Episode 4 — The Sixties, Sibylle & the Berlin Wall — PT 1
Hello and thank you so much for tuning into this week’s episode which you can also find here.
As promised, you can find my bibliographic references, terms/translations and images to accompany this week’s episode below.
Terms/Translations, Key Players & Show Notes
NATO-Plane Jacket: highly coveted military style rain jacket only available in the West, considered to be a trend in the ’60s. One would usually have to procure one from family members or friends living in the West.
Axel Bertram — layout & font designer incorporating “Univers” as well as utilizing a variation of other typefaces for Sibylle.
Dorothea Melis (nee Bertram) — fashion editor at Sibylle, recruited by Margot Pfannsteil in 1961. Her graduate collection designed for young women earned her a position at the publication. Her critique critique & vision for Sibylle helped change its image:
“Sibylle’s orientation toward haute couture proved to be pointless, Nobody needed haute couture in the first place, but it became even more useless at the beginning of the 1960s. My ideal woman was employed; she was highly intelligent, natural and free spirited. Margo Pfannstiel, who was an economics journalist by procession but held a post of Sibylle’s editor in chief at the time, called me for a meeting in October 1961. I clearly expressed my thoughts why change was needed. Pfannstiel said: Well I expect you to put your ideas into practice.” It took me a year to build up my team of young photographers, graphic designers and stylists. I was also a stylist on the fashion shoots that Sibylle was producing. My idol was the French photographer Peter Knapp, and my bible was French Elle”
Arno Fischer —Dorothea Melis’ professor at Berlin Weissensee Art Academy who was then recruited to work with her at Sibylle. Herbstmode Berlin, 1962 (above) was his first editorial for the publication.
Peter Knapp — French Elle’s art director in the ’60s & ’70s who was one of Melis’ greatest inspirations.
Roger Melis — husband of Dorothea Melis & photographer at Sibylle known for his cool, austere aesthetic
Guenter Roessler — Sibylle photographer
Episode 4 References
Kraser, Andreas et. al., eds. Sibylle: Zeitschrift fuer Mode und Kultur 1956–1995 (Rostock: Hartmann, 2017)
Scheffler, Ute. Chic im Osten: Mode in der DDR (Leipzig: BuchVerlag fuer die Frau GMBH, 2010)
