Katrin Korfmann - The Ironic Milliner

Truth lies in the past as the evidence of our world reveals our way of life. Anthropologists translate for us ancient artifacts connecting yesterday’s way of life to today’s. I find the thought of my Ikea media console evidence of my way of life amusing, as well as that of the few other mass produced items in my home (I much prefer antique furnishings to MDF). Katrin Korfmann, along with collaborator Jens Pfeifer, took a deep dive into the world of the modern day craftsman in their collection “Back Stages”. The human effort taken to produce, for example my Ikea media console, exists as evidence of a new kind of workshop. Beautifully captured, factory floors of product, materials and workers work to create items that express our sense of taste, style & culture. Though intended to be a celebration of the modern craftsman, I subscribe to the belief this new commercial workshop merely offers an eulogy for art and culture procured by a community asleep at the wheel. Where to start? I could seethe at the misguided “updating” of my friend’s former 1925 Kansas City Sante Fe style stucco home in which so called modern craftsmen removed original archways, tilework (even the vegetation) all of which were in beautiful condition, and replaced it with a trendy open floor plan, dated shiplap walls and a ridiculous ultra modern horizontal electric fireplace. Indeed Santa Fe by way of Hyatt Hotel lobby. But I digress instead to my pursuit of a bespoke hat fit for the Kentucky Derby, a bucket list event I plan to mark off this year. One could argue the Kentucky Derby is a grotesque celebration of opulence and privilege embodied in the iconic sun hat worn to the races. As such I plan to take part in this extravagant display of wealth, call it 1% tourism, and while in Rome don a hat fit for society. To prepare, I took to the internet for a crash course in millinery hat fashion. However, instead of finding cultural timepieces, I found “milliners” (ironic versions of the Milanese craftsman of yesteryear) fashioning hats from cookie cutter materials sourced from the same type of factories celebrated in Korfmann’s collection. Gaudy colors, piles of texture and thin materials creating $300 “ready to wear” hats for what appear to be fit for your daughter’s tea party or a drag show. This ironic take on a fashion piece designed to display one’s financial status instead presents us with abbreviated facsimiles made by modern factory workshops driven by profit not design. This new evidence of “the haves” left for future anthropologists to interpret fills me with a mischievous joy. Upon arriving at this year’s event, I will no doubt see unwitting grown women, who spent hundreds of dollars on their event ticket, designer dresses & shoes, posing for photos sporting these cheap costume hats so that the Gram may chronicle 2023’s newest representation of opulence & culture.

Katrin Korfmann: Back Stages