Ophiuchus descendents amongst themselves.

Space – infinite expanse! Stargazing does not invariably mean you are moonstruck or a dreamer. Learned, scientifically interested and well-read as I am, it was only a question of time before I delved into astrology.

My passion began on an autumn day when Adam, my can opener, was sitting in front of a beautiful fire with a glass of Bordeaux and the newspaper, reciting his free horoscope amused. «It will be a great week! I will finally meet the love of my life, change my job and sell my CD collection from the 90s at a profit. The universe has a lot of secrets in store for us», claimed Adam spiritedly.  Gob smacked I looked at him. What was I supposed to say in the face of so much naivety? If only he had used the paper to light the fire. So I went into retreat, yawned in a bored fashion and sauntered to my seat at the window to stare into the pitch black garden. The last sentence hung like a distinctive fragrance in the air.  What did that nitwit know about the universe and the countless open questions that tortured my hyper-intelligent cat brain on a daily basis? I was something special, extremely unusual and, with the help of the stars, would prove it.  I went through the skylight in the spacious attic of our upper-class villa armed with a telescope to tackle the investigation into my past and future and it wasn’t long before it became clear to me that the Babylonians had been mistaken. The stars revealed the only possible opportunity. I was in the 13th constellation of Ophiuchus, born the serpent bearer and a direct descendent of Asclepius, the son of Koronis, the God of light. My ancestor, who had denied it to this day, was a healer who generally carried a serpent and a staff, which at some time in the past had led to his trademark becoming the symbol of the medical trade. Then it suddenly struck me. I had seen the only truth – I was…words failed me! Godlike I climbed from the observatory in the attic and proceeded to make the world aware of whom exactly they were dealing with. I only spoke to Adam when it was absolutely necessary and then looking down on him and otherwise I upheld my majestic stance. I relished my reputed superiority and posted countless sharp-witted comments of my theory on all significant astrology blogs. But I had no desire to begin long discussions, I wanted to rule and if it had been possible, I would have thrown bolts of lightning. Adam observed my change with suspicion and after a number of attempts to bring me back to reality, he finally pulled the rip cord. I was just giving a passionate speech on the senselessness of Gods cleaning their teeth, when he dialled the psychological emergency line and vividly explained to the lady on the other end that his best friend believed himself to be someone else. The lady immediately promised to send an ambulance with qualified staff and when the vehicle arrived shortly after I opened the door delighted. When asked where the patient was, I decided to lead the nice gentlemen directly to him myself, in the interests of efficiency.  «No, I am not the one you think I am. » «Of course not, replied the friendly gentleman, before they carried him off, strapped into a tidy package. «Please help my friend », I said urgently and wistfully watched the vehicle for a while.

«Are you listening to me at all? You’ve been sitting at the window for days, staring at the moon and the stars. It’s weird; you look like a zombie or a sun worshipper or something like that? » Adam‘s voice sounded like it was coming from afar! Majestically I sat on my brocade cushion at the window, my noble head resplendent with a solar corona. «A sun king? Why not?»

Copyrights: Manuela Dona

Shooting-Star Wincent Weiss («Feuerwerk») on «Irgendwie anders», his dream of children and a beard. And why he isn’t called Vincent.

Some Rock’n’Rollers would turn in their grave if they heard that they had to give an interview at 7.45 a.m. Are things so bad in the music industry that they have to get up so early?
Wincent Weiss: When we are promoting a new album, we make a sound check at 3.30 a.m. to be able to appear on breakfast television. Contrary to the sex, drugs and Rock’n’Roll cliché, for me making music means more than anything a lot of work every day. This is a good thing. I prefer to get up early and get a lot done than to sleep all day.

Did you release «Kaum erwarten» as the single coinciding with the release of your CD because you consider this song to be the one that would stay in everybody’s mind?
It was important to me that I choose one song that represents the entire album. The previous singles «An Wunder» and «Hier mit dir» were made much earlier.

