她是首位獲得“中國紡織非遺友誼大使”稱號的國際友人；她將中式質(zhì)感的香云紗融入西式的裁剪與風(fēng)格，設(shè)計(jì)華貴儒雅；她曾多次受邀參加中央美術(shù)學(xué)院、中國絲綢博物館、英國V&A博物館、北京時(shí)裝周，是當(dāng)之無愧的藝術(shù)家。她就是德國服裝設(shè)計(jì)師凱瑟琳·馮·瑞星博（Kathrin von Rechenberg）。

凱瑟琳與香云紗的相遇十分偶然。2000年，已經(jīng)在Christian Dior、Chanel、Christian Lacroix等多個(gè)巴黎高級時(shí)裝屋工作過的凱瑟琳，在朋友的介紹下只身來到中國，開啟了自己的香云紗之旅，并創(chuàng)立了以自己名字命名的品牌rechenberg art couture。20多年來，幾乎是靠口口相傳而被大眾熟知的rechenberg，以其獨(dú)具特色的服裝風(fēng)格和可持續(xù)、傳承中華非遺的理念，收獲了眾多國內(nèi)外顧客的青睞。

一年將盡，新一年正啟，本刊記者來到了位于北京前門大街的rechenberg，聽凱瑟琳為我們講述她的故事。

She is the first foreigner who won the title of "China Textile Intangible Cultural Heritage Friendship Ambassador"； she blends Chinese Xiangyunsha（also known as gambiered canton silk） into western tailoring and style， and the design is full of luxurious and elegant； she has been invited to participate in many exhibitions of Central Academy of Fine Arts， China Silk Museum， British V&A Museum， Beijing Fashion Week， etc. She is a well-deserved artist. She is the German fashion designer Kathrin von Rechenberg.

The encounter between Kathrin and Xiangyunsha was purely accidental. In 2000， Kathrin， who had worked in several Paris haute couture houses such as Christian Dior， Chanel， Christian Lacroix， etc.， came to China alone with the introduction of her friend， started her own journey of finding Xiangyun yarn. Later， she founded same name brand rechenberg art couture. For more than 20 years， rechenberg， which is almost known to the public by word of mouth， has won the favor of many domestic and foreign customers with its unique clothing style and the concept of sustainable and intangible cultural heritage.

At the end of the year， we came to rechenberg in Beijing Qianmen Street in particular， to listen to Kathrin tell us her story.

CT：很多人都說rechenberg的服裝具有一種非常獨(dú)特的東方韻味，作為一個(gè)外國人，您怎么理解中國文化并運(yùn)用在自己的品牌中？

凱瑟琳：中國文化對我來說最大的啟發(fā)就是人與自然的連接。我在中國生活了20多年，使用的都是中國的面料，所以肯定具有一些中式的風(fēng)格。使用香云紗的過程給了我很多靈感。首先是技術(shù)上的靈感。因?yàn)橄阍萍営袃擅?，所以我一直在想如何讓服裝兩面都可以穿。然后是裁剪和植物染等。我不想浪費(fèi)面料，所以就使用整個(gè)寬幅的面料做衣服。其次香云紗教會(huì)了我要耐心。制作香云紗需要很長時(shí)間。起初我非常著急，不明白為什么不能很快拿到我的面料，但現(xiàn)在我特別理解，因?yàn)橄阍萍喌闹谱魇芴鞖獾南拗啤＜词鼓玫较阍萍喴惨^一段時(shí)間再使用。香云紗讓我的心態(tài)變的平靜。在染香云紗的過程中，也不能預(yù)測出到底會(huì)染出什么顏色，所以與其生氣為什么顏色和自己想象的不同，還不如就讓自然告訴自己要做什么。這可能就是中國文化給我的啟示——不要強(qiáng)迫自己，順應(yīng)自然接受自己，把遇到的每個(gè)問題都當(dāng)成一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)。

CT：香云紗的顏色大多是比較深的顏色，您在設(shè)計(jì)的時(shí)候會(huì)受到顏色的限制嗎？

凱瑟琳：十幾歲的時(shí)候我喜歡明亮的顏色，不明白為什么媽媽喜歡穿棕色、米色這些不是很吸引人的顏色。但是現(xiàn)在我對顏色的認(rèn)知改變了，我很喜歡黑色，鮮艷的顏色反而會(huì)另我感到不舒服。大街上到處都是鮮艷的顏色和燈光，也充斥著很多聲音和音樂，一切都太快了，我們同時(shí)得到太多感官?zèng)_擊，我需要一些東西讓我的眼睛平靜下來。這就是我喜歡大自然，喜歡這些平靜的色彩的原因。我認(rèn)為這才是更適合我的東西。

CT：今年九月，您受中央美術(shù)學(xué)院的邀請攜真絲雕塑作品《莨·鞣》 參加“萬物生息——后石油時(shí)代的材料與設(shè)計(jì)”展，您的心情如何？

