Born the 5th of December 1982 in Munich, Germany.After a training as a custom tailor, Alice Knackfuss graduated from the Fashion and Design Academy of Munich.During her studies she worked in the design departments of Kris van Assche and Ute Ploier.In 2009, she was a finalist at the INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF FASHION AND PHOTOG-RAPHY IN HYERES, as well as Triest's ITS#EIGHT festival, winning the prestigious Diesel Award.After her work in the men's department at Diesel, she moved to Belgium where she began work with Simon-Pierre Toussaint, first creating a collection of re-worked vintage garments for the renowned Brussels “Les Petits Riens” charity fashion show. Following this, They realized their first commercialized capsule collection, DEAREST, a collaborative project to be continued, first launched and sold at Hunting and Collecting, a multibrand Store in Brussels and presented at the men's Fashion Week in Paris in January 2011.In 2011 she did 2 small women’s wear collections and gained experience working as free-lancer.In 2012 she started her own line a.KNACKFUSS.a.KNACKFUSS stands for a new image of femininity, offering forward-thinking and unusual, yet comfortable and wearable clothes for women, inspired by menswear:Clothes that do not restrict the wearer, but rather open possibilities in terms of shape and style. Reaching out to such diverse themes as unusual historical characters, marginalized cultures, and surreal fictions, a.KNACKFUSS shapes and prints invoke a rich and imagina-tive study of anthropology and a curiousness for distant worlds.a.KNACKFUSS is sold worldwide in department stores like H.Lorenzo,Los Angeles, Hunting and Collecting, Brussels and Twist, Hong Kong under others.

Referencing the vocabulary and shapes of sportswear -with a focus on refinement and contrasting fabrics- SLAM is an ode to athleticism and style in movement, hitting the right balance between embellishment and the demands of an urban lifestyle. The collection draws precious inspiration from pioneering women in sports, such as Amelia Bloomer, Amanda Clement, Suzanne Lenglen or Isobel Stanley. She also incorporates Art Deco elements within her pieces, echoing the pure and modernist lines of the 1930s. Working with stark geometrical shapes, SLAM uses monochrome looks as well as vibrant tones, like fluorescent coral, bright multicolored prints, gleaming white or graphic black. Pieces are either cropped or oversize, adding energy and flair to the overall silhouette. Made to be layered and combined freely, the clothes go from day to evening, displaying their unique sense of humor. The designer's dog -reinterpreted as an embroidered logo on polo shirts- is not the only animal making an entrance this season: playful flamingos are landing on tops and sweat-shirts, adding a fun-loving touch to carefully cut garments. The mesh of a tennis court net becomes an amusing trim on a gray sweatshirt.The garments are a mix of mesh with leather, matte with transparent, silk with neoprene. Artfully combining the technical and the noble the collecting comes up with confident and hybrid garments.

SLAM

s p r i n g – s u m m e r 2015

The Beat Generation, a significant cultural movement in Post War America, inspires thecollection.On a background of Bebop music, a link is established between the anti-authoritarianideals of the Beats and the birth of Hip-Hop in the 1980s.In an atmosphere where style stems from revolt, the sweatshirts bear slogans from theHipster jargon of the times, words that have become obsolete and give off a refreshingabsurdity.Mixing classic cuts with sportswear, the old Hip-Hop codes are re-interpreted in acontemporary way: parkas become dresses/jackets, bling-bling is refined, and the printsinfluenced by the Codex Seraphinianus (Luigi Serafini's legendary illustrated book ofunknown language) introduce a fake naivety which catches us off guard.The smocking, a recurring element in the work of a.KNACKFUSS, refers to the streetfamed padding mixed with camouflage fake fur.This collection offers a wardrobe that plays with illusion and layering to establishplayfulness in cut, allowing wide possibilities for appropriation.As a.KNACKFUSS views it, clothes which can allow one to claim style as a message.

