Designer Spotlight: KOU TSCHÜSS

KOU TSCHÜSS is Guya Marini and Carmen D’Apollonio. Both second-generation Italians, both born and raised in Zürich and they have been friends for the entire millennium. Guya was Paris and Zürich based; while Carmen traveled between Zürich and New York. In the beginning, the two would meet every summer in Zürich and exchange ideas, but the lack of proximity kept their collaboration from coming immediately to fruition. Guya stayed active in Paris, working as a stylist; Carmen in New York, was kept busy as the invaluable assistant to Swiss artist Urs Fischer.

Then, meeting up again in the beginning of 2006, the two decided to focus exclusively on making handmade knitwear and croched silk foulards. The inspiration for the label’s signature crochet trimmed silk scarves originated from when Carmen’s scarf flew off her neck while riding her bicycle one day. The duo’s solution was to use their knitting expertise to weigh down the silk scarf’s edges, resulting in the subsequent birth of their trademark piece.

The duo wanted to use traditional “savoir faire” and mix it with unusual materials to create a new modernity. As part of their commitment to quality, every knit and crochet piece is fabricated entirely by hand with a network of grandmothers and passionate home-based workers. This social-and environmental friendly aspect is very important to them.

Melanie Stockman

Click here to view more pieces from KOU TSCHÜSS.