant version. And still. I usually keep it very quiet. I don’t want to draw any attention on me.

Tell us about the actual clothes you own. How big is the collection and what are your most cherished pieces?

My collection is very reduced and minimalistic. I mean there are seven days, two of them I spend in my sportswear when hiking in the mountains and one I usually spend in the studio working with ceramic, where I always wear the same two pieces. Therefore I don’t need much. I have a few vintage pieces from Issey Miyake. One dress is very special to me. It is frilled but it is black, so it works for me. I mean Issey Miyake I find just really beautiful, I love their fabric. Then I have one handbag from KASSL which I love. Then there is this one shirt, also a vintage find from Ottolinger. It is very special, like a corsett. I hate patterns. I could not picture myself wearing something with a pattern. I therefore do not own one single piece with a pattern on it. I like the duality of matt and shiny and like to play with this in terms of styling.

What does a piece need to speak to you?

Finishing, material, shape. I have the feeling that there is a sense of whether someone has clearly had an intention at the time of creation. And I like to see that when looking at a piece. Has someone worked on it and clearly thought it through? This totally makes the difference for me. And then there is the personal aspect, that I like the most. I appreciate knowing the people who stand behind a project and having a connection to things.

How do you feel about the diversity of a regular week in terms of dressing?

I love it. I love the fact that one day I spend in a functional outfit on 3000 m.a.s.l. and then the next day I wear Issey Miyake working in the city of Zurich. This way of exploring the duality and diversity of worlds I cherish a lot.

Your best vintage find?

A Dries van Noten Coat. In a small village in the east of Switzerland, where probably no one knew it’s real value. An amazing piece!

Do you still own that?

No. It was way too wild to colourful for me. I mean, maybe I should have.. But I would have never worn it anyways, so I sold it.

Are there pieces you treasure for their emotional significance, beyond function?

I own a long black patent leather coat which I rarely ever wear, maybe for a cocktail on a rainy evening or so. I think this piece is genious and I would never give it away. Otherwise not really. I try to be very radical with my wardrobe. I like to limit myself.

Perhaps your work reflects a preference for matte, earthy, and soft over shiny, powerful, and bold. In some way, it resembles your wardrobe.

That is interesting. Maybe it is like a design technique that I also use when working with clay or photography. The theme I like to choose often involves the serial and the individual; I also see, for example, in a plissée fabric, which is repetitive, but each pleat is still very unique. And then there was a comment where someone told me that I looked like one of my vases. And in a way it is true.

Also the limiting aspect, right?

Totally. I like to limit myself when starting a new project. For example for this one project of creating a bowl the intention was to work only with two shapes, square and round. This fascinates me because it always seems to work.

..Talking about shapes, do you think about the silhouette when dressing yourself?

I think so. It happens intuitively. But for example I have quite voluminous hair. Therefore depending how I am dressing myself I change the style of my hair. And again, it is the combination of straighter shapes with rounder shapes.

And then, if you lived abroad where no one knows you, what would you wear differently and which city best embodies that style?

I would not see myself in a specific city. I think I would prefer to picture myself in the countryside. I like quietness and the city often seems to busy to me. Maybe Kyōto, but since I haven’t been there it is hard to say. I would therefore say Sicily would be quite representable. When living there the place would probably change my style a bit. I would probably go for lighter, flowier fabrics like p.e. silk. ..And maybe even wear a dress?