CHOP SUEY

f a l l – w i n t e r 2014/15

Luz is the name of an inter-dimensional city of higher consciousness that unites all branches of knowledge and fields of experience. The Biblical site of Jacob's angelic dream, Luz is also known as the House of God and the Gate to Heaven. It is an impenetrable city in the ancient land of Israel that can only be entered through a secret cave hidden by a hazelnut (luz) tree.Luz tells a mysterious narrative through its clothes. The collection is inspired by a woman who enters the city’s gates by taking ayahuasca - an ancient medicine of the Amazonian shamans that opens up the interior world of its user through vivid, intense hallucinations. The drug's power is such that its user must be guided by a Shaman. Following the hallucino-genic trip, the user of the drug draws images of their journey. These psychedelic drawings inform the key print in the collection - a surreal jungle scene replete with playful hidden elements.Luz takes its shapes and volumes from the Amazon jungle and its indigenous people, its complex and ethereal nature, and its subtle architecture. Following intensive research into traditional Peruvian and Brazilian clothing, and otherworldly fauna of the rainforest. At once billowing and jagged the shapes of the clothing in Luz respond to the uncanny environments around them, revealing with each layer another form, another purpose, and another way of looking at them and wearing them.Materials for the collection are inspired by nature and the Amazonian peoples’ approach to it: Prints resembling banana fibre, veneer, and net made from rattan are juxtaposed against futuristic neoprene and transparent plastic - nodding to the collection’s hallucinogenic narra-tive.Colours for the collection, meanwhile, remain natural and consistent with the basic colours of the jungle.Techniques and material manipulation are informed by traditional weaving and embroidery techniques of Amazonian tribes, as well as the complex and vibrant use of feathers from the diverse bird population in the Amazons. The result is an ode to these amazing, threatened cultures, but also a translation through a European lens due to the a.KNACKFUSS’ focus on traditional menswear tailoring.

LUZ.

s p r i n g – s u m m e r 2014

a.KNACKFUSS’ collection SYNCOPIA is inspired by the character of Rachael in Ridley Scott’s 1982 film Blade Runner. The humanistic implications and screen presence of the emotionally complex Rachel have stemmed a desire to lean toward a « noir », dystopian style for this a.KNACKFUSS collec-tion. SYNCOPIA actually develops around the focal point when fantasy and visions of the future become entangled with nostalgia, the need for sophistication in a classic sense, as a kind of reminder that time does not forget true style, and even androids should be noble if their functions replicate human ones.The volumes and layers of the pieces suggest a kind of protective clothing.The colours of the collection, ranging from purple to grey and olive, are inspired by giant gas clouds from deep space know as « nebulae », as well as uniforms. The prints have a crossed influence of fractal geometry and the Japanese dying technique « Shibori ». Pleats and checks stand for geometric rhythms and repetitions.The fabrics are ranging from modern and technical to classic. Noble Loden and flannel contrast lighter fabrics like satin, cotton and organza.Accessories of the collection are made exclusively out of cellulose acetate.

SYNCOPIA

f a l l – w i n t e r 2013/14

Inspired by the Mennonites and American outback, as well as handicraft and patchwork techniques. This collection comes across as instinctive and constructed. With sheer effects and tailored styles, it celebrates eclecticism and randomness, combining references that do no necessarily match. A chaotic, joyful and liberated stance comes to define it. Innocent and eccentric at the same time, the pieces reinterpret American staples -such as the classic baseball jacket and generic sports cap- giving them a contemporary twist. Houndstooth check and a newly interpreted patchwork print lend their graphic edge to simple shapes, emphasizing the striking beauty of tuxedo techniques. Textures are crafty and substantial, from coarse raffia to weightless organza. What appears simple at first is, in fact, intricate and complex, giving a false naivety to the clothes.

Playing with notions of gender, a.Knackfuss keeps reworking masculine items, incorporating them within an own vocabulary. A dress features trousers at the bottom and a shirt on top. With its open back, it has a certain erotic charge, even though it's not an obvious one. Hair is also a recurrent motif on accessories, used as an actual material rather than mere decora-tion. A sleeveless jacket is sleek and impeccably tailored. A shirt offers a new take on the traditional workman's singlet, expressing the designer's love for ambiguity. With its attention to detail and rigorous cuts, a.KNACKFUSS demands a second take, exposing the contradic-tions of modern women.

THE ALLEY

s p r i n g – s u m m e r 2013

A/W 2012 DAKO.

