In Conversation With Berlin's Hottest Stylist, Theresa Gross
Fizzy Meets Fashion’s Golden Girl.
Theresa Gross screams effortlessly cool. An amalgamation of fashion golden girl meets the girl next door, the Berlin native is one of the most in demand stylists and creative consultants working in the capital city right now, having campaigns with Adidas, Nike, and Converse under her belt.
She is also the co-founder of THC Berlin, a love child conceived by her and DJ Martha Van Straaten. A self-described “concept shop, creative cosmos, and cuddle club” it’s a fashion lovers paradise nestled in the heart of Berlin’s Neukolln. We meet her in the THC studio and step into a veritable Aladdin’s cave, just one peek inside is enough to make someone with even the mildest interest in fashion weak at the knees.
Railings are bursting with life; every nook and cranny piled with eclectic pieces, one-off treasures, vintage shoes, costume jewellery and loud furnishings; perhaps salvaged from a market in a far-flung corner of the globe that Gross and Van Straaten have stumbled upon. Prices range from very affordable pieces to more expensive designer vintage, but it’s almost impossible to enter into this world and not want to leave with a whole new wardrobe.
In her studio gardens, under a pavilion that she made herself, we talked to her about creativity, past lives, and her journey into fashion.
How have moments in your life shaped the way in which you create?
I think that you gradually become the person you are through a mixture of your influences and your life experiences. We all have different circumstances that make us the people we become and these affect the ways in which we create. Being from a town that wasn’t so cool in my eyes when I was younger, I always looked different and liked different stuff. In that sense, I was the outsider. But being the outsider made me the person that I am today; it has played a big role in my life and creativity.
Has reflecting on your creative process revealed any unknown truths?
I thought that I was the type of person who wouldn’t enjoy work as much as I do. I didn’t enjoy school; I knew I didn’t want to study, as I just wasn’t into it. I feel that through finding out what I like to do, I’ve learned to love to work and to love being busy. Whereas before I never thought I was someone who would want to work seven days a week! Now when it happens I enjoy it but I would have never thought that I would be like that.
What have been your biggest career milestones so far?
It’s funny because when people ask me about milestones sometimes I turn blank on the spot just thinking about what have I done! It’s all gone so quickly. There are many but some of the biggest moments for me have been the two years of really big campaigns for Nike. That was the first time I was travelling with work and that I had assistants which was really exciting and cool. I also worked together with Vogue in Paris, with Louis Vuitton. I was really happy with those projects. I take each job as it comes through and I’m mostly always happy with the clients I work for. It’s an on-going road.
What inspires you?
I love to watch people on the street. I feel like I Berlin you see so many cool dressed people and so many creative people everywhere. I love that. I also love looking at magazines and find interiors hugely inspiring. Of course, my friends also inspire me, they dress amazingly, we meet and I just have to look at them to feel inspired. But honestly, I’m inspired by everything really, by travelling also!
What about your creative process drains you?
I think at times it gets draining if I’m working a lot. If you are self-employed and you get an email on the weekend then you just have to answer it. In that sense, it can be draining sometimes, but it gives me far more good energy that it takes from me. I feel that if you, and everyone else on the project, are still happy with the result after working over hours and going to bed too late then it’s worth it. Those good results take away from the more stressful parts of the job, for now! I also go to the Thai massage parlour on my day off to get a manicure and pedicure, that’s my refuel!
How has your creativity influenced your creativity and vice versa?
I think my identity has been shaped by my creativity. That’s just the way that I express myself so they go hand in hand really.
Photography: Fizzy Mag / Brit The Kid
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