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Project Title
Project Type
Photography
Date
April 2023
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Clara Erbenich
Hello and welcome to my portfolio! Here, you can explore my creative journey and design development. I specialize in knit and textile design, working with bold shapes, expressive color, and storytelling through materials. My work combines playful imagination with refined craftsmanship, shaped by experiences including a collaboration with the Tilburg Textile Museum and a six-month internship in traditional leather. I’m inspired by sustainability, care, and the craft behind every textile I create.
My Story
My Story
Dear Reader,
My name is Clara, and I would like to take a moment to introduce myself properly. I am 24 years old and come from Wiesbaden, Germany. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Fashion and Textile Technologies, specialising in Fashion Design, from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. My studies allowed me to approach fashion not only as an aesthetic discipline, but as a technical and material practice grounded in textile construction and development. During this time, I developed a focused practice in knitwear, where engineering and emotion meet.
I have always understood the world through making. As a child, I painted, knitted, sewed, and experimented creatively in the kitchen. Working with my hands was never just a hobby — it was how I processed thoughts and emotions. Materials became a language through which I could explore transformation: how yarn becomes structure, how texture can carry feeling, how a surface turns into volume. Creation is not only my profession; it is how I think and connect.
My first experience in fashion came through costume design on film sets. There, I observed how clothing shapes identity and atmosphere — how a garment can influence presence and emotional perception. This experience shifted my understanding of fashion from something purely visual to something psychological and immersive. It made me curious about what lies beneath the surface of garments.
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When I began my studies, I instinctively gravitated toward knitwear. From my first knitting project, I felt deeply connected to building garments from the origin of the material — loop by loop, structure by structure. Knitwear allows me to design from the inside out. The stitch, the tension, and the yarn composition define how a garment moves and interacts with the body. This structural way of thinking aligns with both my technical background and my desire for control over construction and expression.
Sustainability became integral to my practice when I began questioning the origins of ready-made textiles and my responsibility as a designer. I often felt disconnected from materials whose production I could not trace. As a result, I committed to developing textiles myself or working with materials whose processes I fully understand. Beginning from scratch is both a creative and ethical choice — it allows transparency, accountability, and deeper material sensitivity.
My creative vision centers on emotional connection, softness, and the relationship between humans and their environment. In my knitwear collection Flower Euphoria, inspired by tulips within urban spaces, I translated organic forms into experimental knit structures and layered textures. Through color and stitch variation, I explored comfort, warmth, and a sense of biophilia.
As a designer and as a human being, I am driven by curiosity, craftsmanship, and quiet joy. I believe fashion should be thoughtful, emotionally resonant, and grounded in material intelligence. I aim to continue refining a design language that balances technical precision with sensitivity — always beginning with the textile, and always rooted in care.
