20 years of Marcel Ostertag: “The most creative collection is useless without business acumen”

Marcel Ostertag is celebrating his 20th anniversary as a fashion designer this year, drawing a line under one chapter. After almost a decade at Berlin Fashion Week, he will no longer be holding a runway show there. Instead, he kicked off his anniversary series in Munich and is already looking ahead to Paris, where he will present for the first time at the city's fashion week in October.

In an interview with FashionUnited, the designer explains why he is turning his back on Berlin. He discusses how his clientele has evolved into true brand ambassadors over the years. He also talks about the role of commercial collaborations, such as the one with the teleshopping channel HSE, and why he now works from a farmhouse in Bavaria.

Congratulations on 20 years of Marcel Ostertag! How does it feel to celebrate such an anniversary in an industry not exactly known for its stability?

The fashion industry is a rollercoaster; you have to be able to live with that. Nevertheless, the last 20 years have been an incredibly inspiring journey that has flown by far too quickly. I have had the pleasure of meeting many wonderful people; showing internationally; dressing amazing clients; and implementing creative projects. It has been a wild ride, but it remains my passion and my dedication.

Of course, I have not only had positive experiences in the last 20 years. I have also had to deal with people who were difficult or did not necessarily wish me well. The vibe of my collection and my team is always so positive and radiant that we simply shine against the current gloomy situation.

How do you counteract this negative mood in the industry?

You certainly cannot sweep what is happening under the rug at the moment. As a fashion designer, however, I still manage to create moments where you are catapulted into a completely different universe. We have to shine to outshine the negative.

Why was Munich the right place for this special anniversary?

I held my last show at Berlin Fashion Week last July. There are several reasons why I no longer want to show in Berlin. We are now doing an anniversary series, and Munich was a great start for that because we have a very good network here. The current show was also a precursor to our really big new theme: we are showing for the first time at Paris Fashion Week in October.

You just said you no longer want to show in Berlin. What is the reason for this?

We did not want to celebrate this big anniversary in Berlin because I have had so many bad experiences there over the last three years that I no longer want to work there. After such a long time, it affects you mentally when you are not appreciated at all for what you have built up and invested in this city for 19.5 years.

I will continue to do parties, events and pop-ups for our inner circle, but we will no longer be doing a runway show there. That is over for us. I have also detached myself from it emotionally, and thank God I have been feeling really well again since then. Last year, I did not know where things were heading at first. I initially thought about Milan, partly because I speak Italian and my mum lived in Palermo for a long time. Then the invitation from Paris came. When Paris calls, of course, I come. That is how it came about: starting in Munich and continuing the celebration in Paris.

Berlin has a strong identity as a creative and subcultural fashion city. Is there a point, in your view, where this identity clashes with the demands of building a commercially successful fashion brand?

Yes, definitely. It is a niche; the jury, the labels, it is all a clique of people. I find it is a one-way street if you do not show the diversity of designers. For nine and a half years, I have been bringing all my money to Berlin and staging big shows with 600 to 1,000 guests, some of whom were not from Berlin. They booked hotels, planned the whole week, spent money, went out to eat, visited galleries, went to KaDeWe – they were good for the Berlin economy.

With the younger brands, I get the feeling that people watch the show and then go out partying for three days. This is important to support the free culture, but it is a different audience. I have to say, I am too grown up and mature for that now. I want to continue doing colour, glitter, disco and 70s style; I will not let anyone stop me.

What would you have wished for from Berlin?

I would have found it exciting if everyone had simply sat down at a table together and planned how to set things up well in Berlin. The designers are not even asked beforehand; decisions are made that we all have to bear. For the last three seasons, my slot was repeatedly scheduled against other major labels. This happened even though the Berlin calendar is actually relaxed enough for all designers to be visible if the slots were allocated well.

How do you personally handle this competitive situation?

I would rather shine together with twenty great designers than engage in these elbow tactics. I also support young labels; I find the creativity in Berlin incredible. You still need a few heavy hitters in between. In Paris, there are big and small brands, but it all merges. Here, on the other hand, it has always been a struggle, unfortunately.

