PRESS RELEASE
It is a premiere in two respects: On the one hand, the project is the first joint collaboration between PB 0110 and the German actor and DJ Lars Eidinger. On the other hand Lars Eidinger has his first appearance as a bag designer with the bag „LE 1“. The result of this collaboration will be presented at Berlin Fashion Week.
„I dreamed of a project with Lars Eidinger“, says PB 0110 owner Philipp Bree about the beginning of this common story. He sends Lars Eidinger an audio file with his dream, followed by a meeting at the Berlin Schaubühne. Fascinated by Lars Eidinger’s border crossings, both quickly develop a common approach. It’s about plastic bags. Lars Eidinger has a special connection to this: „I asked myself what purpose a bag had to fulfil for my requirements and came to the conclusion that I often use shopping bags rather than bags. Bags without compartments or subdivisions. For me, the Aldi shopping bag represents the plastic bag itself. A classic that will disappear from the market in the wake of the new ecological awareness. Moreover, I have always been fascinated by the ZERO movement or artists like Wolf Vostell. Yves Klein’s ‚Monochrome Blue‘ is one of my greatest artistic inspirations and references. The fact that the Aldi bag adorns an early Fruhtrunk work and thus represents a kind of multiple or ready-made, inspires me.“
Günter Fruhtrunk – abstract painter, graphic artist and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich – made himself known as the designer behind the Aldi North Bag in 1970. „I have sinned,“ he commented to his students on this commercial project and paid DM 400 into the class box. They were worth it, because the bag developed into a timeless classic among the plastic bags. It is part of real life, has an unmistakable shape and is charged with art history.
The LE 1 bag is a tribute to the work of Günter Fruhtrunk and to the no-design of the bag, which has not been on the market since last year. LE 1 corresponds exactly to the dimensions of the original Aldi bag and uses it as a source of inspiration. At the same time, Philipp Bree and Lars Eidinger take a closer look at Fruhtrunk’s complete oeuvre with reference to „Progression, Etude I“ from 1964. The bag underlines the discussion about plastic bags in Germany and worldwide. It is made of high-quality cowhide leather, which is tanned in Germany. The bag fits seamlessly into the design and vision of PB 0110: Lars Eidinger and Philipp Bree want to create a product that is sustainable and timeless; with a view to aesthetics, they want to tell a design story.
It’s not a question of clichéd social hierarchy, not even of playing with it, says Lars Eidinger: „In the past, it was possible to evaluate value independently of price. On the basis of quality, materiality and workmanship. Today, price determines value. It’s not about luxury. Rather, the bag tries to draw attention to the beauty of everyday life. Often we attribute a higher value to luxury articles, which we use perhaps one or two times a year, than to things of daily use. It is a bow and an appreciation of the everyday. An homage to everyday life. Of course, it also plays with making a disposable product sustainable.
After its launch in January 2020, the bag will be available from June in selected stores and on the PB website at a price of app. €550. The number of pieces is limited to an edition of 250 pieces. Starting from the launch pre-orders on www.pb0110.com are accepted.
