We talk W/ Christa & Cosima from Ottolinger about their last collaboration with Camper

Two weeks agi, Ottolinger & Camper presented the second part of their collaborative work: AQUA. An exclusive capsule collection composed of gender neutral sandals and boots; the perfect footwear for this summer. We talked to the girls of Ottolinger, Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient, to tell us a little more about the creative process of this collaboration.

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HIGHXTAR (H) – This is already the second part of this collaboration with Camper. What is it like to work with the Mallorcan brand? Do you work closely with Achilles?
OTTOLINGER (O) – Mallorca itself is beautiful. It was amazing to see the Camper workshop and archive. We discovered so many fantastic styles and techniques in the brand’s archives; that’s how we started to develop the Aqua collection and we love Achilles!

(H) – Can you describe your creative process and how the silhouettes of the collaboration come to life?

(O) – For both collections we visited the Camper archive and took a look at all the styles and collaborations Camper has done. For the collaboration we fell in love with the felt technique, the same one Camper uses for the Camper Wabi house shoe. Felt was perfect for winter, so the material and technique were the starting point, the shapes came later. For the second collaboration, we found in the archive the Zodiac shoe, inspired by inflatable boats mixed with speedboat elements. Very cool. We worked with the Camper team on a new interpretation of this inflatable boat-shaped sole. For the upper part we wanted to create a kind of diving shoe inspired by the shape of the neoprene – as well as a high sandal, all wrapped up with the diving details.

(H) – You know what they say: three’s a crowd. Is it difficult to work in threes? Is it a hindrance to intuition?

(O) – It’s hard to say, because we never felt like there were three of us. We were more like two: Camper and Ottolinger. And there’s the saying: Four eyes see more than two. So, luckily, no intuition was held back.

(H) – Where did the idea of the dolls for the campaign images of both collections with Camper come from? Is there any funny story behind it?

(O) – The shoes reminded us of a collector’s item, like mini superhero dolls. So we transformed the campaign into mini superhero dolls.

(H) – What’s different in ‘Aqua’ compared to the previous collection?
(O) – The season 🙂 For the winter we reworked the classic winter felt material, for the summer collection the neoprene beach material.
(H) – Do social networks, artists or any other kind of creators influence your creative process? If so, how?
(O) – I guess we are always influenced by social media: it’s a quick platform to see and react, as well as to test ideas. We love art, and we love discovering new artists, new forms, new feelings… it keeps our creativity alive and motivates us to find new and different ways.

(H) – What is your favorite shoe from the collection and how would you pair it?
(O) – The aqua boot: it goes perfect with the Ottolinger swimsuit on the beach. For a relaxed day in the city with a short skirt and a deconstructed T-shirt.