Sustainable fashion label tentation: from festival tent to unique fashion item

When the circus is over, a ghost town remains: Katrin Rieber took on a clean-up shift as a helper at Fusion 2016 - on the Monday after the festival, when most of the 70,000 or so festival guests had long since left. "The camping site looked like a set from an apocalyptic film. Abandoned tents everywhere surrounded by rubbish. I was shocked," she says. She noticed that many of the tents and pavilions only had small things broken: sometimes a missing zip, sometimes a broken pole. Nevertheless, most of them would end up in the rubbish bin. "What a waste of precious resources," she thought - and packed her car boot full without further ado.

The second chance

Back in her studio in Hamburg-Altona, she began experimenting with materials and sketching designs. Tents are usually made of nylon and polyester with a PU or silicone coating. Working with these materials was initially strange for the environmentally conscious fashion designer, who usually avoids petroleum-based textiles on principle. For her label ein garten (inspired by Rilke's "I want to be a garden"), founded in 2015, she designs coats made from weatherproof EtaProof, an innovative fabric made from organic cotton.

However, giving the problematic synthetic material a second life made sense to Katrin Rieber. Her idea: rainwear and bags for the city and - coming full circle - for festivals. From the following year onwards, she visited large events specifically to collect broken tents. in 2021, she launched her first collection called tentation.

The shop window

Meeting in the pop-up store Unique Mash in Osterstraße, which brings together sustainably produced clothing, accessories, art and ceramics, also curated by Katrin Rieber. With the help of the Frei_Fläche programme, the former organic supermarket has been occupied by a dozen designers since October 2023, who sell their products here and also give workshops.

While we try on Katrin's coats, people are knitting next door. It's the first open space for creative temporary use in Eimsbüttel, "and the location right next to the junction and the underground is one of a kind," praises Katrin. We also have the best shop window in the neighbourhood, more than ten metres wide - make sure you take a photo!" The public has an affinity for design and is open to green themes. "Some of the pieces I wanted to show you have already been sold again," Katrin apologises with an ironically desperate gesture. But what the customers have left is enough to recognise her signature.

The design

Take the mackintosh, for example: she gave it a dynamic "Volahiku" cut. At the back, the fabric reaches just above the back of the knee, which is practical for cycling, while the hem swings down at the sides and tapers towards the front. "The coat is also cut oversize for air circulation," explains Katrin. As tarpaulins are relatively thin, she lines some of her pockets with robust tent groundsheet fabric. For the "Fluffy Puffy Shopper", she created a double layer of fabric with sewn-in fleece. The fluffy padding protects the contents and feels as if you are carrying a down pillow under your arm.

"Upcycling products absolutely need a good design," says Katrin and argues: "If we want to establish the reuse of used materials, the items made from them have to be at least as attractive as their virgin competitors." She thinks the Freitag bags made from lorry tarpaulins are exemplary; she thinks little of crown cork earrings or toiletry bags made from jeans with trouser pockets, seams and rivets still attached. Her creations deliberately do not show their past life. Only some of them have typical tent details, such as the mittens with loops and toggles on the side - originally used to fasten a rolled-up tent entrance. To text a message, the typing fingers quickly slip out and back in through a "door" in the glove.

The push

Most tents are green, grey or blue; chic cream or silver are rare. All the more reason for tentation's fashion to shine in terms of form and function. In addition to the ecological impact, this is exactly what convinced the jury of the Silberstreifen Award. As hoped, the award and exhibition at the Design Zentrum Hamburg brought Katrin Rieber more reach and contacts. And looking back, she is grateful that the Kreativ Gesellschaft encouraged her to apply for further funding programmes.

It worked: she exhibited with three other designers at the Nordstil trade fair and took part in various coaching sessions: "The Creative Business Academy is a great programme," she says: "I was able to consolidate my skills in areas in which I didn't yet have a profession, such as marketing and PR." And: "The training helped me to negotiate with partners in the festival industry on an equal footing and make the value of my actions clear to them."

The cycle

At XXL events such as Rock am Ring or the Wacken Open Air, Katrin Rieber and her teams collect an average of 20 cubic metres of material. They hand over equipment that is still intact to charitable organisations that collect for those in need on site. At the "rescue boxes" set up, the tentation activist talks to many people and explains her concept - without proselytising. "Thank you for doing this," she often hears.

Much of the salvaged material is stored in a barn in the countryside. After cleaning, small parts such as fasteners are separated and the tarpaulins are sensibly cut up and sorted. In her studio, Katrin works on the intricate patterns for unique pieces and small series, commissioning local workshops to produce them.

With her project, the designer also wants to send a message to the industry to work on closed material cycles. Keyword Cradle to Cradle. As a precaution, she makes sure that all tentation products are made from materials that are as pure as possible: "This means that I don't use any cotton yarns or linings, for example." So that the products have a chance of being recycled at the end of their life. Who knows what they will become next.