Who are you?

We are Ann- Kathrin Carstensen und Ana Nuria Schmidt, passionate fashion designers and owners of Rita in Palma, a Berlin-based label.

Where are you from?

Nuria is born in Berlin but raised in the middle of Germany. Ann- Kathrin is from Hamburg.

What do you do?

Our brand, Rita in Palma, combines for the first time avant-garde fashion with integrative work. In cooperation with Turkish women who share outstanding technical skills we create accessories using traditional crochet-techniques and a unique product design. We’re set on intercultural exchange; not coexistence but cooperation is what we want to bring into focus.

Your style in 3 words?

Fresh forward.

What is your strength?

We make the world a little more pink

What is your weakness?

Pink!

What makes you different?

Rita in Palma generates a symbiotic connection, enhancing the collection’s values and establishing a new platform for integration in our society. The question at issue, if this form of integration is met with interest by the ethnic group, can explicitly be answered in the affirmative. The women enthusiastically respond to our ideas and know about their important position in the fabrication of the collection.

Additionally  we deliberately focus on short distances. The local production in Berlin in accordance with the women’s out work fabrication allows minimum distances of transport as well as a close co-operation with the manufacturers. Thanks to the short distances direct communication and monitoring is possible at all times and (almost) without any misunderstanding. Any changing requirements for the production as well as the womens’ growing experiences can directly be integrated into design and composition of the collection. This faciliates spontaneity and short delivery times and promotes the social structures.

In the long run this pattern of fabrication can serve as a platform for many designers in Berlin who are then able to let their sketches also been produced locally. This concept is of great values for the working women, who will be less dependent on the sales and distribution of the Rita collection.

Anything coming up soon?

We’ll take part at Premium Exhibition during Berlin Fashion Week. You can find us at Premium Exhibition 18.-20. Januar, Stand H4 M12.

Rita in Palma

Kienitzer Str. 101, 12049 Berlin

By Cosima Bucarelli