Which wishes and dreams, the subject of the song, have already been fulfilled, and which not yet?
Everything I envisaged for my music and career has already been surpassed hundredfold. It is simply unbelievable what I have been able to experience! To date I have always had too little time to fulfil my private and family dream: To be a daddy one day, and granddad. In the video to the song I’m wearing an artificial beard. Growing my own is probably my unrealistic wish. But we should never stop dreaming …(smiles)

Does writing the lyrics help you process difficult things like the separation from your girlfriend?
It always helps to keep busy. Some talk to friends or family, I communicate with my fans by writing songs. I was once asked: «Is it not silly standing on a stage every night being reminded again and again of your ex?» Not a bad point, but that’s how the process continues.

You can build yourself up again with songs like «Hier mit dir».
Exactly, it’s about a friend, who I have known for 26 years and who is like a brother to me. I can’t remember a time in my life without him. We were pushed around together in twin prams and I have never celebrated a birthday without him.

How did you two come together?
Initially we lived in the same city and were always close to each other – until I moved to Munich from the north of Germany to make my album. Our mothers were best friends. After kindergarten I often went back to his house, as my mum worked full-time. I was partly brought up by his parents.

How did the video in New York come about?
The record company said: «We are filming it there. Who do you want to take with you as extras?» I thought ok I’ll take my best friend then and we can show how our friendship was formed. I asked him if would have time. «I’ll collect you in three days. We are flying away for two days.» I waited until the last minute to tell him where we were going. He nearly didn’t get the time off, we had to work on his employer a bit!

«An Wunder» was filmed in Lisbon. Do you choose the venues as a replacement for holidays?
A little bit! (laughs) I haven’t been on holiday for a while and thought «Come on, if you at least have the chance to travel to a beautiful location to film a video then make the most of it.» We have nevertheless made the «Kaum erwarten» clip in Cologne, although it’s beautiful too. We’ve been to Japan and Cape Town as well.

How do you repower your batteries?
Not really at all. I work 95 percent and have 5 percent private life. I at least try to have one and a half hours a day for me. Then I go out on my motorbike, do sport or listen to music – and I don’t have to talk to anyone. I always intend to take a holiday, but I even cancelled one week’s holiday in April because I had band rehearsals. I’ll have to postpone it until after the tour.

Where did you plan to go?
Bali. After 13 years of skateboarding and snowboarding I really wanted to learn how to surf. As I have knee problems and a pending MRI appointment, it is unlikely that I could have fulfilled that wish.

How important is speed to you?
I like to drive fast but when I am snowboarding I have a more relaxed, technical approach and do tricks when I’m moving slower. However, I do love speed when I’m driving or on my motorbike. Unfortunately.

What do you ride?
A BMW 1000 RR. It does 316 kilometres per hour and I drive that too on the roads. Or 314 with my car, an S 63 Coupé, that I have at my disposal thanks to an advertising contract with Mercedes.

How much of your salary is spent paying speeding fines?
I drive with cruise control so I haven’t been caught on camera for the last two and a half years. It could also be attributed to the numerous motorways in Germany, which do not have a speed limit, but most of all I want to keep my license…

Do you take your role model function seriously?
Absolutely, but I refuse to play the role of educator, which is expected by the parents when they write: «I will no longer allow my daughter to go to your concerts because I read that you drink alcohol.» They do not see that I am 26 years old and have the right to celebrate a little, as long as I don’t ask ten year old girls to replicate that.

Today artists don’t get drunk anymore, if they want to be successful.
When I’m on tour I do not drink alcohol at all. The concerts are so huge; you have to deliver a good performance. I can’t go on the stage with a hangover.

How did the song «1993» come about?
I wrote it five years ago but it didn’t suit the style of the first album. That has changed now, as I reveal much more about myself on the second album. «1993» deals with my family situation. I grew up with my mum and without a father. I never missed him though. Nevertheless I would like to appeal to fathers and mothers through the song to look after their children and not simply to disappear.

That is understandable …
It is a song with quite a hard message, I say: «When I’m a father, I never want to be like you.» I wrote myself a reminder: When I become a father, I always want to be there for my child – regardless of how difficult it may be sometimes and whether I live with the mother or not. The least that parents can do is to be there for their children.

