PAULADIUM — METAMORPHOSIS by Paula Kunkel

It all started with a shoe from a flea market. Far too small, but I felt such a resonance that I had to take it with me. I didn’t know then that this exact feeling would eventually set an entire collection in motion.

Five years later, that single Palladium boot has grown into a universe of its own. The entire collection is made from old shoes, as more and more models found their way to me over time: worn, discarded, forgotten, archived. Taken apart, reimagined, intuitively reassembled. The material took the lead, as if it were speaking, and my hands simply followed.

My aesthetic works just like the material I use: raw, honest, uncompromising. Canvas – a fabric that’s allowed, or even required, to age in order to fascinate me even more. Used, robust, rigid, yet sensitive. Tone-on-tone, “imperfect” colors. No fear of dirt, no urge for perfection. Signs of wear are welcome. They bring the material to life and tell stories no new textile ever could.

This post-apocalyptic sentiment – the feeling that everything has already lived once – is reflected in the designs. Eyelets, tongues, the shape of the shoe determined from the beginning how the pieces wanted to evolve. That’s how this future-oriented look emerged: raw, functional, grounded, and ready for whatever comes next.

Metamorphosis is the name of the collection because that’s exactly what it is: transformation without erasing the origin. Upcycling as an act of devoted aesthetics. From shoe to butterfly, from shoelace to knitwear, from the street into the wardrobe.

PAULADIUM emerged from all of this – from a love of material, craftsmanship, and transformation; from the belief that nothing is ever over as long as you’re willing to redefine it. As a wordplay with my name, Paula Kunkel, Palladium eventually became PAULADIUM.

ARTIST & STYLING PAULA KUNKEL
PHOTOGRAPHY CARLA GNENDIGER
MODEL MELANIE KÖHLER FROM MIRRRS MODELS
HAIR & MAKE-UP TAII SCHMOLL FROM NINA KLEIN AGENCY
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT LORENZ SCHÜRK

PAULADIUM — METAMORPHOSIS
by Paula Kunkel

It all started with a shoe from a flea market. Far too small, but I felt such a resonance that I had to take it with me. I didn’t know then that this exact feeling would eventually set an entire collection in motion.

Five years later, that single Palladium boot has grown into a universe of its own. The entire collection is made from old shoes, as more and more models found their way to me over time: worn, discarded, forgotten, archived. Taken apart, reimagined, intuitively reassembled. The material took the lead, as if it were speaking, and my hands simply followed.

My aesthetic works just like the material I use: raw, honest, uncompromising. Canvas – a fabric that’s allowed, or even required, to age in order to fascinate me even more. Used, robust, rigid, yet sensitive. Tone-on-tone, “imperfect” colors. No fear of dirt, no urge for perfection. Signs of wear are welcome. They bring the material to life and tell stories no new textile ever could.

This post-apocalyptic sentiment – the feeling that everything has already lived once – is reflected in the designs. Eyelets, tongues, the shape of the shoe determined from the beginning how the pieces wanted to evolve. That’s how this future-oriented look emerged: raw, functional, grounded, and ready for whatever comes next.

Metamorphosis is the name of the collection because that’s exactly what it is: transformation without erasing the origin. Upcycling as an act of devoted aesthetics. From shoe to butterfly, from shoelace to knitwear, from the street into the wardrobe.

PAULADIUM emerged from all of this – from a love of material, craftsmanship, and transformation; from the belief that nothing is ever over as long as you’re willing to redefine it. As a wordplay with my name, Paula Kunkel, Palladium eventually became PAULADIUM.

ARTIST & STYLING PAULA KUNKEL
PHOTOGRAPHY CARLA GNENDIGER
MODEL MELANIE KÖHLER FROM MIRRRS MODELS
HAIR & MAKE-UP TAII SCHMOLL FROM NINA KLEIN AGENCY
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT LORENZ SCHÜRK