About - Barbara Rihl
A woman of passion
A mother stylist and model, a father Solicitor and found of Classical music, a scholar grand-mother and a grand-father who also liked to paint, Barbara was born in Vienna in an artistic environment which had nourished all of her passions.
Her father, keen on music, used to bring her to concerts in Salzburg and Bayreuth since she was 6 years old. He also introduced her to great conductors such as Herbert von Karayan and Daniel Barenboïm.
Itinerary
It all started in Vienna at the University of Applied Arts where Barbara Rihl was a student of Karl Lagerfeld for two years. In her third year, she studied under Jil Sander, who communicated her innate feel for cut to her gifted student.
Barbara graduated and her lively curiosity took her to New York, where she was accepted at the famous Parson's School of Design and earned a master's degree.
New-York knows then its greatest phase of creativity. She meets Andy Warhol and many others artists.
Immediately discovered for her talent, she collaborates with many brands and shares her time between Paris, New-York and Hong-Kong.
Takashimaya and Yagi, Rodier and Kookai asked her to handle their collections. Largely due to her uncanny ability to grasp the spirit of each brand quickly, all of these collections were big successes.
Kenzo notices those successes and offers her a job as head of the Kenzo Jeans Collection. And it works! The global income jumps from 6 to 30 millions euros in 5 years. It’s moreover at Kenzo’s that she really discovers the accessory.
Amazed by this success,LVMH integrates her in its very private group of 10 people in charge of defining the products strategy of the group.
In 2000, the accessory finally adopts the seasoning rhythm and becomes fully inspired by clothes collections. Barbara starts her own brand, bringing out her first collection the same year.
Presented at the Première Classe trade show, her creations were an instant hit and entered L’Eclaireur and Le Bon Marché in Paris; Neiman Marcus, Bergdof Goodman and Saks in the United States; Joyce in Hong Kong; and Isetan in Japan.
She created a one-of-a-kind concept, unique and original, a single product that she personalizes with patches of color, materials and prints in step with the hottest ready-to-wear trends of the moment.
The Barbara Rihl look is totally unique. Witty and cheerful, it features stylish colors and materials, refined detailing and sleek lines, not to mention a midrange positioning that lets more women enjoy her creations.
After eight years, her ultra-Parisian brand sells at 250 retail shops and all French department store chains (Printemps, Galeries Lafayette and Bon Marché). Fifteen in-store Barbara Rihl concessions will be opening in Japan, Moscow, Dubai and Canada.
But who is Barbara Rihl?
Cheerful and sporty, ambitious and humble, curious about everything, found of people and Art, she is Pierre Hermé’s wife, worldwide famous artist and inventor of Haute Couture pastry. Together they share the same passions and tastes. Deeply altruist, very closed, they talk about everything and like nothing better than friends or family reunions.
And now?
Now Barbara distils her vision of accessory in more than 1000 shops around the world. Since June 2009, her e-shop website is online. She also plans to open her first Paris shop near Rue St-Honoré in the beginning of 2010.