Anette
Of course, we don't just want to blog faceless into the vastness of the web and tell you how great and cool our hybrid panniers are (stop! no, stop - ahem, okay, maybe yes. At least a little bit. 😅 ), but ourselves also give a face.
Show you who is actually behind this Berlin label, that it is not a big corporation, but has its home here in Berlin-Friedrichshain and tries the urban with resource- and environmentally friendly manufactured products
to make the (bicycle) world a little bit better.
That's why there's an interview with Anette Nischwitz today, she's one of the key figures here in the shop and the inventor of the multifunctional panniers.
- Founder and creative mind at Spleen Berlin
Anette originally comes from the area near Kassel and later lived the classic small town idyll with a house and children in Franconia. Together with her husband Reinhard and the children, she then moved to Berlin, which was still wild at the time, where they set up the label Spleen Berlin and sold their products at Berlin's weekly markets.
By the way, the two are still personal today with their pannier bags for bikes, which are super easy to use with practical backpacks can be converted, can be found at Berlin weekly markets . point of honor!
Fun fact: In the beginning, the two of them didn't make bags at all, but rather unusual women's fashion.
Tres Chic!
- What drives you personally?
My family has had a lasting influence on me. I grew up with my siblings in an entrepreneurial family, I think that gave me the courage to jump in at the deep end and build something of my own. I also learned the passion and love for my work here, which always accompanies me.
- Was there life before Spleen Berlin?
I have always enjoyed being creative and working with my hands, even as a child I learned the basics of crafting from my mother and both grandparents Learned tailoring. After I trained as a fashion director and founded my own fashion label with fellow students, which was actually quite successful at the time. Over the years I have worked in many creative professions, for example I worked as a product designer in development for a long time, but I also worked in the medical industry for many years.
- How did the idea for Spleen Berlin come about?
It developed little by little: I've always had one Passion for the fashion sector. Design, pattern creation and so on...which is why Reinhard and I founded the “Spleen” label back in 1995. I designed and produced women's fashion, Reinhard took over distribution.
After we moved to Berlin, we became “Spleen Berlin” and the dresses, blouses and skirts were gradually joined by bags and backpacks. We now only focus on our multifunctional hybrid bags for bicycles.
We no longer sew in our own living room, but work together with professional, European manufacturers.
- How did the beginnings of the label look like?
We really started from scratch and did everything ourselves. The The sewing machine was initially in our bedroom while the patterns for the dresses and other parts were made on the kitchen table and cut to size on the floor. An... intensive, but also beautiful time, especially with three children. 😅 Gradually there were more and more sewing machines - for better production conditions we moved to the Künstlerhaus in Prenzlauer Berg.
- Who are you at Spleen Berlin?
I am a founder and owner. Anything that needs to be done, I do. From design and production to general management, I can step in anywhere.
- Which bag was the very first?
The very first bag was actually not a bike bag at all, but a bike bag hand-embroidered bag that my mother (she is a skilled seamstress) designed and embroidered with me.
- Do you have a favorite backpack?
phew! To be honest, I pretty much have every one of our backpack models every available color and material has already been used as a favorite backpack. So I can also test all models for their suitability for everyday use, and if I don't like something about it or it seems impractical, it will be changed.
- Did everything always go smoothly on your way?
Of course there were many stones on the way from Spleen Berlin. But honestly said stones can be cleared away! A great passion of mine is finding solutions and accepting challenges.
- What was the most depressing experience?
Clearly, the gentrification in Berlin. The ultra-short notice (we only had three months) in our workshop in the Künstlerhaus in Prenzlauer Berg. The classic: refurbishment and expensive re-letting. The artists' house was part of our home for many years, along with the wonderfully overgrown garden that went with it. A wide variety of artists came together here - stone sculptors, painters, tailors, wood sculptors, etc.
- very sad, but that's just Berlin.
- And what is particularly nice about your work?
Our customers. We have so many good things at the markets and fairs We received feedback that encouraged us to keep going. That's why direct contact is so immensely important to us.
That's why, for example, this blog for Spleen Berlin. Our customers have valuable insights, ideas and suggestions and we are very happy to listen and listen to them. Here in the blog, at the markets, by email or at the big trade fairs.
- A takeaway thought?
Enjoy life - and now and then dare a courageous jump into the ice-cold, unknown wet. 😉