凱瑟琳：我真的很感激中央美術(shù)學(xué)院找到我，并邀請我加入這個(gè)展覽。在這之前，他們只是看到了我展出的一些作品而已。我從來沒有做過這么龐大的工作，也不知道如何做藝術(shù)品，通過做這份工作，我經(jīng)歷了很多，也學(xué)到很多東西。以前我只是用薯莨染布料，但這次我開始用傳統(tǒng)的工藝自己染色、過泥等。這項(xiàng)工作也讓我從服裝設(shè)計(jì)中獲得了一些自由。我不用向別人展示我的技術(shù)有多么高超，只是表達(dá)自己。

CT：《莨·鞣》的作品名是什么意思？通過這個(gè)作品，您想向觀眾傳遞什么理念？

凱瑟琳：薯莨在很久以前被用來制作皮革，這個(gè)過程被稱為鞣。對我來說，做香云紗的過程與制作皮革的過程有異曲同工之處。香云紗也是用薯莨染色，有的也看起來像是皮革，所以我就以此命名了這個(gè)作品。因?yàn)檫@個(gè)作品的外觀比較像一個(gè)巨大的繭，所以這個(gè)作品的英文名字是薯莨·繭。這種形態(tài)也讓人們思考它是如何縛繭、又是如何改變自己，重獲新生的。

CT：怎么看待香云紗被大眾稱為“軟黃金”？未來會(huì)考慮用其他的面料設(shè)計(jì)服裝嗎？

凱瑟琳：我真的不喜歡軟黃金這個(gè)表達(dá)，以及人們宣傳、談?wù)撓阍萍喌姆绞?。對我來說，這些都是營銷，并不是現(xiàn)實(shí)。人們對香云紗有太多誤解，每個(gè)人都在重復(fù)一些沒有核實(shí)的事情。廣東本地人以前穿香云紗，衣服破了他們會(huì)重新修補(bǔ)，這只是他們的一種生活方式。其他材質(zhì)，我比較喜歡麻，非常反對將滌綸混紡的一些材料，因?yàn)樗荒鼙换厥铡?/p>

CT：您什么時(shí)候開始對藝術(shù)產(chǎn)生了興趣？還有哪些藝術(shù)給您帶來了設(shè)計(jì)靈感？

凱瑟琳：我十歲就開始自己織毛衣了。爺爺和姥爺是陶藝師和雕塑師，家里有一個(gè)工作室，到處都是雕塑作品。我從小一直學(xué)習(xí)長笛，長笛老師教會(huì)了我很多。在家里我們也會(huì)一起討論視覺藝術(shù)和音樂是怎么互相影響的，所以我自然而然地受到了一些藝術(shù)的熏陶。

我最近看了一個(gè)木版印刷的視頻，很感興趣。我也很喜歡書法，雖然我不認(rèn)識中國字，但我喜歡這種需要全神貫注投入精力的藝術(shù)。書法看起來簡單，但是不能改寫重寫。這里面有許多小細(xì)節(jié)，水多了或者水少了顏色就不一樣了。以前黑色對我來說就是黑色，但現(xiàn)在我知道了黑色也能有這么多不同的顏色，我從這些簡單的顏色和細(xì)節(jié)中找到了更多的樂趣。我覺得這是一種對自己的限制，限制自己的選擇，專注于真正重要的事情。

CT：您多次為歌唱家龔琳娜設(shè)計(jì)表演服裝，她會(huì)同您一起討論服裝的設(shè)計(jì)嗎，還是您獨(dú)立為她設(shè)計(jì)？

凱瑟琳：一開始我不認(rèn)識龔琳娜，也不熟悉舞臺上的表演服裝需要怎么做。后來我知道了需要考慮一些技術(shù)的要求，比如她總是要一手拿著麥克風(fēng)，或者袖子不能太短等。她一般不會(huì)把她想要的東西強(qiáng)加給我。每次她來的時(shí)候，總會(huì)挑選一些喜歡的服裝，然后我們一起做一些事情。

在被問到有哪些喜愛的品牌時(shí)，凱瑟琳表示自己并沒有特別喜歡的品牌，原因是她已經(jīng)很久沒有買過衣服了，她也并不需要很多的衣服。她笑著說，如果非要說點(diǎn)什么的話，她最喜歡的可能就是腳上正穿的靴子的品牌吧。這個(gè)品牌全世界只有兩家門店，一家在巴黎，另一家在羅馬。她說她喜歡這種小品牌扎扎實(shí)實(shí)的感覺，人們專注于自己的工藝和設(shè)計(jì)，一切只為了給顧客提供更好的產(chǎn)品和服務(wù)，正如她的rechenberg一樣。

CT： Many people say that rechenberg has quite unique Chinese charm， as a foreigner， what do you understand Chinese culture and use it into your designing？

