Thursday, October 29, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Ulli Kampelmann Unveils Her Latest Fashion Fusion - (Click on picture to read Fashion News blog)
In 1976, still emboldened by her successful escape from oppressive East Germany the year before, designer and artist Ulli Kampelmann concocted a wild scheme to sneak back in to spend Christmas with her Mom and two brothers.
At dawn on Christmas morning that year more than three decades ago, Ulli and her boyfriend Klaus approached Checkpoint Charlie, the border between East and West in Berlin. Not only were they risking the wrath of the border guards if the two pair of smuggled Levi’s were discovered in the bag of Christmas gifts intended for Ulli’s brothers, the couple were truly gambling with their lives. As an escapee, Ulli was a fugitive from the Stasi, the Gestapo-like secret police, and Klaus, by aiding and abetting this “enemy of the state”, would have been immediately imprisoned had his role been revealed.
Just two months before, Ulli chanced upon Annette Kluge, a well-known actress from the GRIPS-THEATER in West Berlin. Annette and Ulli could easily be twins. Once Ulli described her gambit, Annette gladly lent her best-wishes as well as her West German passport to this outrageous escapade.
Despite their swinish suspicion while comparing Ulli to the photo displayed in Annette’s passport, the border guards finally accepted the credentials and waved Ulli and Klaus on in to East Berlin.
Needless to say, Ulli’s family was staggered by her audacity and delighted with the delicacies and other scarce or impossible to obtain items with which the couple were laden. The brothers were overjoyed with their new Levi’s; Mom was content just to bathe in the warm glow of her reunited family. Ulli reveled in the feeling of friendship and freedom - the freedom she would have to win again before the night was through when she escaped again into West Berlin.
Due to the circumstances of her upbringing, blue jeans in general and Levi’s in particular embody the concept of freedom found only in America.
Today, Ulli is living and working in the USA, designing her incomparable timepieces. Her most recent homage to this significant symbol of freedom is her Jeans Pocket Watch, in itself a play on words. Designed to look like the back pocket of a pair of blue jeans, this pocket watch and chain is intended to be worn clipped to the belt loop of a pair of jeans; ideally, the very jeans Ulli herself designed to be sold in combination with this uniquely-designed watch. Her Pocket-Watch Jeans: sporting a printed chain on the hip, ankle zippers, a red belt patch with the Kampelmann family coat of arms and her now famous “Ulli” signature on the right hip pocket, these jeans in themselves are a stylish addition to any ladies wardrobe. Visit http://www.ullikampelmann.com and you will agree with Pia, a fashionista working for Chanel, "Ulli, your jeans and pocket watch combination are magnificent! This is art and fashion par excellence!"
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
NO JEANS FOR YOU, ULLI
It’s 1975. Ulli is curled up in the trunk of her boyfriend’s Renault, escaping from communist East Germany; escaping to freedom in West Berlin.
Despite the drone of the engine still she can hear the tick tick tick of the watch which Klaus gave her as he convinced her to come home with him to West Berlin, “Ulli, it’s time to be free!”
Her thoughts drift back to her childhood; a time when she would sit quietly in her Dad’s workshop, watching him work the metal and she, holding his big pocket watch, comparing her sense of passing time with what the watch displayed. A game she plays again, huddled for so long in the dark trunk, trying to ignore her heartbreak over leaving her family, her friends and her home, trying to ignore the pervasive terror of being caught and losing it all. But her yearning for a life without restrictions was strong.
Ulli would never again live where limitless travel was a pipe-dream and where her curiosity was blunted at every turn. In East Germany she had no chance to appreciate artworks by Dali or other modern artists, where it was impossible to buy rock ‘n’ roll music and she had no chance to buy blue jeans. Jeans were the symbol of rebellion and freedom. But, Ulli had luck. After three grueling hours in the cramped darkness, she emerged filled with a mixture of jubilation and sorrow.
Many years later, Ulli became a successful modern artist in Europe. Once she moved to the USA, she immediately bought a pair of real blue jeans in a Levi Strauss store. Most recently she founded Ulli Kampelmann Timepieces. (www.ullikampelmann.com)
Her newest collection is homage to these early hard times. She calls it her Jeans Watch collection. The highlight of this collection is a Jeans Pocket Watch sold in combination with a stylish pair of blue jeans of her own design. Be a part of it. Come visit with Ulli at www.ullikampelmann.com. Enjoy!
Despite the drone of the engine still she can hear the tick tick tick of the watch which Klaus gave her as he convinced her to come home with him to West Berlin, “Ulli, it’s time to be free!”
Her thoughts drift back to her childhood; a time when she would sit quietly in her Dad’s workshop, watching him work the metal and she, holding his big pocket watch, comparing her sense of passing time with what the watch displayed. A game she plays again, huddled for so long in the dark trunk, trying to ignore her heartbreak over leaving her family, her friends and her home, trying to ignore the pervasive terror of being caught and losing it all. But her yearning for a life without restrictions was strong.