What does a fashion location need today for designers to not only get creative attention but also build long-term sustainable businesses?

It needs a vision for the future that is not just planned seasonally but is built with substance. It is not about grabbing a grant every season, but about building a business model with young designers. The most creative collection is useless without business acumen behind it. I sometimes get the feeling that labels pop up, take the funding for two seasons, and when it is gone, they can no longer do shows and disappear again.

The labels would need permanent support, business acumen, and workshops, from basic accounting to order supply chains. It is a very complex topic, and more support is needed there. Of course, a good infrastructure for the fashion location is also necessary.

You should not compare yourself with other cities, however. Berlin is Berlin, Paris is Paris, Milan is Milan. To the question of why Berlin is not becoming Paris, I always say: Berlin does not have to become Paris.

You just showed a collection in Munich. In your opinion, does the city have the potential to take on a bigger role as a fashion location?

To be honest, I find that quite difficult. Munich would, of course, be a wonderful location because there are many great venues here. In Berlin, almost all the places have been overused. You might still find an empty underground tunnel somewhere, but the big, good locations that can also accommodate a good number of guests are all pretty much worn out.

Would there be a realistic alternative for you in Germany?

If it were not Berlin, Hamburg would be more of an option for me in Germany because it is a bit more international than Munich. Munich is also well-located because Austria, Switzerland and Italy are right next door, which could attract a more international audience. I do not know if another fashion week is needed, though.

Germany is behind you for now, and all eyes are on Paris. Is this a lifelong dream coming true?

For me, after almost 20 years in Germany and Berlin, Paris is of course a great honour. I worked a lot in Paris right from the start, and it was always a longing, a dream. For a long time, I did not dare to believe that I would actually show in Paris one day, alongside brands like Dior or Chanel. It is hard to shine next to them. I have built up a great network over the last twenty years and regularly receive press enquiries from abroad from people who discover me on Instagram.

What specifically can guests expect at the show?

We are showing at the Hôtel de la Maison, the old location associated with Karl Lagerfeld. It is truly the fulfilment of a childhood dream. Even as a child, I dreamt of castles and old apartments with stucco. It is like a salon with painted ceilings, stucco, double doors, huge mirrors, herringbone parquet flooring and golden door handles. The models will walk through different rooms, which I am very much looking forward to.

Will you have support on site?

The agency we are working with is an international production agency that produces shows in Paris, New York, Copenhagen, Milan and London. What I really like is that it is completely female-led. I have always enjoyed working with powerful women. My mother set that example for me; she was a real businesswoman herself in the 80s.

Speaking of powerful women, how important is direct contact with your clientele to you?

For us, direct contact with people on the shop floor is still very important. My collection is a bit more expensive because we mainly work with limited editions, and I like the contact with our real customers. I like to be close to them so I know who is wearing my clothes. Our customer base has been open to everyone from the very beginning: the youngest customer is 14, the oldest is 88. It is a wide age range that works really well for us.

Which channels are particularly important to you for this?

We primarily reach our biggest fans through our pop-up stores and private shopping events. The fashion world has also changed. Major brands no longer show in the same city every season; sometimes it is Tokyo, sometimes Paris, sometimes Sicily. We therefore no longer put ourselves under pressure to be part of a Fashion Week every season. Instead, we will be creating events in the future that fit the collection and perhaps showcase it in a different light.

And what about your online presence?

The online shop is also there, of course, a great calling card for people to browse. It is currently being completely redesigned and given an international focus ahead of Paris. From October 2, we will be opening it up to almost all of Europe; until now, it has only been available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

This wide age range of your clientele must be challenging to stage. How important are topics like diversity and approachability to you in your shows and shoots?

For us, the most important storytelling is that not only professional models walk in our shoots and shows, but also our customers. At the last show, we had 31 models, including eleven customers and twenty professional models, and the audience loved it. For us, diversity is not a label or an advertising gimmick; we genuinely live it. I actually design the other way around from most designers, who first finish the collection and then look for suitable models. I already have a specific cast in mind when I am designing and create a special piece for each person. That makes the collection more approachable.

