DALLAS, Apr 29, 2009 / FW/ — The work of Gabriele Strehle reflects a profound encounter with life as she perceives it. She is passionately devoted to quality both in terms of material and idea.

Gabriele Strehle
Gabriele Strehle

“I always think the word philosophy is a bit too highbrow for fashion, but the expression lifestyle is simply too shallow. I prefer to think of it as an attitude to life,” says Gabriele Strehle.

“The aim isn’t for someone to dress in our products from top to toe. Quite the opposite: the self-confident women who are our typical customers would never dream of confusing brand worship with style,” she explains.

“But the diversity of our products establishes a kind of panorama: people feel what we feel and recognize what we are aiming for, without the need for us to announce our intentions,” Strehle explained.

For Gabriele Strehle, whose passion applies not only to uncompromising quality of materials and fabrics, but also to the quality of ideas has found perfect place between high fashion and just wearing clothes. And thus, her collections reveal sensuousness and intelligence, tinged with a longing for profundity, radiating a desire for depth.

Within the clamorous and the eccentric world of fashion, Gabrielle Strehle is one of the soft and subtle voices. Her work presents not only an outward appearance but above all, its own background as well.

Even if fashion is the focus of her life, Gabriele Strehle does not expect our busy and complex lifestyles to be centered on fashion only. To Gabriele Strehle, the Strenesse woman has responsibilities and has well-defined priorities.

Hence, Gabriele Strehle does not assume nor expect the Strenesse woman to dress herself with Strenesse items from head to toe. With Gabriele Strehle’s innate understanding of people with multi-faceted life to whom her aesthetics appeal, brand worship does not exist or is allowed.

Gabriele Strehle has no intention of replacing the wearer’s personality with brand fetishism. Her menswear and womenswear styles are designed to meet the broadly based needs that determine our lives.

And thus Gabrielle Strehle’s designs focus on strict quality standards intended to accentuate the character of the wearer, and thus highlighting the woman’s individual and unique style instead of the brand.

Born in Southern Germany, Gabriele Strehle was trained as a master tailor and fraduated from the German School of Fashion for Master Craftspeople in Munich. She joined today’s STRENESSE in 1973 and soon rose to the position of Creative Director over all Strenesse brands.

Along with her husband Gerd Strehle, the principal owner and Chief Executive, Gabriele Strehle is credited with the transformation of what was a coat and suit company into an internationally recognized fashion house.

Gabriele Strehle has received many awards for her commitment to publicizing the Strenesse brand and its fashion made in Germany,including the German Federal Cross of Merit (1999), the Oscar della Moda (2002) and the Burda corporation’s media award Bambi(2002).

  • Gabrielle Strehle for Strenesse
Gabriele Strehle on the runway Fall 2006 show New York
Gabriele Strehle on the runway Fall 2006 show New York

DALLAS, Sep 29, 2001 / FW/ — Established in 1949, the Strenesse label started as a manufacturer of women’s clothes in Nordlingen. But it will not be until 1973 when Gabrielle Strehle will take over and develop Strenesse as a high street fashion label.

Concentrating in her native Germany during the whole decade of the 1970s, Gabrielle Strehle expanded Strenesse globally during the 1980s and finally making the Milan catwalk debut in 1995.

[BOYD DAVIS]
Photo of Gabrielle Strehle on the runway Fall 2006 show, New York by Giovanni Pucci

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