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sugar high

A promise of bliss. In abundance.

Temptation, pleasure, reward, habit, disgust, greed.

Packed with meaning.

Memory, childhood, comfort, love, rapture.

- Sweet happiness, smeared mouths.

Photography: Matthias Wolf

Creative Direction | Retouch: Luise Eva Maria Oppelt

Models: Alessa Scivoli, Akim Bello-Osagie, Johanna Schreiber

Shoot Assistant: Laurin Pfützner

Collection Concept

It lies in the nature of sweetness to reward us with a welcoming embrace that can make us greedy and wipe away any doubts about its benevolence.

The “Sugar High” collection works with the personification of the substance sugar and the visual representation of its properties and symbolic character. A particular focus is placed on the power of this economically and physiologically significant substance, its addictive potential, and its ambivalence.

The looks interpret with (over)flowing silhouettes how the substance eludes control and are intended to tell a story of dependency.

Material Experiments

After initial experiments with sugar as a material - and later with the sugar substitute isomalt, which is used in catering and confectionery for edible sculptures - it became apparent that the stickiness and decomposition in the presence of moisture almost completely ruled out wearing on the body. Both substances dissolve in water and are extremely fragile even after prolonged hardening, but after a few weeks the edible samples showed signs of oxidation, resulting in a milky discolouration and a noticeable but insufficient increase in impact resistance. The further investigation of different materials aimed to find a material that has a visual similarity to Eigen, but exceeds the durability of Isomalt and thus enables the realisation of wearable prototypes.

Institute: Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design

Supervision: Prof. Evelyn Sitter, Dominik Consentino

Atelier Support: Isabel Fiedler, Maren Stemmler, Heike Becker, Sarah Breitner

Collection Date: 2023