Kathrin： For me Chinese culture it’s always human with the nature linked together. I live in China for 20 years， and my pieces I am doing right now with Chinese materials so definitely it looks Chinese oriental style. But working with this material has inspired my whole work. For example， in technically wise， it has two sides one brown and another black， so i always searching for ways how the clothing could be worn on both sides. It’s not to waste the fabric so I am using the whole width， etc. The second is that the process of making Xiangyunsha made me patient. In the beginning， i was very in a hurry and I couldn’t understand why they cannot do my things fast， but now i know this is the weather which is deciding if you can dye and then also you need to leave the fabric for a while before you can use it some years. I’m becoming more calm. In the natural dye process， we cannot predict the reside exactly instead of being angry while the reside is not like what we imagined， so you just take it as a chance to tell you what to do. This is Chinese culture which is not to impose yourself on the nature but adapt yourself and take it as a chance.

CT： The colors of Xiangyunsha are mostly dark. Do you like other bright colors？ Do you think the colors of Xiangyunsha limit your designing？

Kathrin： When I was very young， I also liked colors and didn’t understand why my mother likes to wear brown and beige these apparently not very appealing colors. But now my perception of colors changed， I always love black. I have to say I feel uncomfortable seeing bright colors， I need something calming my eyes because there are bright colors and lights everywhere on the street， also loud voices and music. We have too many impressions at the same time. Everything moves too fast. I am really avoiding things which are too massive and impressive， that’s why I prefer to go to nature and have calm colors. I think that’s something more suitable for me.

CT： In September this year， you were invited with your silk sculptures to take part in the exhibition “The life of things”by the Central Academy of Fine Arts， how do you feel about being involved in？

Kathrin： First of all， I am really grateful and touched that people came to me without knowing what I am doing just from seeing something I showed before， and asked me to do this exhibition. I was really touched by the trust， because I have never done such a huge work and I am not knowing for doing art. By doing this work， I experienced a lot and learned many things. I just used Shuliang dyeing fabrics before， but this time I started doing in traditional way by myself like dyeing， brushing， and exposing under the sun. Another thing is that the work gives me some freedom from clothing design. It’s not necessary for me to show everybody that I must be a sculptor.

CT： What is the meaning of the exhibit’s name？ What are you trying to express through these silk sculptures？

Kathrin： Shuliang was used to make leather in the very old time before， the process is called tanning. For me， the process of making Xiangyunsha has something to do with tanning process. I also use shuliang to dye fabrics， and some of fabrics do seem like the texture of leather， that’s why I named it as tanning. And its English name is cocoon because of the appearance of the work. I think this artwork may let people think its transforming， how it makes the cocoon and how it transforms itself and how it comes out finally. In the end it’s kind of a transformation for myself by doing this work.

CT： What do you think about Xiangyunsha is often described as soft gold in fabric form？ Have you considered trying other materials？

Kathrin： I really don’t like the expression and the way people are promoting or talking about Xiangyunsha. For me， these are all marketing tools which are attracting people but not reality. There are so many misunderstandings to it and everybody is repeating things which have been told once without verifying. The local people in Guangdong did wear Xiangyunsha at that time. When it was broken they would repair it， it was a lifestyle people there lived. In terms of other materials， I like linen， but it’s a little bit hard to find suitable linen in China. And I am very against mixing materials with polyester because it cannot be recycled.

CT： When did you find you had an interest in art？ What other type of art have inspired your designing？

Kathrin： I started knitting sweater by myself since I was ten years old. My grandfathers are potter and sculptor. We have a workshop at home， and there are sculptures everywhere. I learned flute since young age， my flute teacher in Munich is really important for me as well， so I naturally gained some artistic influences.

I saw one artist who doing wood printing in videos recently， it’s just black and white but it is so beautiful. I like calligraphy as well. Even though I cannot read， I love this kind of art that you have to concentrate it without distraction. It seems like a simple technique， but you cannot change and redo it. There are so many little details in it， the colors are so different when there is more water or fading away. Before black is black for me but now there are so many different kind of blacks， I find much more pleasure in these simple colors and details instead of bright colors. I think it’s a restriction for yourself that you are limiting your choices and concentrating on something really important.

CT： You have designed for Chinese singer Gong Linna many times， do you discuss ideas for the design together or you work independently？

Kathrin： There are also some technical requirements， such as she always has to hold the microphone in one hand， or the sleeves are not allowed to be too short. She doesn’t impose something she needs to me. Usually when she is coming， she finds things she likes then we do something together.

When asked about her favorite brands， Kathrin said that she didn’t have favorite brands， because she hadn’t bought clothes for a long time， and she didn’t need many clothes in fact. She smiled and said that if she had to say something， her favorite brand might be the boots she was wearing on her feet. There are only two stores of the brand in the world， one in Paris and the other in Rome. She said that she likes the solid feeling of small brands. People focus on their own craftsmanship， and everything they did is to provide better products and services to their customer. Just like her brand rechenberg.