We started using our customers as muses on the runway about four years ago, and since then, our turnover has increased significantly because it is different. In the past, we often received feedback after the shows that only tall models could wear the clothes. We produce from size 34 to 44, and sometimes even 46, so everyone can find something.

Has this approach also paid off financially?

Yes, we have roughly doubled our turnover since then.

You have also been working with the teleshopping channel HSE for several years. What role does this collaboration play for you?

This target group and the collaboration are incredibly important to me because it is also a door-opener. Many people now combine it with the main brand, and that is fun. Sure, it is the more commercial line, but there is still a lot of love in it, and everything there is also strictly limited. There are brands where a blouse is produced a hundred thousand times. With me, every piece from HSE Marcel by Marcel Ostertag is limited to 500 pieces. Divided between Germany, Austria and Switzerland, that is about 150 pieces per country.

How big is the reach you achieve through HSE?

Through HSE, I have a huge reach, and you feel really appreciated because everything is live and real; you see immediately what sells. Apart from the shows that are pre-recorded, they broadcast live from 8am to midnight. Afterwards, I receive many messages on Instagram saying how great it was and thanking me. The range there goes up to size 48, and interestingly, size 48 and size 34 are usually the first to sell out.

Do you also receive direct feedback from the viewers?

Yes, I receive a lot of lovely fan mail from people writing that they have regained their self-confidence through the shows. This is because in these shows, I do not just talk about the product. I take the viewers with me into something positive and energetic, encouraging them to make an effort every day and not let themselves go, regardless of their age, whether they are 20, 40, 60 or 80. That motivates people, and I get a lot of support for it.

That is more than just a product business. Did you ever have any reservations about appearing in a commercial format?

No, I am not ashamed of it; I actually think it is a good thing. I even put a more affordable line on the runway at Berlin Fashion Week back then. I have no problem designing more commercial items, because we all have to make a living.

The pieces from HSE often become daily favourites. For example, one customer still wears pieces from my first HSE collection from eight years ago and still gets compliments on them. That is exactly what it is about for me: not just making fashion for the red carpet that an actress wears once and returns sweaty, or a 2,000-euro cashmere coat that comes back in a shoebox. I am more grateful for the people who truly appreciate a piece, treat themselves to it and wear it often, especially at a time when consumer behaviour has changed and people are more careful with their money.

Besides HSE, are there any other collaborations you are particularly proud of?

Absolutely, we are also experiencing a real success story with Mister Spex: our own eyewear collection, which will enter its fifth business year next year. In the online shop, we have now overtaken Gucci eyewear, and that is in the current climate. I am honoured that my fans are sticking with me and continue to treat themselves. I see many looks on Instagram from people who are not particularly fashion-conscious but still wear our glasses and order a trench coat from HSE to go with them.

Do you think the fact that you have always stayed true to your visual identity and remained consistent plays a role in why people have remained so loyal to you?

I think it is a mix of being true to myself, the quality we deliver, and approachability. In the beginning, people often asked why I appeared on television so much, saying I was a showmaster and not a designer. Germany is not a fashion nation. There is not this hype where a designer is discovered and suddenly everyone buys from them, as is the case in other countries. That is why it was important for me to build myself up as a personality in the media and let people have a glimpse behind the scenes. That worked well.

You just mentioned how important it was for you to build yourself up as a media personality. Is the show in Paris primarily a marketing and press move for you, or does the expansion beyond Germany, which you mentioned earlier, play a bigger role?

Both. For us, expanding into Europe makes sense now because we will also generate international press through Paris, and quite a lot of it. I know this because I have been watching the agency for a while and see which other brands they work for and the press coverage they get. It is not about growing incredibly fast for us, but simply about winning over a new target group that also likes to buy couture.

We are also showing couture in Paris, even though it is actually prêt-à-porter season in October, with collection pieces like a completely hand-embroidered jacket for around 8,000 euros. This clientele is less common in Germany than in France or Italy, where fashion is experienced very differently and people dress up much more in the evenings. Here, if you dress up, you are more likely to be asked if you are wearing another new, surely expensive look, or you feel overdressed because everyone else is in casual or black attire.

