BACKGROUND of Tanja Stadler

Tanja Stadler   –   background / biography

Please give me info on your background, how you got to fashion and what you did before establishing your brand. please include your education and work experience and please comment on both.

I grew up in the „middle of nowhere“ – a small county called – frengkofen – in rural bavaria, where people still sport their – lederhosen- and go fishing on the danube river. since there was not much to do for a young girl with big ambitions, i left home in 1995 and graduated in 1992. Intrigued by the city life, I moved to munich in 1997 where i started to work as a consultant for an advertising agency. my social network grew as fast as my pr skills, and together with my passion for all things beautiful, i became manager sales and distribution for the design guide munich in 2000.

The first label you established ten years ago: please give me more info on this. name of the brand, philosophy and aesthetics, which were your inspirations and a comment on setting up your first brand at such a young age. please also mention where your collection was stocked, who you worked with and who influenced your early work.

2000 was also the year when i met an aspiring Canadian designer maria intscher, who just came from Alexander mc queen and strenesse. her mind was full with creative ideas, i had the matching ideas on how to promote and establish the brand. We clicked. soon the brand was established, and produced by our favourite manufacturer, marc gysemans. for the next couple of years i commuted from the labels headquater in Antwerp to my home and significant other in munich. during that time, i was responsible for the ordering, our clients, shipping, setting up the showrooms in paris, pr and of course the stylings!

The aesthetics of the brand were similar to the then famous beligian designs: few colours, no-frills but very accurate designs with a „futuristic twist“. The philosophy was to supply urban women with the right outfits for the „urban jungle“.

Our stockists were located mostly in japan, bus stop, beams and  i. t.  to name a few.

To enter the italian market, i made a contract with moschillo in 2003. but the same year my life saw some dramtic changes, good and bad. first was the birth of my beloved daughter, the second was my father dying from cancer. therefore, i decided to spend less time traveling and more time with my family and sold the brand to moschillo for good.

Your store spielbar tragbar: please give me details on designers you stocked, what kind of overall look your selection comprised and what is the store now – has it maintained the old look and aesthetics or has been changed? please comment.

Selling the brand was the birth of „SpielbarTragbar“. it was a collaboration with a record shop, and one of the first concept stores to hit munich. the combination of fashion and music was a blast. We created a second home for young urban people, who can afford designer labels, but could not find anything else than mainstream in munich, and most of Germany, at that time.

Therefore, we successfully introduced the following designers to our customers: raf Simons, bernhard willhelm, a.f. vandevorst, haider Ackermann, stephan schneider, bruno pieters  – soon the store became so famous and hip that people from austria and north of germany came. at that time, we also set up a temporary branch in the hippest underground club in munich „erste liga“, and i organized huge fashion shows in the club with 2000 guests.

At that time, i started to develop my eclectic style. influenced by street style, casual but yet always sensual and always high quality, great fitting clothes.

Like a band, my business partner and i both started to follow different paths of career as we developed personally, so in 2006, he moved on to culture, and i, at the peak of my styling career, founded staji.

More info on staji please. what are the inspirations behind the label, how does it differ to your first label? please comment. please also give me more details on the signature style you mention.

The inspiration for my style is simple – every women is a goddess!

As I mentioned, staji stands for casual but yet very sensual clothes – always the highest quality, and best fitting. it differs from the first label that it conveys a much more positive approach to life, it is more sensual, optimistic and puts my customers and what they want first.

Also, i am convinced that the energy of how clothes are produced is important for the wearer. staji is produced by a highly specialized women-run handicraft business in the South of Germany. I do not believe in producing cheap at the cost of quality, and more important, the health of underpaid labour force in the third world.

How many collections have you produced? who are your stockists? where do you show your collections? what are your recurring styles?

I will proudly present my first collection in the munich staji store. it will also be the flagship store where the collection can be purchased permanently.

Also, I will go where my customers are – “on tour” with the staji collection.

I will visit different cities and be there with an own store for several weeks. each shop will be opened with a catwalk show, a personal styling event and a party.

So, therefore, i decided against stockists at the moment. because i also learned from my customers that they disagree with the way they have to shop for their favourite peaces. thanks to the usual distribution at the moment, european fashionistas have to buy a bikini in snowy and freezing february, and winter boots in sizzling august. if you think about it, this is insane. the pieces of the collection are not subdued to summer and winter clothing in the first place, since staji is all about layers.

The recurring style clolorwise would be black. it enhances the personality of the women instead of distracting from it. in general, the collection comprises many different parts that allow layering, each woman can find her core style and add matching pieces to it, e.g. for business or festive occasions.

Wearing the clothes, the customers feel comfortable and yet look sexy – in a sophisticated way. the designs are modern but not subdued to any fickle seasons hipness – these are favorite items you will keep wearing for years. i strongly believe that loving oneself and your body is more important than “complicated” clothing, although recurring themes are wrapping, asymmetry and pieces that you can wear in more ways than just one.

STAJI COLLECTION TEXT

C O L L E C T I O N :
With her collection, Staji  has made her claim for the wardrobe of the women in the 21st century come true. For her, the usual separation into business, casual and evening style are simply non-existant. Be it in the world’s metroploles or the province, the women shall always be her true self.

With Staji fashion, women are always dressed instead of being dressed-up.
The artificial segmentation into summer and winter collections is a leftover of the 20st century. In contrast to this mindset, Staji designs are all about „layer looks“: The different layers can be varied according to all temperatures.

„Reduce to the max“: With the designs of Staji, a women only needs one rail in her closet. The invisible walls seperating business and leisure are once and forever torn down.
Self-confindent and sexy.

Staji is inspired by the people she works with every day.
Every woman has that „special something“, that Staji makes visible with her creations and styles. The challenge of doing just that gives her new ideas all the time.

Black. It enhances the personality of the women instead of distracting from it.
Beauty.Naturality. Elegance. Immortal. Godess.

Silk. Cotton. Nature. Linen. Tulle . Chiffon .

stretchy, floating, comfortable,- high-end quality – silky …