There are a lot of films dealing with children looking for one of their parents. Did you do that?
My mum always said she would give me the name and address and I could drive there at any time. But I haven’t felt the need at all. My grandfather was always there, my best friend’s father too, we played football and everything was perfect with mum.

What was different about writing the songs and recording the second album?
It felt more familiar and relaxed. When I was working on the first album I didn’t have any idea how it should sound, how I wanted to sound and what type of songs I wanted to make. I formed a set team for the second album with my producers and two songwriters, who have become my friends over the past few years; the team made it possible to work on a more personal level. Everybody knew about my childhood and my separation, so I could let down my guard and go deeper.

You are the first Vincent I’ve met who writes his name with W …
When I see Vincent with V, I find it weird. But I don’t know anybody with W! (laughs) Everybody thinks that it’s a stage name but that’s the way it’s written on my ID card.

Does it have any particular meaning?
My mum wanted the initials of my first name and surname to be the same. She preferred WW to VW! So I became Wincent. If I had been a girl, she would have called me Wendy. So I’m happy that I wasn’t born a girl …

Who inspires the live-Show, with which you are on tour in autumn?
I don’t have one particular role model, but I go to a lot of international concerts. I recently watched Taylor Swift on Netflix.
I find it so exciting how bombastic the American pop artist’s shows are. Every second something explodes sky high in her shows. She even flew through the air herself at one point! (laughs). Our shows will definitely be a lot more relaxed. My roots are based more in Metal.

Really? Have you ever played Heavy Metal or just listened to it?
I started out with Metal! When we covered the famous Metal bands a friend contributed all the shouts and screams and I sang. Today I still listen mainly to Metal and a little of what my colleagues are making.

What happened that you now make popular German pop for the radio?
I feel more at home when writing the songs because I express myself better in German and can package my feelings. But I haven’t ruled out taking on a small heavy metal project some day. Maybe I will tackle that in the near future and show my more powerful side.

Wincent Weiss:
«Irgendwie anders»
(Universal Music).
Live: 26.11.2019 Zurich
Samsung Hall.

Photos Copyrights: Christoph Köstlin

The Tomcat strikes back.

I am officially coming out as a vintage car freak – yes, I have succumbed to my passion for classic vehicles. The feeling when the adrenaline that has accumulated during the day on Tuscany’s winding roads gives way to well-earned fatigue in the evening is priceless. I am quite simply a tomcat with petrol in my veins.
But, if there is one thing that gives me even more pleasure than winding up an alpine pass in a vintage car or cruising to Trieste for an espresso, it is polishing the exquisite fireball beforehand. The way it looks, the way it feels, the smell of leather, petrol and testosterone. Every screw, every eyelet and every leather thong gets its attentive loving care and pampering.
Fortunately the garage of our upper-class villa is amply equipped with well-maintained racing cars, because Adam, my can opener, also harbours a deep passion for classic cars. One fact that restricts our harmonious life together somewhat is that they belong to him and he is only on rare occasions prepared to swap the driver’s seat with me! This is a little unsettling if it is your dream to take part in a classic rally.
I repeatedly resort to tricks to keep him away from the garage. Fictitious appointments and dates are the more harmless traps that I have set for him just to get free passage.
Last Saturday morning the following happened: Adam came into the kitchen whistling and while he was making himself an espresso, explained verbosely that the vintage car rally that had been planned for six months would not be happening for me. After careful consideration he had decided to share this irretrievable experience with his latest love interest, as she been more than keen to go.
After a brief shock-induced paralysis, I shuffled slowly to my cushion at the window, draped myself with my back to him and prepared for a counter attack. In a quiet voice I explained to him that I completely understood his decision, as she had really earned the chance to go out with him and sniff the rally air. I was also completely aware that I would only disturb their time together as a couple. What can I say; he could not believe his luck. He had obviously expected more resistance. He quickly gulped his espresso down and shot off to pack.
While he stowed his luggage, I pinched his mobile and wallet with the identity documents out of the glove compartment, sent an iMessage to his current sweetheart and cancelled the weekend. Immediately after that I used the alarm system with a direct link to the police to trigger a silent alarm. Then I phoned the police emergency number 117, pretended I was a neighbour and reported that in the house opposite a strange man had just driven out of the garage in a wickedly expensive vintage car, although the house owner was away on a trip for the weekend. Just to be on the safe side I gave them the model and number plate of the cheeky thief. Then I removed the battery from Adam‘s mobile, threw it into a flower vase and put the telephone back in its place.
When Adam left a short while later, I waved goodbye to him from the window with a smile. I counted to 100, drank a perfect espresso and got into my favourite convertible with my travel bag.
At the second set of traffic lights there was a large contingent of police and in the middle of them Adam, completely distraught and undergoing a body search. I wondered briefly how he was going to identify himself and who else could identify him, but then I stowed my sentimentality in the glove compartment and drove past the scene without any sense of regret heading for a wonderful weekend and an unfulfilled dream on four wheels!

