Ole Kuhtz has different ideas about fashion than many of his peers. The 18-year-old prefers to wear clothes from the early 20th century – and wants to take a stand against fast fashion.
This article first appeared on RTL.de
Stand-up collars, sleeve holders and frock coats: you will find them in very few wardrobes these days. Things are different with Ole Kuhtz. The 18-year-old from Celle (Lower Saxony) collects fashionable items of clothing from the early 20th century and wears them every day.
Longevity instead of throwaway fashion
For Ole Kuhtz, his outfits are anything but a disguise. The twelfth grader is very interested in history and does a lot of research. He was so fascinated by the zeitgeist one hundred to two hundred years ago that he began to question today’s consumer and throwaway society: “I wanted to get away from fast fashion and towards more economically sustainable clothing, I wanted to invest. Then you just bump into it older clothes. Back then you didn’t have that much money and accordingly less clothes,” he explains in an interview with RTL.
“You get a lot of looks”
Two years ago, Ole started investing in this style of clothing. In the meantime, he has collected almost 50 different items of clothing and accessories, which he coordinates and combines appropriately. With its appearance, the student stands out even between the historic half-timbered buildings in Celle’s old town. “You get a lot of looks and if you’re spoken to, it’s positive. Most are in their tunnel and they don’t really care, but there’s often a lot of positive feedback,” says Ole.
Painting gives him peace and serenity
In addition to fashion from past centuries, the people of Celle also have a passion for painting. Above all, this gives him calm and serenity, he says: “This level of detail, this precision, this patience – learning that is actually what I want to regain. Nowadays it’s a little faster and a little rougher. That’s certainly the case nice, but I would like to reflect a bit and regain this calm”. Ole mainly brings maritime motifs from around the 18th century to the canvas.
Exhibition of his paintings is a success
Ole needs several weeks to several months for his paintings. Ole has already sold four of his finished works in the “Coffeeshop Celle”. “Obviously you’ve spent hundreds of hours with these works of art and you develop a relationship with these works, so it’s just interesting to see and present your work in this way,” he enthuses. And Ole already has other plans: he wants to write a book. What will the novel be about? About a boy, ships and – of course – times long past.
Ole Kuhtz would probably find a like-minded person in 28-year-old Zack Pinsent from England – the tailor exclusively wears historical clothing from the 19th century.
