Interview & Photography by Cherie Birkner

This is 100% what Instagram needs more of! My thoughts exactly when I came across the @found_on_the_street blog in 2017. I saw editorial style imagery, only the difference here was the items in the photos were literally found on the street. Now that’s how you destigmatize wearing second hand! Today we have reached a point where giving and taking clothes from the streets has become part of Berlin’s popular Kiez Culture. So obviously I’ve been eager to collaborate since! On this beautiful morning in early Fall we made it happen with a mini editorial featuring co-founder Karina Papp! But before we get into that, let’s get to know her a bit better first.

When she came to Berlin from Saint Petersburg in 2013, Karina thought she wanted to pursue an academic career as she started her second Master program. With time, she felt detached from community and current issues. Realisation came: this path was not for Karina. Now her life is still very much devoted to books and research, because she works as a literary translator. She describes this as being like a bridge between different languages, different cultures, “it is essentially about connecting people”. In 2017 Karina started @found_on_the_street as a side project with her best friend Anna which has become a community focused platform for fashion activism. “I am glad to have discovered fashion blogging as a medium to critique the system of fast fashion.”

Something you may not know from her social media presence: Every year she tries to get involved in one group activity: in 2019, she was a team leader at a volunteering summer camp, this year she took part in the choir performance, for next year a training course “Rethinking consumption” for youth workers is planned, the program for which she wrote with a friend Sandra Riekstina.

INTERVIEW
KARINA PAPP

Cherie: What does sustainable fashion mean to you?
Karina: Sustainable fashion means for me trying my best - our best - basically. It is very unlikely that fast fashion will go away under capitalist system, but nonetheless we should strive for zero waste production, demand fair conditions for textile workers, as well as affordable and accessible fair products for consumers. This behaviour is possible only when we are fully aware of the interconnectedness of everything, when we see a link between price of fast fashion garments and salaries of textile workers, or between dried-up Aral sea and overstimulated cotton production. By connecting the dots, I believe, we restore power that the capitalist system deprives us of, it sees me only as a consumer, but I can be in charge of how and what I consume. So I try my best - to stay informed and to choose consciously which business to support.

Cherie: If you could change one thing to make the fashion industry more sustainable what would it be?
Karina: I think I would focus on the waste. Production unfortunately goes hand in hand with destruction. How can we address this? How can we incorporate upcycle practices into a regular production process? Is there a way to make repurposing as normal as buying?

Cherie: What is something people always assume about you which is not true?
Karina: Some people assumed that I could not afford buying clothes in usual shops, and that was why I turned to second-hand shops and later to collecting clothes from give away boxes. But in my case  - quite privileged frankly - it was never about my financial abilities. It was a conscious decision to extract myself from consuming new things & trying to use mostly second-or-third-or-whatever-hand. It was a revelation for some  people to learn, that one can choose to have such a lifestyle and even so - to enjoy it.

Cherie: You are known for bringing new life to clothes you found on the street, but do you really only wear clothes you find on the street? When do you make exceptions and why?
Karina: I try to only buy anything when I really need it and cannot borrow it, for example, underwear. Found on the street works great for me, even with special occasion clothes. This summer, I was taking part in the performance with the Grey Voice Ensemble, and helped to style the costumes. We had very specific colour requirements, still I managed to find at least 4 pieces for my choir colleagues. Not for myself though. So I bought an extravagant red dress in a second-hand shop - I think it was my only purchase in the last 6 months.

Cherie: Do you have a project you are working on you would like to share?
Karina: After a three month break, my friend Anna and I come back to post regularly in our Instagram blog @found_on_the_street. This season we decided to focus on photo shoots, and I have some ideas that I’d like to pursue. I see fashion as an art space, yet another form to tell a story. I also hope to start doing more upcycling: to repair & readjust clothes, and implement them into upcoming photo shoots.

Cherie: What are your 3 must follow Instagram accounts and why?
Karina: To be honest, I struggle with my online activities and still do not fully control my social media life, it takes me hours to make a post - regardless, personal or related to work, and even when I do not post anything I can get consumed by the amount of information. I follow many Berlin based designers, upcycle initiatives, creative people, but I am not sure that there is a “must” to follow someone. I feel like nowadays attention is our biggest resource. That is why I will recommend a book that is focused on being in charge of what we consume information wise: “How to do nothing” by Jenny Odell. Let me allow just one quote: “Let’s not forget that, in a time of increasing climate-related events, those who help you will likely not be your Twitter followers; they will be your neighbors”. And it was published before Corona!

EDITORIAL
FOUND ON THE STREET
& SECOND-HAND

Special thanks to:

Miyako Bauer for coming out with us early this morning to assist!
&
Ralf, our friendly construction worker, for joining in front of the camera :)