Copyrights: Manuela Dona

PROFESSION: RACING DRIVER.

If you have not heard of Karl Wendlinger, please rest assured that is quite typical. The Austrian Racing Driver began his career over 30 years ago, proving exceptionally talented. And exceptionally silent. He never made a big fuss about himself.  That is really too bad. May we introduce: Karl Wendlinger. A modern driver and gentleman.

Flashback. Amused chuckling from my male colleagues: «You want to interview Karl Wendlinger? Good luck.» What the gentlemen of the press were trying to tell me almost 30 years ago in their own covert way was that trying to interview the promising pilot was like trying to get blood out of a stone. A difficult case. However, I ventured out on my long journey at the time in November 1989 to meet Karl Wendlinger in Macao, where he was taking part in a Formula 3 Championship, a city circuit, of which Niki Lauda, fellow countryman of my interview partner, had once said it was comparable to «navigating a submarine in a bathtub». Karl drove at that time for the RSM Marko Team (backed by Dr. Helmut Marko, who today advises the Red Bull Formula 1 Team and is responsible for driver training) with a Formula 3 racing car sporting an Alfa Romeo engine. Other famous names from the motorsport future were present in the starting field: Mika Häkkinen, Alessandro Zanardi, Gianni Morbidelli, Bertrand Gachot, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Michael Schumacher. No one, including Karl, managed to complete the race in the narrow streets of the Portuguese enclave. Wendlinger still became German Champion of the Formula 3 that season thanks to his previous excellent results. Wendlinger. Not Frentzen, who was 2nd. And not Schumacher, who came 3rd.

AUSTRIAN CONNECTIONS

The interview was to become one of the most impressive of my entire journalistic career. I met a thoroughly relaxed 21 year-old, who was completely cool about the hype surrounding him. Blood out of a stone? You just had to ask the right questions. The sportsman entitled «Crown Prince Karl» and the «new Lauda» (for the chroniclers: Niki Lauda is an Austrian motorsport racer, three times F1 World Champion, ending his active driving career in 1985. He owns 10 percent of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team. The soon to be 70 year-old is currently recovering from a lung transplantation, necessary due to the long-term effects of his horrific crash in 1976 on the Nürburgring, in which he almost burned to death in his car and inhaled masses of toxic vapours) talked willingly of his childhood, his life, his worlds, his dreams. Of how his mother, Traudi, knew at the latest from when «the four year old boy crashed against the garage door on his first motorbike and flew through the pane» that he was unstoppable. His parents had a garage at the time, father Karl Senior was a racing driver himself for 20 years; like father like son. At the age of 15 Karl Junior got his first kart, drove in the POP junior class, became the South German Kart Junior Champion in 1984 and in 1986 Austrian vice Champion. A talent that did not go unnoticed to the Austrian Dr. Marko, who had previously taken part in Formula 1 and had a hotel in Graz. In conjunction with Formula 1 pilot Gerhard Berger, also Austrian, who provided his young friend with tips, he helped to accelerate Karl’s career.

There are only two square national flags in the world: 

The flags of Switzerland and the Vatican.

Helvetica, one of the most popular fonts in the world, was developed in 1957 by the graphic designer Max Miedinger in conjunction with Eduard Hoffmann, the managing director of the Haas Type Foundry in Münchenstein near Basel.

Helvetica, one of the most popular fonts in the world, was developed in 1957 in Münchenstein near Basel.

