A cursory glance at the Felder twins’ oeuvre and signature rock-chick aesthetic gives the observer a pretty clear idea that their predominant influences stem from music. For Spring/Summer 2012, however, they have drawn inspiration from a different performance art: dance. This season saw the introduction of softer fabrics and colours to the Felder Felder line, as well as a more feminine silhouette. Here, the Felders talk Avenue 32 through the mood board for their latest collection.

Dani: Pina Bausch was an amazing dancer. She came from our neighbouring village in Germany and was one of the leading choreographers in the world. Unfortunately, she passed away two and a half years ago; but her dancers decided that they would continue performing and Wim Wenders decided to make a movie about them. The film [Pina] was absolutely inspiring. What really stood out for us was how they used clothes to express themselves. That’s why we have designed more longer, floaty dresses, which all have this movement and effortlessness about them. But to keep true to the Felder Felder aesthetic, we also looked at Jen Brill, a photographic agent from New York and a cool downtown It-girl. I think [the story] always happens quite organically: you have a starting point, in this case Pina Bausch, and Jen Brill came in much later. You look at the collection to see what’s missing and then you imagine people, things from nature or whatever is inspiring you at that moment.

Annette: We used spikes for the print this season. We took pictures of spikes in different shapes; when you look at them from a distance they resemble a flower print. We always try to create three-dimensional versions of our prints, so this season we experimented with embroidery designs that resemble spikes. We also worked with embroidery that has a bullet design, which brings a tougher look to the collection. The bondage pictures on the board relate to our harnesses. We wanted to contrast our floaty and feminine clothes with hardware details, to give that edgier, rock’n’roll feel that Felder Felder is known for.