Wäscheflott, a long-established Viennese company, has been synonymous with linen production, fabric design and made-to-measure shirts since 1948. Located in the heart of Vienna, right next to the State Opera House, artists such as Herbert von Karajan were among its regular customers as early as the 1960s. 

The studio of Vienna’s oldest specialist company produces textile masterpieces that are now shipped all over the world. Our small, charming campaigns and promotions were designed to reflect the spirit of traditional Viennese craftsmanship.

In the second year of the pandemic, the longstanding company wanted to use the shop window initiative to encourage Viennese retailers to reconsider this neglected medium. Not only for (the absent) affluent tourists, but above all for the city's residents.

The shop window continued the tradition of scene windows, which captivated many onlookers until the 1970s. With the increasing number of media channels, shop windows lost their importance, and today it is almost exclusively luxury brands that can afford elaborate displays.

What was special about this shop window was that everything in it, including the lovingly crafted decorations, could be purchased for the benefit of Vinzi Rast, a charitable organisation for homeless people. The aim of the campaign was to have a completely empty shop window by Christmas. 

The X-Mas campaign was ultimately successful in two ways: the window brought pre-Christmas joy to passers-by and drew attention to people on the margins of our society in difficult times.

Display: Wäscheflott × Natalia Barski
 

Laundry girls, chestnut roasters, horse-drawn carriages: these Viennese characters were already featured in popular picture series in the 18th century and celebrated in Viennese songs. Wäscheflott – itself an integral part of Viennese tradition – commemorated this almost forgotten Viennese heritage with the Viennese Collectables.

Old illustrations: Stockinger & Morsack, circa 1880, Vienna Museum Online Collection
Modern interpretation: Vinzenz Schüller

For almost two decades, there has been a place in Vienna where you can buy art at affordable prices: the annual Kunst Supermarkt, an idea that originated in Berlin.

The situation is similar with Wäscheflott: there, too, you can buy high-quality made-to-measure shirts at moderate prices. So what could be more natural than to bring the two institutions I worked with together in a collaboration?