The highest peak in Switzerland, the Dufourspitze, lies 4634 metres above sea level. The lowest point in Switzerland is on Lago Maggiore, only 195 metres above sea level and only 70 kilometres from the Dufourspitze.

The 1000 franc bank note has the highest monetary note value in the world!

Swiss cannabis consumption is one of the highest in the world: 

It is estimated that approximately 60,000 potheads smoke around 100 tonnes of hashish and marijuana annually.  

Roughly 70%  of Switzerland consists of mountains. 208 of these are over 3000 metres high,  24  over 4000 metres.

Albert Einstein was working at the patent office in Bern, when he published his theory of relativity.

In 2012, 18 Swiss chocolate manufacturers produced 172,376 tonnes of chocolate. Apparently the average Swiss person makes their way through roughly ten kilos of chocolate per year; double that of the average American with 5.3 kilos.

The Dalai Lama owns the smallest vineyard in the world –La Vigne à Farinet in Wallis –, which is 1.67 square metres in size and has three vines.

Photos Copyrights: Manuela Dona, Shutterstock/billdayone

Fortunately the number of high-ranking managers and ceos that are actively involved in looking after our planet, the only one we have, and not simply talking about what has to be done is on the increase. However the versatility and consistency of Jochen Zeitz’ commitment is rather unique. Four years ago our author Dörte Welti interviewed him for the first time on his intentions, now she followed up on his progress.

Jochen Zeitz, four years ago we spoke about the fact that in the future companies should in general present an ecological assessment. Here is your statement again on how we should envisage it:

Jochen Zeitz: Up to the point when a product comes onto the market and is ultimately bought and used by the consumer, the manufacturer requires water, uses land, air and produces waste and pollutants such as carbon dioxide (Co2). These elements have to be set at a measurable ratio and transparently measured with a monetary value. Taken together these values give us an ecological assessment, with the same basis for everyone and which can be accounted for at the end of the year, similar to the financial figures. The Environmental Profit & Loss account (EP&L account) in Euros and cents, as it were.

In our conversation four years ago you expressed that it may be possible to introduce a standard that should be legally consolidated as far as possible. What has become of that wish?

There has been progress within the scope of what is possible, but also setbacks, standardization has to take place through political means and at the moment there is little movement in this direction. We also notice in our work that people are incredibly focused on themselves. In general we primarily think of what changes in behaviour or radical measures mean for us, before we think about the rest of the world.

That sounds somewhat disenchanted…

No, not at all, I look to the future and not the past, major cultural changes always take time. Four years ago I said that I hope our generation still experiences companies accepting the responsibility for their actions before the world runs out of air. It is important that we do not wait until something happens, we have to act quickly. Time does not stand still, we have to really live the term “live consciously”, and the environment is changing more and more rapidly. I am still convinced of what I do and how I am doing it. I think that is how something can be achieved, when you act with complete conviction and positive drive, always looking to the future and seeing what is possible.

Do you have to revise your wishes and plans from four years ago?

In part. We have not yet managed to define a uniform standard for the EP&L, which was my hope for 2020. But at least a number of companies submit their own environmental assessment today. There are organisations such as WBCDS* or SDG**, which view and integrate business today as an integral component for the solution of the major problems on planet earth. The climate treaty is also being implemented internationally and even Donald Trump will not be able to change that, as a number of states within the USA continue to consistently follow the right path.

But the ecological assessment is not only a subject for larger companies; it should also be viable for every SME and smaller businesses. Can you explain to us how that can work exactly?

By introducing measurable values both in quality and quantity for the elements, which we all use, regardless of whether we produce shoes, cars or sweets. It’s a good thing that we are thinking of ecological balance at all and that everybody initially acts as they think. In the course of time we can then find out what is important and what is not that important. What could also happen is that a company discovers that production does not work with a new supply chain under 
ecological conditions. If, for example, I am a manufacturer, who uses too much water at one point, then I have to take this as a starting point to change something. Smaller companies can take the initiative from the experience of larger companies, it’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel each time. If it is not measured, in numbers and values, it cannot be managed or may be amended at the wrong point. Then ecological balance remains an abstract term. Nature is our asset, we have to measure it exactly the same as we do other values in the company. It is not enough to love nature, that does not solve the problems we have created.