The inspirational backbone of this collection finds its roots in the action lead by Sadako Sasaki between the months of August and October 1955.The story tells of a 7 year old girl who consistently hand built over 1000 paper cranes, bringing an ancient Japanese belief to her own personal fate. Sasaki's story has leaked into Alice Knackfuss's work on traditional European masculine wardrobes.The spirit of the collection explores delicacy within a tough body, that an emotional defence can trigger strong, universal positions.Within the cloth, samurais behave like geishas, their armours, stripped to a mere image where protection is obsolete, reveal naked patterns and layers. Umbrella folds caught in a crane's dance, the colour of rain behind Asian suns.The material that she has chosen mirror these images, ranging from rough handcrafted paper fabric, to warm noble flannel, to soft draping silk.a.KNACKFUSS' work consistently engages in a reformulation of mas-culine costumes, holding a belief in it's eternal motion and in the scena-rios that serve as triggers to it's changes.In this collection she has worked with these stories in order to restore the binding relationship we create with pieces of material, forging clothes and wearing them as memories.

S/S 2012D.Jam

D.Jam is the pseudonym of German writer KARL MAY, noted for his adventure novels set in the American Old West, Asia, and the Middle East and best known for his characters Winnetou and Old Shatterhand. May did not visit the places he described in his books until the end of his career. He compensated for this lack of direct experience through a combination of creativity, imagination, and factual sources. His writing reflects a hopeful yet urgent curiosity for the unknown.

a.KNACKFUSS’ SS2012 womenswear collection is inspired by this remarkable history, engaging a masculine wardrobe with a strong feminine sensibility. Materials range from soft satin cotton to summer loden, transparent georgette to waxed fabric. Patterns are loose and straight, playing with discreet details such as hidden pleats and asym-metric forms.

The result is a sense of fantasy, following May’s wide-eyed desire to explore the outer regions of his world from his hometown cafe.

A/W 2011DEAREST

A collaboration with SIMON-PIERRE TOUSSAINT.

, DEAREST focuses on the classics of the masculine wardrobe. The forms are wearable, creative, sensible.

DEAREST favours formality and comfort.

DEAREST uses fabrics ranging from technical to classic leather and net to wool and cotton. The fabrics behave differently on each body sometimes fragile-sometimes fearless.The pieces fall and settle on the shoulders.

DEAREST gets its inspiration from reality and values collaborations mixing technical and artistic know-how.

November 2010 „LES PETITS RIENS“

A collection of re-worked vintage garments for the renowned Brussels Les Petits Riens charity fashion show.

A/W 2010HEIMWAERTS.

The collection takes as its theme the conflict between individualneeds and the rules of society. These rifts become crystallisedin childhood and persist throughout adulthood, like old wounds. Itstarts with a highly codified early 20th Century male apparel, whichis transformed, dislocated, and re-interpreted, aiming to depictthe psychological and sociological stakes which weigh upon our uncon-scious.Tubular and straight forms with dropped shoulders suggest constraint, whilst the more loose forms represent the need for a safe and secure environment. It shows peculiarities, secret detailswhich by-pass rules and invent new frames of reference. Extracts of different poems by Rainer Maria Rilke are sewn onto armbands and list a litany of doubts and questions which serve to make us stronger.The collection was presented at the INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF FASHION AND PHOTOGRAPHY IN HYERES, as well as Triest's ITS#EIGHT festival, winning the prestigious Diesel Award.

Heimwärts.

Ich halte meine Kindheit in den Armen-mein Blick ist klar.Ich sehe auf das,was ich zurückgelasSen habe.Die selbstverständliche Wahrheit,der Blick in die Ewigkeit,durch die Menschen hindurch...Der Blick, der mich niemals irRen ließ.Träume, die keine waren,sondern eine andere Weise die Realität zu sehen,haben mich bestärkt.Die Welt ist mir keine Heimat mehr,die Zeit ist mein Gefängnis.Zwei erbitTerte SeElen in meiner BrustwolLen zu mir kein Vertrauen finden.Ich bin Gefangener meiner existenzielLen Ängste und meines radikalen Zweifelns.Der Blick ist imMer noch klar,aber trotzdem bin ich weit entfernt.Ich bin ein liebevolLer Mensch,doch in mir tobt der finstere PesSimist,brenNend ungeduldigund unsicher.Anhänglichkeit, Treuelosigkeit,Leutseligkeit,exklusiver Individualismus,Egoismus und GrosSzügigkeit...permanente Gegensätze spalten mich in zwei Hälften.Mein Blick ist klar.Heimwärts.Der Geist meiner Kindheit blickt anklagend zurück.Diese elende Dualitätist das Fundament meines SchafFens.Die Stärke eines Schwachen,weil Zweifelnden...

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