Bio
"Carsten and Lenka Rundholz" launched their first collection in Germany in 1993. Carsten trained in graphic design; Lenka’s background includes display and visual art. Together they develop experimental silhouettes and fabric treatments across "Rundholz, Rundholz DIP and Black Label.
Carsten Rundholz sews before he drafts. He works freehand at the machine. When a piece comes out right, the studio’s pattern makers take it apart, seam by seam, to chart what he did. Lenka Rundholz has said the pattern makers are often astonished by what comes out of his free sewing. The pattern is not the plan. The pattern is the record of a garment that already exists
Carsten and Lenka Rundholz were planning their first collection in their mid-twenties, while most people their age were working café jobs. Lenka came from display and visual art. Carsten trained as a graphic designer and learned clothing through drafting it. He wanted to make a wardrobe his wife would actually want to wear. Their first collection came out in 1993. Lenka is still the final gate. Nothing enters a collection without her approval.
The studio sits in a courtyard farmhouse built in 1811, in the Lower Rhine region of Germany, under an hour from Düsseldorf and Cologne. The couple rebuilt it themselves, old bones kept. Design and family life run under the same roof. They stayed out of the fashion press from the start. Their first following came from the creative professions instead: gallerists, filmmakers, journalists. They have since expanded into a larger studio nearby.