Why did you stop being an active board member of Kering? It is exactly the kind of luxury brand that can act as a role model and have a pull effect on others and primarily on customers to herald a rethink?

One of the Kering board premises is to have 50:50 parity. If women join, men leave the ship so to speak, the time was up for me and two other colleagues. I hope that others follow in the footsteps of Kering as a forerunner.

And now, with a family – will your scope of activities change?

I will continue to consciously spend every day possible with my family and live as consciously as possible. Processes are accelerating at an incredible pace due to constantly changing technology. And there are more people in the world, who of course bring their own problems into the equation. The cultural shift has not advanced as fast as the technological, there’s still a lot of work to be done. In practical terms that means for me, Segera, the Zeitz MOCAA, The Long Run, the B Team and my diverse board activities in the company and other Not for Profits.
“Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something”, to quote a friend of mine (Johann Ernst Nilson).
I endorse that sentiment. I do as much as possible with the aim of creating a positive contribution in the long term. 

There are countless ways to support the institutions and organisations that concern Jochen Zeitz, or at least to follow them. Here is a short selection of the websites that are worth a look:

www.zeitzfoundation.org
www.segera.com
https://zeitzmocaa.museum
www.thelongrun.org
www.bteam.org

*WBCDS is a global, CEO-led organization of over 200 leading businesses working together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world.

**SDG stands for Sustainable Development Goals.▪

Vision: Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce are the four Cs and cornerstones of the Segera that opened in 2012. Jochen Zeitz is convinced that sustainability is guaranteed when all four Cs are in unison.

JOCHEN ZEITZ – BIOGRAPHY

It is impossible to condense such a fully packed life into a short list. So here are simply some of the publically known, most important stations.
Jochen Zeitz was born in Germany. He studied International Marketing and Finance in Germany, France and the USA, completed his Bachelor in 1986 at the European Business School. At the age of 30 he took over the Puma company as chairman and CEO, the youngest CEO in Germany at the time, and led the sports article company into continued success for 18 years. Subsequently Jochen Zeitz held a position as board member of Kering (parent company of diverse luxury brands such as e.g. Gucci), managed the Sustainability Programme and developed the EP & L, the Environmental Profit & Loss Account. He founded the Zeitz Foundation and the Long Run-Initiative, in 2012 he opened the Segera Retreat in Kenya. In 2013 Jochen Zeitz founded The B Team together with Sir Richard Branson and a number of top-business people from all over the world. He is currently a Board Member of Cranemere and Harley Davidson, the latter has just extended their product range with electrically powered motorbikes. In 2013 the construction of Zeitz MOCAA began, the world’s largest and first museum for contemporary African art in Cape town in South Africa, the opening was at the end of 2017 (Patrons include Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, and the recently deceased Kofi Annan). The list of organisations, which he supports is extremely long, he has written books and won diverse awards. Jochen Zeitz travels a lot, lives with his wife Kate Garwood and kids in Kenya, England and the USA. ▪

Co-Author: Jochen Zeitz wrote this successful book in 2014 with B Team Advisor John Elkington. Publisher: Wiley.

Photos Copyrights: Wianelle Briers, Crookes and Jackson, MOCAA

He is a bit of an artist, Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent is quoted as having said of himself, but when he gives it some more thought, not only a bit. These little anecdote* is perhaps the most honest statement we can nd about the designer born in Oran, Algeria. Yves grew up amongst women, with two sisters, mother and grandmother; the lanky youth discovered en passant the sen- sual world of fashion magazines, fragrances, rustling materials and opulent colours at an early age. his father was an insurance clerk, both parents’ descendants of ancestors from Alsace- Lorraine who had ed to Algeria. One can only imagine how the boy grew up in a mixture of conventions and the anticipation of a dazzling world. he was gifted in art, adored christian Dior, loved to draw and remarkably, he was allowed to move to Paris at the age of 17 to train as a fashion and stage illustrator in the chambre Syndicale, the heart of the French couture scene.