We are naturally hoping for a few custom orders and for someone new to discover us. We already do a lot of work on request, made-to-order and bespoke.

Let's talk about production for a moment. Where are your collections currently created?

We work with a bespoke studio in Poland. Unfortunately, we had to outsource this abroad because craftsmanship is no longer really cultivated in Germany. Tailoring businesses are dying out, there are hardly any young talents, and the remaining companies are becoming increasingly selective.

For example, one tailor told me that a certain material was too difficult for them to work with. I found that astonishing because we work a lot with deadstock materials. I have an agent near Treviso who buys up fabric surpluses from major fashion houses like Armani, Prada, Margiela or Chloé, including some particularly beautiful silks. When I wanted to put one such silk into production, it was simply sent back with the message that they no longer wanted to work with silk. So we changed producers and went to Poland.

How does the quality in Poland differ from that of German companies?

Hand embroidery and hand knitting have practically died out in Germany; there is a lack of new talent, and most knitting productions, for instance in the former Thuringia region, no longer exist. Poland is now very well-positioned. The people there are ambitious, even working weekend shifts before shows and pop-ups to get everything finished, and they now deliver better quality. It is simply a different work mentality.

What else has changed the most for you in the past 20 years?

The social media boom, of course. I missed out on that a bit at the beginning because my management at the time said it was just a bubble that would burst again, and I did not need to worry about it.

Something very tangible has also changed for you. You recently moved from Berlin to Bavaria. Does that influence your design process?

Yes, we moved away from Berlin and found a beautiful, old half-timbered house with two floors on a farm. For the first time, I have my own office and studio where I can work in peace.

Previously, my employees had the good workspaces in the studio, and I mostly worked at the kitchen table at home. Now I can create really big mood boards again and hang fabrics on the wall, just like I did at university. I did not have space for that in Berlin because my team had completely taken over the studio. The move from Berlin to Bavaria after nine years is giving us a completely fresh energy. We now live on a farm in the Altmühltal valley – a really beautiful chapter in our lives.

Did your team move to Bavaria with you?

No, unfortunately not. They stayed in Berlin and now work from home. I travel to Berlin about every six weeks, and we hold workshops for the collections there. I am still quite old-school and do everything by hand, really still pencil drawings. My team then takes over the digital part.

You mentioned earlier that you work a lot with deadstock materials. How important is the topic of sustainability in general for you and your clientele?

We have been working on sustainable projects and production from the very beginning, but to be honest, the customers often do not care. We do it anyway. In the end, it is mostly about the look: if they like it, they buy it. I had hoped that the constant media coverage would make customers think more sustainably, but in the end, in Germany, it often comes down to money.

There are many bargain hunters here who wait for a sale, even if they have the money. Unfortunately, that has changed in the last twenty years. Since the 'stinginess is cool' advertising campaign, Germany has become even more frugal, and now there are far too many sales: season sale, summer sale, Easter sale, basically just reductions. There used to be only the August and January sales, and it is perfectly fine to sell everything off at the end of the season. When the first sale starts in April, however, the summer collection no longer makes sense because summer has not even arrived in April. The rhythm has unfortunately developed in a negative direction.

How do you respond to this with your own collection?

We now deliver winter goods in September and summer goods in March. This has also boosted our turnover again because the products are available when people actually need them.

Finally, is there a dream you have not yet fulfilled in the past 20 years?

I would love to do a campaign shoot in Sicily or Puglia one day; I have always wanted to do that. This year, over Christmas and New Year's, we are also doing a three-week road trip through Italy down to Puglia. I love it in winter because it is already spring there and it is not busy. We will also be scouting for potential locations during the trip.

We do not yet know if we will show in Paris regularly or do something in Milan at some point; we will see what happens. I think the feeling of freedom has just set in now that we are off the Berlin calendar. We are just going with the flow for now. It is always like this with us: an energy flow is created, and then the next door opens.