Ulli would never again live where limitless travel was a pipe-dream and where her curiosity was blunted at every turn. In East Germany she had no chance to appreciate artworks by Dali or other modern artists, where it was impossible to buy rock ‘n’ roll music and she had no chance to buy blue jeans. Jeans were the symbol of rebellion and freedom. But, Ulli had luck. After three grueling hours in the cramped darkness, she emerged filled with a mixture of jubilation and sorrow.
Many years later, Ulli became a successful modern artist in Europe. Once she moved to the USA, she immediately bought a pair of real blue jeans in a Levi Strauss store. Most recently she founded Ulli Kampelmann Timepieces. (www.ullikampelmann.com)
Her newest collection is homage to these early hard times. She calls it her Jeans Watch collection. The highlight of this collection is a Jeans Pocket Watch sold in combination with a stylish pair of blue jeans of her own design. Be a part of it. Come visit with Ulli at www.ullikampelmann.com. Enjoy!
Monday, December 22, 2008
Artist/Designer Ulli Kampelmann Debuts 'Statements in Time' Fine Luxury Watch Collection
Ulli Kampelmann performed a dramatic Hollywood-style escape from Communist East Germany armed only with her artistic talents and pure intention. She became one of the most sought-after glass sculptresses/artists in Europe and is now living and creating here in the USA for the world.
Famous glass sculptress and designer Ulli Kampelmann, who stunned the German art world with her dramatic artworks, has set her sights and designs to fit the wrists of the rich and famous.
Joe Urich, former publisher/editor of an international magazine for luxury watch buyers, said, "Ulli has captured the mind of contemporary women around the world with her 'Pocket-Watch.' This is the ultimate Jeans-Watch. It looks like the back pocket of a pair of jeans. It boasts 100 diamonds and Ulli's trademarked signature and is made to be worn at the best-of-the-best restaurants and night clubs in New York or while shopping on Rodeo Drive. I love this watch and I can hear young ladies saying 'Blue Jeans and Ulli, that's all the time I need.'"
Her line of watches go beyond this fashionable Jeans-Watch with models that are familiar at first blush but "DIFFERENT" upon inspection.
Different is how you could describe Ulli too. Her story is impressive, adventurous, creative and like all famous artists it is full of wonderful achievements against adversities bigger than her sculptures. The difference between fine luxury watches that have been available and the ULLI designs is ULLI. ULLI is different.
It is one thing to create a watch because you like watches or if you are given the task of devising the next great watch design. It is quite another thing entirely to be the artist who becomes enamored with fine timepieces and then designs a watch because of the passion and the artistic need to do so. Ulli approaches watch design from the viewpoint of an artist with the eye of a sculptress.
Ulli created glass artworks and sculptures of all sizes. Not the easiest medium to work with, glass is heavy, hard and brittle but is also delicate, demanding and detailed, precisely like the fine timepieces she conceives now.
Ulli has been making her Moments in Time with glass and is now making Statements in Time with the very machines used to monitor and record those ever-fleeting ticks of life.
The designs and the attention to detail required to create a fine luxury watch that will endure through time have been accomplished.
The passion, creativity, and audacity to create a two-thousand-pound glass sculpture is pure and simply still being generated by ULLI. It's an adventure to meet and talk to her but be careful, her energy is contagious and her timepieces will capture your heart.
Famous glass sculptress and designer Ulli Kampelmann, who stunned the German art world with her dramatic artworks, has set her sights and designs to fit the wrists of the rich and famous.
Joe Urich, former publisher/editor of an international magazine for luxury watch buyers, said, "Ulli has captured the mind of contemporary women around the world with her 'Pocket-Watch.' This is the ultimate Jeans-Watch. It looks like the back pocket of a pair of jeans. It boasts 100 diamonds and Ulli's trademarked signature and is made to be worn at the best-of-the-best restaurants and night clubs in New York or while shopping on Rodeo Drive. I love this watch and I can hear young ladies saying 'Blue Jeans and Ulli, that's all the time I need.'"
Her line of watches go beyond this fashionable Jeans-Watch with models that are familiar at first blush but "DIFFERENT" upon inspection.
Different is how you could describe Ulli too. Her story is impressive, adventurous, creative and like all famous artists it is full of wonderful achievements against adversities bigger than her sculptures. The difference between fine luxury watches that have been available and the ULLI designs is ULLI. ULLI is different.
It is one thing to create a watch because you like watches or if you are given the task of devising the next great watch design. It is quite another thing entirely to be the artist who becomes enamored with fine timepieces and then designs a watch because of the passion and the artistic need to do so. Ulli approaches watch design from the viewpoint of an artist with the eye of a sculptress.
Ulli created glass artworks and sculptures of all sizes. Not the easiest medium to work with, glass is heavy, hard and brittle but is also delicate, demanding and detailed, precisely like the fine timepieces she conceives now.
Ulli has been making her Moments in Time with glass and is now making Statements in Time with the very machines used to monitor and record those ever-fleeting ticks of life.
The designs and the attention to detail required to create a fine luxury watch that will endure through time have been accomplished.
The passion, creativity, and audacity to create a two-thousand-pound glass sculpture is pure and simply still being generated by ULLI. It's an adventure to meet and talk to her but be careful, her energy is contagious and her timepieces will capture your heart.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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