Huffington Magazine Issue 19 | Page 98

Exit with athletic wear; and the brand’s signature car coats for both men and women, all presented in blacks, greys and dunes, a tonal take on the Bauhaus color block. “I’m always looking for new and innovative materials,” Steinbruck said. “We played the leather like a fabric, and treated it like any other material rather than being afraid of it because it’s leather.” But it doesn’t come cheap. The leather dress, for instance, will retail for upwards of $2,300, with the car coats coming in at just under $1,300. Polo shirts sell for around $200, and the collection’s most expensive piece—a detailed men’s leather field jacket—is priced at more than $2,500. STYLE The company recently opened its biggest retail store yet—a 2,700 square-foot boutique in New York’s fashionable Soho district—and plans a major retail expansion, with eyes toward opening hundreds of retail stores worldwide. Women’s shoes and handbags are next, and Steinbruck aims to present the brand’s first runway show at New York Fashion Week next year. “We want to make this brand a key player in the luxury industry for men and women,” he said. “You have a lot of fashion brands but you don’t have a real lifestyle brand out of Germany. We are the only brand in the market, and we see ourselves as the only German luxury lifestyle brand.” Steinbruck’s job now is to make fashion editors, buyers and customers see that as well. HUFFINGTON 10.21.12 From left to right: asymmetric sports jacket in black ($2200); windbreaker zip in stone ($2500); leather shift dress in dune ($2300).