This «move», as one would refer to it in today’s business world, took on consequences at a breath-taking speed. In the first year, the student submitted fashion illustrations to the only international competition at the time that the industry had on offer, the fashion prize for International wool secretariat**. He received respectable recognition; in the following year, Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent won the first and third prize, in second place another genius, who continues to fascinate the fashion world until the present day: the German Karl Otto Lagerfeld. A dream comes true for the young French man: he can work for Christian Dior; the fashion star in the prime of his life takes the young man under his swing as his assistant. Yves is 21 years old when the Grand Monsieur dies at the age of only 52 and he is appointed successor and consequently creative Director of the fashion house.

The strange foreigner from Oran gets started. With caution, he becomes a master of subtle sensations. Initially he follows the famous Dior line, proving his respect and loyalty to his mentor, by dutifully designing the new collections in his style. however, he quickly breaks new ground with his own ideas; the first designs reated are far from the Dior models to date and Dior refrains from further collaboration. No big deal for the handsome man, who has formed a partnership with Pierre Bergé, with whom he initially experiences an intimate private relationship and then for the rest of his life the perfect symbiosis between intellectual and professional life. In 1961, the duo founded Yves Saint Laurent, the fashion label, which still exists today. YSL could just as easily have become MSL, in early designs Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent liked to explicitly emphasise the initial letters of his noble surname. Yves Saint Laurent played with gender roles; his first dinner jacket for women in 1966 was legendary.

At the same time, he elevated women to the status of goddess creations in his artistic promenade and photo stagings, worked simultaneously on theatre productions and as such created the perfect mix between stage, drama, dream and real fashion. YSL was revolutionary, provocative, without being obscene, even scantily clad women always remained inconceivably elegant. The most stunning stars wore the label, women, who were so unapproachable and still vulnerable resembled the maestro himself. Bianca Jagger, the cool Catherine Deneuve, Marisa Berenson become his muses, in more recent times it was icons such as Carla Bruni and Kate Moss, who stood for rebellious elegance. Unforgettable the Rive Gauche line, which astounded the established scene from the middle of the 60s, because the revolutionary had the courage to launch ready to wear fashion next to Haute Couture. he wanted to give women selfconfidence and to support them, not only adorn them, as Saint-Laurent said himself. Mission accomplished.

A cloud of tragedy hung over the life of the couturier Saint-Laurent, despite all the success and the love expressed by beautiful people for him and his works, he somehow appeared lost. In 2002 he staged his departure from the catwalk with a gigantic promenade in the centre Pompidou in Paris, 2000 guests paid their respects to the obviously exhausted man; the A-List of the top models presented the milestones of the trends he had created: Dinner jacket, jumpsuit, safari-look, Russian style, china look, the transparent blouse and lots more.

In the same year the Foundation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent was founded, with the aim of preserving and promoting the life’s work of the master. Even today, ten years after his death, 60 years after his first collection in 1958, you change when you put on a YSL suit, dress or even just a pencil skirt. Somehow you stretch to your
full height, become more proud, get a sublime feeling. You can be certain that you are well dressed, an awareness that is really only inherent in very few creations these days. And maybe there is a very simple explanation, a quote from Monsieur Laurent himself: «The most beautiful pieces of clothing for a woman are the arms of the man she loves. For those, who do not have this pleasure, I am there.»

Love in the stitches. Those who own fashion designed by the exceptional talent from his active period can count themselves lucky; sometimes you can come across a well-kept piece in a luxury vintage shop. A piece of self confidence to wear. Try it out.

P.S.: A visit to the Yves Saint Laurent museums in Paris and Marrakech is a must. Pierre Bergé, who survived his great love by 9 1⁄2 years, managed to perfectly stage the life’s work of Yves Mathieu-Saint-Laurent. Unfair that he did not get to experience the opening in Morocco himself, he died three weeks before. The tragedy never ceased.

www.museeyslparis.com

No, he really wasn’t a handsome man. But he still managed, mainly because of his hair, to win the hearts of the young girls. Indeed, so overwhelmingly that the film studio, in which he briefly danced as an extra with Yvonne de Carlo, who is best known to the European public as the mother in the TV series „The Munsters“, received several thousand fan letters „to the handsome boy, who danced with Yvonne de Carlo“.
But back to the man, who not only became famous as a painter, but also as an author and most importantly as a film and TV actor.
He was Jewish and his real name was Bernhard Schwartz. Let’s just call him Bernie – the name he chose for himself in his first years in film. It sounds German, but was Hungarian. His parents, Emanuel Schwartz and Helen Klein came from a small Hungarian town called Mateszalka.

