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Friends of Blluemade | Designer Anna Berger of Deta Swimwear

Anna Berger, Deta Swimwear, Blluemade, indigo linen, linen shorts, indigo, made in NYC

Anna Berger, Deta Swimwear, Blluemade, indigo linen, linen shorts, indigo, made in NYC

Anna Berger, Deta Swimwear, Blluemade, indigo linen, linen shorts, indigo, made in NYC

Anna Berger, Deta Swimwear, Blluemade, indigo linen, linen pants, indigo, made in NYC

Anna Berger, Deta Swimwear, Blluemade, indigo linen, linen pants, indigo jacket, indigo, made in NYC

Anna Berger, Deta Swimwear, Blluemade, indigo linen, linen pants, indigo jacket, indigo, made in NYC

Anna Berger, Deta Swimwear, Blluemade, indigo linen, linen pants, indigo jacket, indigo, made in NYC

We met Anna Berger of Deta Swimwear through a fashion event last year, and have formed a friendship that reminds us how wonderful this industry can be at bringing people together. Anna had recently moved from Berlin to Brooklyn and was just one neighborhood over from ours. When we met, she told us of her plans to relaunch the swimwear line she had worked on in Berlin as a made in NYC label. It's exciting to see her dreams come to life this summer as the relaunched Deta, a knit swimwear line made with beautiful, durable, technical ribbed knits that provide amazing fit and comfort to a clothing item most of us dread. The fibers she uses are quick-drying and long-lasting, and are so comfortable and refined that they can be worn as bodysuits and crop tops in the summer and look like a great knit piece, not just a swimsuit! She also works with seniors for beautiful hand-embroidered pieces that are a great way to energize people in the elderly community and are such a unique aspect of Deta.

We're all huge fans of each other's work. Anna was kind enough to have her husband Keith take pictures of her wearing her Blluemade (she's got quite the collection of SS18 indigo linen from Blluemade!) in the park a few weekends back. I love these pictures for their casual, naturalistic quality, and especially for their inclusion of her daughter, Ira! Anna's wry sense of humor and loving relationship to her family is so evident in these photos. Fashion, especially at the small business level, is a family affair. It's wonderful to see that come out in these photos. These photos are a great reminder that fashion is most of all fun and we should feel comfortable in clothes and not treat anything as too precious. Clothes are meant to be worn!

Anna featured an interview with Lilly of Blluemade on her blog this week (click HERE to read!) and of course we were excited to interview Anna for our website as well! Continue below to read our interview with her and find outtakes from Lilly's Deta shoot below!

Name: 
-- Anna Berger

Occupation: 
-- Founder of Deta, a knitwear label

Location: 
-- Brooklyn, NY.

Currently listening to: 
-- Future Days by Can

Your Style: 
-- Plain and simple with a little distortion.

How did you get into your line of work? What excites you about it?
-- Initially I just totally stumbled into it. It was just a crazy idea a friend and me had. I kept a crochet bikini from my mother, that she made in the 70s. We wanted to redesign it, but didn’t know how to crochet. So we thought that grandmas would make a good fit. And then we did this as an interdisciplinary project in art school. Me, a communication designer and my friend, a costume designer. 

Over the years it evolved into knitted swimwear and what excites me about it is experimenting in the field of knitwear. I still work with local seniors; right now I am doing embroidery with them. I like to interact with demographics I normally do not have any contact with. Our society is so segregated. Not only in race and not only in people that have the same beliefs and interests, but also in age. It already starts in the daycare that two year olds are in a two-year group and so on. I befriended one senior woman, who embroidered for me and now we hang out. It is a good fit, cause I am a stay-at-home mom and she is retired, so we both have time to meet during the day. 

What do you look for in clothing and how does it factor into your day?
-- I like everything to be comfortable with a pocket, since I hate purses. I especially like my Blluemade indigo linen pants, because the pockets are so huge that you can put phone, wallet and key in and don't even notice! Love it!

I make no distinction between day and nighttime and wear stuff that suits any occasion. In the winter I get especially boring. I have only one or two pair of pants and a ton of knitted sweaters and shirts wich I combine with the pants. In the summer I come out of the shell a bit and have more variety in skirts, shorts, and sometimes even dresses. Since I do not like shopping too much, I have a lot of pieces that I wear for a long time. This week I realized that I've had my favorite summer t-shirt for twelve years. 

What's your go-to outfit?
-- Black jeans, a men's shirt, a trenchcoat. 

What's your next trip?
-- Atlanta. I am visiting my neighbor from growing up in Germany. We grew up like sisters, had a hole in the fence (for communicating with each other) and everything. Now she lives in Atlanta.Atlanta

What do you pack when you travel, and why?
-- I always 
used to travel light with a backpack so I would pack one pair of pants, one cardigan, and a few shirts to switch. All about practicality. Lately I’ve been pushing myself to have a little more luxury and also bring impractical but pretty pieces. 

Links: 
--
https://deta-nyc.com/ 

Anna's own clothes worn with Blluemade indigo linen shorts, pants, and jacket.

Below, Lilly is wearing the Deta one-piece in peach with the Blluemade indigo linen pants in the first picture, and the Deta tied-top in mustard with vintage denim and Japanese pieces in the second picture. Anna's interview with Lilly and more pictures can be found HERE

Lilly Lampe, Deta Swimwear, Blluemade, indigo linen, linen pants, indigo, made in NYC

Lilly Lampe, Deta Swimwear, Blluemade, indigo, boro, vintage, made in NYC