Fashion Designer Anja Gockel:
Fashion Designer Anja Gockel from Germany who founded her own label in 1996. Named Designer of the Year in 2017 and runs a store in Mainz and a flagship store in Berlin. Mainz native Anja Gockel, a designer, used to live in London, but she found true success only after moving back to her hometown. It was her Rhine-Hessian nature that made an international fashion career possible.
Milan, London, and Paris: When we think about fashion, we immediately find ourselves in a global metropolis. Rhineland-Palatinate was undoubtedly forgotten for a very long time. Injusticedly, as Mainz resident Anja Gockel has demonstrated. However, she initially entered the vast world of fashion after high school. She attended the esteemed Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, where she also staged her first fashion show on the Champs-Élysées. Afterwards, she briefly worked as the eccentric designer Vivienne Westwood’s assistant.
Her Ideology:
She uses neither leather nor fur, and production takes place exclusively in Europe. This concept goes down well not only with actors and television hosts – her fan community extends all the way to the Swedish royal family. Her models have even walked the runway in Beijing. Gockel’s success requires a secure foundation that enables her creative flights of fancy, and that’s exactly what she found in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Anja Gockel honours her teacher, Vivienne Westwood:
On Wednesday, March 13, 2024, she will give a laudation for Vivienne Westwood in Berlin at the request of the British Chamber of Commerce in Germany and the British Embassy. The Briton will be posthumously awarded the German-British #Friendship Award 2024 in Berlin at the DZ-Bank on Pariser Platz.
At the beginning of her career, Anja Gockel worked with the British designer in London for a year. She fondly remembers the intense time with the icon: “It was hard, exhausting, and at the same time incredibly inspiring and formative.” She is looking forward to seeing Vivienne Westwood’s husband, Andreas Kronthaler. Among the 300 invited guests will be British Ambassador Jill Gallard, German Minister of State for Culture, Claudia Roth and Berlin Senator for Culture Joe Chialo.
Anja Gockel, inspired by the iconic Vivienne Westwood, brings her own unique flair to the world of fashion. With each collection, she pays homage to her mentor, infusing her designs with a blend of innovation and timeless elegance. Gockel’s dedication to pushing boundaries and challenging conventions reflects the spirit of Westwood herself. As she continues to carve her path in the fashion industry, Anja Gockel remains a testament to the enduring legacy of her teacher, creating pieces that captivate and inspire.
