To mark its 180th anniversary, C&A launched a retro collection in 2021, which is now being presented as THE ARCHIVE COLLECTION in the exhibition space DAS Forum at the Draiflessen Collection Museum. The retro collection was very popular with retailers and bloggers and gave a small insight into C&A's huge archive. Each decade is characterised by certain styles that embody the spirit of the times. Therefore, clothes and accessories are well suited to revive the feeling of a certain decade. Together with other originals from the archives of the Draiflessen Collection, this C&A collection is now being staged in the museum.

This is not just a museum fashion exhibition; it provides insights into the history of the German fashion company C&A, which must be seen as a pioneer in the German fashion industry. The brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer, who came from Mettingen, founded the company in Sneek in the Netherlands in 1841. In the second half of the 19th century, C&A focused on the production of ready-to-wear clothing, which had just become established. At the beginning of the 20th century, C&A then promoted the democratisation of fashion through low prices - production was for the whole family and fashion for every size. C&A recognised trends early on and produced tennis clothes as early as the 1920s, adapted the "New Look" in the 1940s and the mini from the 1960s onwards. The archives of the Brenninkmeijer family of entrepreneurs are housed in the Draiflessen Collection Museum. The museum works according to annual themes and this year the theme was "Listening and Learning", learning and developing from the past - quite spectacular in this context was the artwork SPARK by the world-famous Dutch action artist Daan Roosegarde. Alethea & Art Magazine reported on this extraordinary artist.

Draiflessen Collection is located in Mettingen, on the northernmost edge of North Rhine-Westphalia, some 20 km from Osnabrück. In 2023, the annual motto will be "Shaping Transitions", which asks how humans can pause and align their actions for 2023 in a time of greatest challenge and change. Curator Dr. Maria Spitz spoke about the history of the museum, the Draiflessen Collection's self-image and its place in the German museum landscape, as well as the upcoming exhibition THE ARCHIVE COLLECTION.

April 19,  2022

Interview Directory 

ART

Name: Dr Maria Spitz:

Studies: Art historian, studied art history, musicology and philosophy at the University of Cologne

Occupation: Curator Draiflessen Collection Museum

"Innovation and entrepreneurial spirit are also evident in other areas, be it merchandise management, advertising or department stores' architecture."

Does C&A have an archive of all collection items or is it written documentation?

C&A does not actually have an archive of all collection items. The Draiflessen Collection is home to the archive of the Brenninkmeijer family of entrepreneurs and has also made it its task there to collect, preserve, document and exhibit items of clothing from all previous C&A collections that are exciting for the history of clothing and fashion, as well as the respective advertising material. 

Why is now the time for C&A to reflect on its DNA? Is this done to show the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit of the owning family?

The Archive Collection, which we will be showing in the Draiflessen Collection from 22 June 2022, is the result of a cooperation project between the museum and C&A on the occasion of the company's 180th anniversary. The brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer, who came from Mettingen, founded the company in Sneek in the Netherlands in 1841.

However, if one looks at the family's corporate history, and here in particular at the founding company C&A, it can indeed be seen that their flair for innovation has always been groundbreaking: in the second half of the 19th century, C&A increasingly focused on the sale of ready-made clothing, which was just becoming established. Then, in the early 20th century, the clothing chain store promoted the democratisation of fashion on a large scale by offering low prices. And this for a huge target clientele: for the whole family and for people with particularly small or large sizes. In terms of fashion, the company has always had its finger on the pulse: be it with tennis clothes in the 1920s, the "New Look" in the late 40s or the mini from the mid-1960s. However, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit are also evident in other areas, be it merchandise management, advertising or department stores' architecture.

Is a continuation of The Archive Collection planned?

There are currently no plans for a sequel.

What is your favourite piece in The Archive Collection?

My favourite piece is a red ski jumpsuit for women - it's so retro and yet so current.

"You've never fallen in the snow so chic", C&A advertisement, 1976 ©C&A

C&A Archive Collection, Retro Ski Suits, 2021 ©C&A

What role does your museum play in the German museum landscape and how do you see its future?

