E.in label from Berlin builds a bridge to Frankfurt even before the first Frankfurt Fashion Week has even taken place. You will probably not find this label there: Lemanjá is not based on the typical seasonal calendar. These “throw-over-dresses” do not keep to the time, because founder Sandra Hansen designs them “for modern goddesses”, as she confidently says. “Every woman is a goddess!” And yes, for them God is a woman too.
Lemanjá’s silk dresses are based on the three most original types of clothing available: kimono, caftan and cape. You can buy them online, on request in your own showroom in Berlin or at exclusive events such as in Frankfurt: Above the rooftops of the city, you should get a feeling for how divinity feels. Sandra Hansen ensures a heavenly atmosphere, even with a mask, for a whole evening.
Inspired by mother nature
The designer actually comes from the advertising industry. Three years ago she took a break from stressful work. “Maybe it was a midlife crisis, I don’t know.” She asked herself: “Do I still want that?” At the end of the trip she was still wearing exactly three dresses: kimono, caftan and cape. She worked on the cuts for more than a year. They should be timeless and sustainable and “translate the ease of vacation into urbanity”.
The namesake Lemanjá is the mother of all goddesses of the seas. And Sandra Hansen will be showing all of her “goddesses” through the collection that evening in Frankfurt. The clothes are made in a radius of 600 kilometers from Berlin in selected factories. There is no dress more than twenty times. “They are once-in-a-lifetime dresses,” says Hansen. The silk fabrics are used up as completely as possible and fabric remnants are processed into accessories such as hairbands. “As a goddess you can not only look good, you also have to have an attitude,” says Hansen on the subject of sustainability.
Then she presents one of the dresses on the pole, which features a stylized blue coral. Their habitat, the Great Barrier Reef, is dying. That is why 100 euros are donated to coral.org for every dress purchased from the Coral Rescue series. The macro prints are inspired by the best designer in the world: Mother Nature. Next to the corals hang the Rainbow Mountains from Peru.
For all sizes
“Three and a half meters of silk do something to you,” says Hansen, and this is also felt by the women who throw on one of the dresses that evening. You won’t hear the phrase “Is it also available in my size?” Here. The cuts are cross-size and changeable. “What we see here is not just fashion or a fashion concept, but female empowerment.” That is why Sandra Hansen does not give instructions on how to lace the clothes. Goddesses are supposed to follow their intuition.
Despite the timeless design, it picks up on flounces as a contemporary theme. They are supposed to pay homage to Grace O’Malley, the Irish pirate queen, “a true goddess”, as Hansen says, who today opted for the kimono from the “Believe in Grace” series. The “Fringe” kimonos are reminiscent of the Roaring Twenties. With the current events, this edition developed into a kind of dream catcher. The artist Lena Petersen puts her own wishes on the silk ribbons – it is up to the wearer to whom she reveals her wishes.
Sandra Hansen can’t just imagine her clothes on the rack. Fashion week is not for you. Even for this evening she didn’t bring any models with her: “All the goddesses are models,” she exclaims, “and you should wear the clothes.” But first of all, the guests start putting on the clothes.