An interview with Studio Likeness
Julia Classen and Magdalena Lepka have been the creative duo behind Berlin-based Studio Likeness since 2013. Known for their unusual stopmotion films in still-life photo and illustration style. Celebrated for their creative concepts and visual worlds for well-known brands. From design to culture, from Thonet to Zeit magazine. A collective that our ADO Designer:innenkollektiv was also taken with and so came the idea to capture the new collection with Julia and Magdalena in this distinctive film look & feel. The result is a great visual storytelling about our fall fabrics 23 and incidentally an interview with the two artists and what they were thinking.
What makes up your creative film concept for ADO?
Julia:
It's about a visual journey through the new ADO collection. Each scene is designed for the particular fabric. We came up with movements and little stories for it to visualize the different properties.
Magdalena:
For example, it's about the way the surface reflects the light, which colors start to glow, how and in what form folds and waves form, what kind of hanging or use in the picture lends itself, or which fabric we want to show very close up and which we prefer in large format. We developed images from this and began to paint with the fabrics, so to speak.
Is there a special fascination for you when working with fabric?
Julia:
Working with fabrics is particularly interesting for us because the materials are so diverse in their properties. The way they fall, how they can caress objects, how light shines on them and through them, and how different their surfaces can be.
Magdalena:
We totally love working with fabrics, but mostly we just use them in the background to design a set. That's why this time it was especially nice for us to have the textiles "in the lead" in front of the camera for once.
What role do colors and textures play in this?
Julia:
Colors and textures are essential to our work. In fact, that's what all of our paintings are about. They are our means to "paint with things".
What inspires you for your daily work?
Magdalena:
Associations inspire us. The second level, so to speak, or the hidden message in the representational world. After all, in our job we mainly work with products, physical things. Looking at them, studying them and finding out "What can we tell with them?" and then translating these stories into images determines the creative process.
Julia:
Inspiration can happen all around us. In very everyday glances: The color of a house wall, the shape of a carrot, or the randomly thrown piece of clothing in which we suddenly recognize something different. But of course we are also influenced by the visual arts, whether painting, sculptures or installations, as well as by films and music videos.
Which fabric in the new ADO collection gets an extra like from Likeness?
Magdalena:
Our personal highlight is ".Pretty Linen"!