As a privately initiated, non-profit museum, we have special opportunities. As a privately initiated, non-profit museum on the periphery, even more so. We are allowed to experiment and perhaps fail once in a while. Of course, every museum wants to make a contribution to the cultural landscape and be perceived with its individual orientation, which is why we as a museum have first defined for ourselves in recent years what success means to us. We are successful when visitors of different ages, different origins and different educational horizons feel welcome here, when they take away new experiences, ideas, thoughts and perspectives from here and, last but not least, when they like to come back again and again. Of course, visitor numbers are also important to us, because we want to reach people with our work. However, as we see it, it should not only be about quantity - many, large, media-rich exhibitions - but above all about the quality of our work and thus of our exhibitions and projects. That's why we deliberately want to take the time to grow slowly and continuously. 

We combine our non-profit status with social responsibility. The Draiflessen Collection does not only want to be a cultural enrichment in Mettingen, an essential part of the network and cultural exchange of this region, but also beyond - sometimes perhaps even nationally or internationally. In this sense, we would like to be an educational venue in the best sense of the word: a place of encounter and dialogue, a place of experience that gives new impulses for thought. With our programme, we would like to contribute to social and academic discussions and also to constantly present ourselves with new challenges and concepts.

 
Who is your audience?

Our audience is accordingly very mixed. Many visitors come from the surrounding area, of course - especially our cooperation with schools. But visitors also come to us from the regions of Osnabrücker Land, Münsterland, Tecklenburger Land, and in some cases from all over Germany to the Netherlands - quite specifically, because Mettingen is not located in the metropolis. The desire for "cultural journeys" to places that are not yet so well known is great, even if the pandemic has put a small damper on the whole thing. We are confident that people will continue to want to discover art and culture in a beautiful and touristy area. And the Draiflessen Collection may then be a place that you just don't expect to find in this place and that will trigger positive surprise in our visitors*.

"We don't just ask for the expectations of future visitors and then serve them, but we address, in the broadest sense, issues that concern us as human beings in the time we live in."

How can you tailor your exhibitions, programmes etc. to their needs?

Maybe we do it a little bit "the other way around" in terms of their needs: we don't just ask for the expectations of future visitors and then serve them, but we address, in the broadest sense, issues that concern us as human beings in the time we live in. We do this possibly in a way that gives new impulses and at the same time makes it possible to have a dialogue - so we listen very carefully at this point to what our guests are saying.

With leadership formats such as Art Based Learning or Visual Thinking Strategy we want to bring our visitors closer to our exhibition themes in a special way, through intensive joint seeing, writing, speaking, alone and in exchange in the group, but above all with plenty of time for individual experiences. As far as we know, it is not a matter of course in Germany to offer these formats.

What criteria do you use to curate your exhibitions?

Basically, we work according to an annual motto that we set ourselves as a long-term task in advance. This year's motto is "Listening and Learning" (including a look into the past and the development of a current fashion collection), "Shaping Transitions", how can we pause in a time of great challenges and changes, question ourselves and align our actions for 2023, or "Creating Future Visions", in which we want to ask about possible future models for our lives and develop possibilities in our exhibitions in 2024.

 
What is the importance of fashion and textile history in your museum?

Visitors are offered three different areas: the main exhibition area with changing presentations of artistic works and international loans, the study room with the Liberna Collection and exhibitions from the outstanding holdings of book art and graphic art with a focus on the 15th and 17th centuries, and THE Forum as a platform for family business research, which presents insights into the scientific work with the archive and collection of the family business. This is thus also where the fashion and textile history exhibitions are predominantly located.

As can be seen from the example of the cooperation with the University of Osnabrück, last year an exhibition project was developed in active collaboration with students that focused on creations by the four famous fashion designers Madeleine Vionnet, Christian Dior, Madame Grès and Cristóbal Balenciaga from our textile collection.

In 2020, we also realised our first digital exhibition in this area, "Modebilder" (Fashion Images), which interactively communicates the fashion of the 1920s, makes it possible to experience the innovative clothing production of C&A during this period and takes a concentrated look at the clothing for women, men and children from this time - unlike all the other exhibitions, it can still be "visited" on our homepage.

However, this does not mean that such themes will not also be shown on the main exhibition space. For example, we are planning an exhibition for autumn/winter 2023/2024 that will focus on works of contemporary art that show the thread as a metaphor, model or medium. We will "interweave" these with the Greco-Roman myths in which the thread plays a significant role in the lives of the protagonists and which still touch on existential questions and inspire debate today.

©Draiflessen Collection