Bogner Live Tradition + Vision at Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde 10th April – 13th June 2011
The world-famous label for sporty style
An exhibition about a sports fashion company at a house of art – does that really go together? And why has the Kunstverein Apolda Avantgarde e.V. decided in favour of the Munich company Willy Bogner? There are 388 kilometres between Apolda and Munich. Furthermore, an art house and a company that is one of the inventors of sports fashion are worlds apart. One should think. But that does not hold for this case. Proof of this can be found from 10th April to 13th June at the Bogner Live Tradition + Vision exhibition on the occasion of the APOLDA EUROPEAN DESIGN AWARD 2011. 
Foto: Bogner Things to look forward to are: A cross-section of an exciting corporate history, which started out with Willy Bogner Senior and his wife Maria in the 1930s.
Willy Bogner Senior, an enthusiastic and successful sportsman, knew what mattered in ski fashion. He then founded his company Willy Bogner, Ski Sale.
Maria Bogner was the inventor of elegant sports fashion. Back then, a stylish life was not just an empty word for the woman from Cologne. When it came to ski clothing, she knew exactly what she wanted and where each detail had to be.
The ski pants, the colourful wind breaker for the ski run, the B on the zipper – Maria Bogner’s ideas became a milestone in fashion history.
In the meantime, the world of Bogner has grown tremendously and has even more important dimensions these days. Responsible for that were and still are Willy Bogner, who has taken over the leading position, and his wife Sônia. That is why Bogner Live Tradition + Vision is presenting the development and the highlights of each collection. Sônia Bogner for example. Describing the spirit of this collection could be something like: “The synthesis of playful elegance and understatement.”
Foto: Bogner
An important role in the exhibition is played by Bogner’s ski fashion. After all, it is sports and fashion on which the tradition of the Munich company is based. So much has changed, regarding materials and workmanship, for instance exclusively shimmering high-tech fabrics instead of cotton. Picture prints instead of classic prints. Overalls instead of two-piece ski suits.
Foto: Bogner If the head of the company is not only enthusiastic about sports (he took part twice in the Olympic Games and is an inspired golfer), but is also a successful cameraman and film director as well as a photographer, it is needless to say that he will stage the collection of the house appropriately. In the exhibition Bogner Live Tradition + Vision you can see The Best of Willy Bogner Movies, e.g. thrilling films like Feuer und Eis, Magic in Motion or Ski to the Max with breathtaking stunts.
There is furthermore ski fashion, which was staged by Willy Bogner 2,900 metres above sea level or in a cage in the Morteratsch Glacier.
Willy Bogner – the label not only stands for ski fashion and exclusive fashion, but also for an awareness of life, that comprises intelligence, creativity and function. And last but not least, freedom; to discover and express one’s own personality again and again.
The exhibition is a project of the APOLDA EUROPEAN DESIGN AWARD 2011. The organisers are the disctrict Weimarer Land, the district town of Apolda, the Society for Economic Promotion Apolda-Weimarer Land e.V. and the Kunstverein Apolda Avantgarde e.V.
The exhibition is being supported by:
APOLDA EUROPEAN DESIGN AWARD 2011
Sparkasse Mittelthüringen
Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thüringen
Willy Bogner GmbH & Co. KGaA
Foto: Bogner
Contact
Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde
Bahnhofstraße 42
99510 Apolda
Phonenumber: 03644/515364 Fax: 03644/515365 E-Mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Internet: www.kunsthausapolda.de
Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Sunday: 10 am – 6 pm
Monday: arrangement by phone
Admission:
Adults: € 5,00
Reduced: € 4,00
School Classes: € 1,00 per pupil
Apolda, 30th April 2010
The Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde presents the exhibition Bogner – Sports and Fashion in Motion from 10th April 2011 – 13th June 2011
From left to right:
Jürgen Krämer (Society for Economic Promotion Apolda)
Hans-Helmut Münchberg ( District Administrator of Weimarer Land) Dr. Oliver Pabst (Board Sales Willy Bogner GmbH & Co. KGaA)
Hans Jürgen Giese (Managing Director Apolda European Design Award 2011)
Rüdiger Eisenbrand (Mayor City of Apolda)
Wolfgang Hoppe (successful in bob racing, currently National Coach of the German women’s bob sleigh team)
Apolda/Munich: From 10th April to 13th June 2011, on the occasion of the Apolda European Design Award, the Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde is going to host an exhibition about one of the most renowned and successful fashion companies: Bogner.
For decades, the “B” on the zipper has been the worldwide identification mark for exclusive sportswear, which neither compromises on function nor design. Hollywood stars, presidents and top athletes wear it. Bogner has been the official wardrobe supervisor of the German Olympic Team for the 17th time in a row.
The opening takes place on the day of the presentation of the Apolda European Design Award 2011. On this occasion, it has been an established tradition since 1999 to show an exhibition that is tightly connected with fashion and design. After Textildesign der Russischen Avantgarde (1999), Wolfgang Joop – Illustrationen (2002), Karl Lagerfeld – Fotografien (2005) and adidas – Die Vielfalt der drei Streifen (2008), an exhibition about Bogner is coming up.
It tells the story of a company, which has maintained its top position through brave innovation since 1932. It was Maria Bogner, the wife of the founder Willy Bogner Senior, who made sportswear elegant and thus invented sports fashion. The ski pants, designed by her, are a milestone in fashion history, and still today Bogners is a synonym for ski pants in the USA.
In the following years, Bogner kept on developing new materials, cuts and ideas – among them the precursor of the the Walkman – which has not only changed the world of sports. Today, the company, which is based in Munich, not only offers ski fashion, but also covers a wide fashion spectrum with the collections Sônia Bogner, Bogner Woman, Bogner Man, Bogner Sport, Bogner Fire + Ice and Bogner Kids, as well as several other licences.
Bogner not only gained recognition through fashion but also through their spectacular presentations in photography and film. Therefore, partly unknown pictures from the company’s archive are shown at the Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde, alongside original fashion from the early days of the company in 1932 up to the visionary B-Tomorrow Collection, which shows how ski fashion could look like in 2032.
The exhibition also appreciates the man behind the image: Willy Bogner. The founders’ son turned the company into a global life style enterprise and manages it together with his wife Sônia. Willy Bogner, former top athlete, who took part twice in the Olympic Winter Games, has been the chairman of the society Munich 2018, who want to host the Olympic Winter Games in Munich.
Moreover, Willy Bogner is also an established film visionary. His most famous films are the most successful German sports movie Feuer & Eis, the first German IMAX production Ski to the Max, as well as the skiing scenes he has shot for four James Bond movies. A cross-section of his works in film and photography will also be presented at Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde.
Willy Bogner GmbH & Co. KGaA, based in Munich, is an internationally successful life style enterprise and a leading seller of exclusive sports fashion and luxurious sportswear. The company employs more than 700 people worldwide and generated a turnover of 173.1 million Euros in 2009, with licences and their product lines Sônia Bogner, Bogner Woman, Bogner Man, Bogner Sport, Bogner Fire + Ice and Bogner Kids. The company, established in 1932, is managed by Willy Bogner, the founders’ son, together with his wife Sônia.