Interview: Les Incroyables

I had to take a break for a couple of days from my PPE maker profiles due to the end of the semester, finals, doing grades, etc., but I've got a new one today, Dirk Seegmüller and Felix Weber of the German fashion brand, Les Incroyables!

 

Felix (left) and Dirk (right) with legendary milliner Stephen Jones (center) in 2018.

What is your profession in non-pandemic times?

If the world is not brought to its knees by a plague, we work as an accessory and fashion designer, with a focus on millinery.

What sorts of projects would you be working on, were we living in normal times?

We try not to give up the normality completely and continue to work despite everything.  We are currently preparing new hats for the summer and are working on what we call our "laboratory", developing new techniques.

What spurred you to start sewing masks?

Dirk's niece is a midwife in training and reported catastrophic conditions regarding her equipment right at the beginning of the pandemic.  We wanted to remedy this situation and immediately started sewing masks for her and her colleagues in the hospital, as well as a nursing service.  We don't want to make a profit from it and donated all masks.

I'm struck by the commonality of that experience--throughout these interviews, it's a recurring theme, so many of us with family or friends in the healthcare industry whose need for PPE to do their jobs inspired us to start this work. And for me, it's a stand in solidarity with those workers since as milliners we know the necessity for PPE first-hand, from working with solvent-based hat sizing and needing to protect ourselves from those fumes.

If you are accepting donations or selling masks online, how can people donate or buy?

We don’t sell the masks, but if you want to support us without buying our regular goods, you can do this on Patreon (www.patreon.com/Lesincroyables)

Danke sehr for making space in your day for this interview. I appreciate your valuable time. Viel Glück und gut Gesund!