The roots of fashion designer Andreas Kronthaler, husband of Vivienne Westwood, are in the Tyrolean Zillertal valley. We could have asked him what it was like to have tea with Prince Charles. But we didn’t. Instead, we had a chat about his grandmother’s blueberry patties and the fur coats of his old aunt in Graz. This interview was written in the summer of 2022; Vivienne Westwood has since passed away. We have not changed it and have left it as it was held. We send our heartfelt condolences to the Westwood and Kronthaler family. 

My father lived and worked in the basement. My mother was the mistress of the upstairs in our house in Buchbach in Upper Bavaria. As far back as I can remember, choosing a gift for my dad at Christmas or for his birthday always started with the question: "Does he already own the latest FC Bayern Munich fan outfit?"

While bombs rain down on Kyiv, the second Ukrainian Fashion Week since the start of Russia’s war of aggression took place (February 14–17, 2025). We spoke with its founder and program director, Iryna Danylevska, about an unimaginable feat of strength, prosthetics on the runway, and camouflage nets for the front lines. We translated the interview into English using ChatGPT due to time constraints. We apologize for any resulting errors.

When it comes to flowers, Viennese florist Christine Fink is an absolute magician. We spoke with her about the art of generosity and the beauty of the ephemeral. 

Stefanie Reinsperger is one of the most popular actresses in the German-speaking world, thanks in no small part to her role as Inspector Rosa Herzog in the Dortmund episodes of German cult police procedural Tatort. She is proud of her tiny hometown near Vienna, a village with just under 3,000 inhabitants. She is funny, with a self-deprecating sense of humor and plenty of energy. Yet because she doesn't conform to the cliché image of a female star, she has repeatedly come under attack. That makes her pretty furious ("Ganz schön wütend"), the title of her recently published book. 

"When I was a child, I toyed with dirt. I killed the slugs, I bored with a bough in their spiracle.” For almost 15 years, the exceptional Austrian artist SOAP&SKIN has been singing about death and pain, about nature and healing. Her voice pierces into us and cuts off our air, only to let us breathe better afterwards. The lyrics to Spiracle read differently when you know that 30-year-old Anja Plaschg grew up on a pig-fattening farm in a Styrian village with 200 inhabitants. A conversation about sugar-cube witches, talking trees, and how impressive and depressing rural life can be.

The Swiss Roman Signer (*1938) is one of the most enigmatic European artists of the present day. His works are processual sculptures with a bizarre aesthetic, full of poetry and humor, the result of meticulous planning and unpredictable coincidence. Signer and his wife Aleksandra welcomed us in their studio in St. Gallen. We spoke about childhood, the joy of explosives, about shame and happiness.

Kirchberg Monastery in Lower Austria may date from centuries past, but not so the nuns who live within its thick walls. We recently spent a few days with them, observing the strict prayer times and enjoying homemade blueberry strudel. In these difficult times, we sought advice from someone who really ought to know: Nun and psychotherapist Teresa Hieslmayr. Who does the virus serve? What gives life meaning? How evil is consumerism?  

 Anyone contemplating the concept of beauty will inevitably find themselves face to face with kitsch. Austrian artist Ernst Miesgang is no exception. He approaches the subject with “creatively ironic aggression”—the sight of tchotchkes is enough to send him into a destructive rage. For his series Shattered, the artist smashes tacky ceramic and porcelain figurines and reassembles the shards into original sculptures. But what is kitsch, exactly? And why do we need it?  

Glaciers are not only tremendously beautiful, but also tremendously alive. They melt, cause sea levels to rise and trigger natural disasters, and yet they are a crucial source of fresh water we hope to preserve. At the Institute of Science and Technology Austria in Klosterneuburg, the Italian-Swiss researcher and glaciologist Francesca Pellicciotti studies glaciers that – in contrast to global trends and a warming climate – appear to be stable or growing. A conversation about humility and the third pole.