On Bless: Celebrating 10 Years of Themelessness

In the summer of 1995, posters started appearing on various walls around Vienna depicting women wearing delicate sheer tops. At the bottom of each poster: a phone number and the word "Bless". Thus began the fruitful and unconventional design collective that is Bless. As cataloged in Bless: Celebrating 10 years of Themelessness, the partnership of Desiree Heiss and Ines Kaag is not a only a story of unwavering creative spirit, but also of impressive entrepreneurial acumen.

Bless, for its first official edition (No. 00) created a series of fur wigs, photographed them and put out an ad in several fashion magazines around Europe. While they might have been expecting a substantial response, they received two. One was a representative of Martin Margiela who wanted to order a series of wigs to complement Margiela's latest collection.

When money became tight, Bless, for its 5th edition, produced not a product but an opportunity. They proposed a subscription to Bless that would guarantee supporter access to the following four Bless editions. The announcement read "Bless No 05 is a test of the conviction of Bless customers to the fashion that Bless pioneers..."

While Bless may be known primarily for its clothing and fashion accessories presently, the partnership did not produce what could be considered a fashion collection until their 9th edition. "Merchandising" as a collection was a commentary on a over branded world. Every piece had some sort of logo, embroidery signature, or depiction that identified it as Bless. To introduce the collection Bless simply placed friends wearing the pieces at other shows during Paris' fashion week.

Regular fashion collections appearing twice yearly did not commence until Bless No. 18, and since then there is a comfortable rhythm to the creative output: two collections a year to satisfy the fashion buying seasons, around two other editions, "Bless Advance" collaborations or "Bless Beauty Product" releases that keep Bless as Bless has always been: a design partnership that earnestly dances to the beat of its own drum.

Bless No. 00 Furwigs

Bless No. 09 Merchandising

Bless No. 13 Basics

Bless No. 17 Design Relativators

Bless No. 20 O.kayers

Bless No. 29 Wallscapes