||| JOHN RIBBE - fashion designer ||| Hamburg, Paris, New York, Japan ...

about john

At home in Hamburg, Paris and New York, John Ribbe is greatly influenced by his international environment. Born and raised in Hamburg, his mother is English, his father German. John began his studies in England and then went on to study fine arts at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design, then San Francisco, before arriving in New York, where he graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1983.

John left his first marks as designer working for Liz Claiborne, while at the same time creating his own dress collection, which was exclusively distributed at the famous Charivari stores.

In 1990 John moved to Paris to be in the center of creativity and to advance the development of his collection. The Federation Française de la Couture invited John for the first time in 1993 to present his collections, alongside Dior and Givenchy, during the Paris fashion weeks.

John experiments with new fabrics and shapes and his collections receive the attention of the International press. The International Herald Tribune calls “John Ribbe one of the leaders of the latest trends in Paris” and the German Burda Moden writes “his fresh ideas make John Ribbe the newcomer on the international fashion stage”. His creativity is hailed by the French newspaper Le Figaro, and France Soir considers John Ribbe “the designer of the generation of the new Millennium”. Bild Zeitung, Germany’s largest daily newspaper, announces that “after Karl Lagerfeld and Jil Sander, John Ribbe is the next major designer from Hamburg”.

Despite the ingenuity of John Ribbe’s creations, his collections are remarkably wearable and have been distributed in some of the world’s most prestigious stores, Henri Bendel, The Swank Shop, Maria Luisa…

In 2003 John transferred his design atelier to Hamburg, back to his roots, but continues to show his collections in Paris, in the Carrousel du Louvre.

In December 2004 John was rewarded the fashion industry’s highest tribute, when the fashion houses Chloé, Chanel, Gaultier, Ungaro, voted John Ribbe into their ranks as lifetime member of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-a-Porter des couturiers et créateurs.

The launch of a fragrance and the launch of accessory collections are next on John’s agenda.

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style

The John Ribbe style plays on contrasts. He mixes materials, opposes contradicting elements and unites the unexpected. The components of his creations relive and take a new meaning.

The John Ribbe woman is colorful, her clothes are colorless. The trimmings, buckles, studs, rings, are made of silver metal; they are heavy, industrial, real. Nothing is decoration, everything has a function.

Influenced by his passion for architecture, John Ribbe drafts pure shapes, clean lines and an immaculate silhouette. His creations are transformable, leaving the John Ribbe woman in control of adapting her look. She has the choice, she knows what she wants, she decides.