His father was a tailor there and in the twenties of the last century he emigrated to the USA, where he first had a tailor’s shop in Manhattan, then in the Bronx. Bernhard grew up there with his two brothers, with the family sometimes living in the working area in the tailor’s shop. He only spoke Yiddish and Hungarian until his sixth year of life. He wasn’t a diligent pupil, being more interested in cinema and Broadway, to the extent that he was almost expelled from school due to his constant truancy.
Following his school time and military service with the marines he returned disabled from the second world and received a disability pension. He simultaneously began to take acting and elocution lessons.
Ultimately he got the aforementioned extra role, which was to completely shape his future life, because shortly afterwards he was signed up by Universal Studios in Hollywood. From this moment on his acting career took off.
He was also famous for his coiffure, a sleek quiff treated with a large portion of pomade, which was to set the style for a whole generation. It was also to be copied by a ten year younger man from the town of Tupelo in the state of Mississippi, who went on to become one of the most famous rock singers in the country.

As his acting contracts were drafted in such a way that he received a proportional share of the box office sales and his films were extremely successful, he quickly became a rich man.
In 1959 he made the film, which would become his most well-known, with a young, blond, world famous actress, perhaps better known at that time as one of the greatest sex symbols in the country, and which is still regarded today as one of the best comedies in film history. The director of this film was an Austrian Jew, who had fled from the Nazis and, not only because of the numerous Oscars he received, is considered to be the most prominent Austrian
Hollywood director, maybe even one of the most famous in general.
Despite his success our actor was never to receive an Oscar. He was nominated once but went home empty handed.
However he does rank as one of the bridge builders between cinematic film and television, because in 1970 – when
his days in the sun as a film actor had begun to set – he accepted a role in a TV series, in which he, as a rich American playboy, solved criminal cases together with an extravagant English Lord. His partner in the series became mainly famous in other films in the role of a British secret agent, who repeatedly saves the world from super villains.
Our actor, Bernie, was known for all sorts of escapades – alcohol, drugs, divorce problems, custody battles, even a dubious child abduction – nothing could tarnish his reputation, on the contrary, it made him even more popular. For example, when Marihuana as well as other substances were found in his luggage on his arrival at Heathrow airport in London his media popularity increased immensely. His fine didn’t seem to affect him much: he was summonsed to pay 50 pounds sterling.

His popularity meant that he was financially secure for life, could afford to play in third-class productions and even in advertising films. He promoted tourism in his parents country of origin, Hungary, but also donated generously to the maintenance and rebuilding of Jewish graveyards and synagogues, to Holocaust memorials, as well as to orphanages or animal sanctuaries for abandoned or mistreated horses or mules.
When he was older he focused completely on painting and was successful again: his pictures, featured at numerous exhibitions, are traded today at prices of up to 100,000 dollars.
He was married several times and had four daughters and two sons.

Bernie died in 2010. He is buried at the Palm Memorial Park graveyard in Las Vegas.
After his death his name made the headlines again in the tabloids, as he had named his last wife as the sole heiress of his gigantic fortune estimated at 60 million dollars, a decision which his children (his first son, Nicolas, had died at the age of war 22 from drug abuse) fought vehemently but without success.

1. Under which stage name is our painter and actor known?
2. What is title of his presumably most famous film?
3. And who is the blond actress?
4. Who was the Austrian–American director?
5. Who was his series partner in 1970?
6. To which master spy are we referring?
7. And who was the rock singer, who copied his hairstyle?

ANSWERS : 1. Tony Curtis, 2. Some like it hot, 3. Marylin Monroe, 4. Billy Wilder, 5. Roger Moore, 6. James Bond, 7. Elvis Presley