Tilmann Wröbel

Tilmann Wröbel is a Franco-German fashion designer born in 1964 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He is currently working and living in both Biarritz, France and Düsseldorf, Germany.

Background in Haute Couture
In the 80's, Tilmann Wröbel arrived in Paris and enrolled at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne as a student fashion designer. During his scholarship, Tilmann Wröbel was ahead of his school colleagues. After his 1st year he was already working at Christian Dior's Haute Couture as a long-term intern. Thanks to a school project, a retrospective about André Courrèges and his work, Courrèges offered to work with him. Tilmann went back to school to graduate but worked at the same time at Nina Ricci's Haute Couture studio, located on avenue Montaigne.



From Haute Couture, to Sportswear & Denim
In 1988, he was member of the board of directors of the French Skateboard Federation and referee for every championship. His passion for skateboard culture lead him to work with Etnies and Homeboy in 1989 where he designed their apparel ranges. In 1990, he co-founded the first French Indoor Skate-park.

In 1994 he joined Chipie, a French Denim brand at that time, where he became head-designer in 1995. He worked with Jean Elbaz, Christian Sansat and other international denim experts.

In 1997 he was designing surfwear, streetwear & denim for 10 years.

In 2007 he started working as an independent designer for the Quiksilver Group and founded his own company, "Monsieur-T.", the international Studio for Denim and Bottoms”.

Since 2015, Wröbel has worked with Monsieur-T. as Denim Trend Consultant for the International Denim Trade Show BLUEZONE by Munich Fabric Start. Founded in 2003 as the first of its kind denim dedicated trade show, BLUEZONE has established itself as one of the most substantial business platforms for the global denim, street and sportswear market. Leading denim pioneers showcase their most recent denim novelties to the international denim and fashion community twice a year in Munich, Germany.

In 2019, Wröbel was named one of the Rivet 50, an index of the 50 most influential people in the denim voted by the global industry. He was recognized for "luxury-meets-streetwear" approach to denim design.

In 2021-2022, Tilmann Wröbel contributed as a professional expert from the denim sector to a linguistic research project focused on English borrowings and English-influenced neologisms in the terminology of women’s ready-to-wear fashion in France. Thanks to his expertise and his knowledge of the field, Tilmann Wröbel has provided fundamental information on this sector, which is clearly dominated by specific brands. Beyond information on the denominative choices made by brands, his contribution has shed light on behaviors of belonging and distinction in terms of terminology choices, which helped the researcher to compare them with Bourdieusian theories on the legitimate language and the symbolic value of language (Pierre Bourdieu, Ce que parler veut dire, 1982, Fayard).

In 2022 Tilmann Wrobel launched his own denim brand, named HANDZ, in partnership with Themis Goudroubis.

During the process of rebooting the KAPORAL brand, with much stronger roots and identity in DENIM, Tilmann Wrobel has been appointed as creative director of the Marseille based brand, since July 2023.

Media

 * Monsieur-T.: Behind the Love for Jeans, the Versability of Denim – Jakarta Globe http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/features/behind-love-jeans-versatility-denim/
 * Monsieur-T.: Meet The Denim Expert: Tilmann Wröbel – Geeksbible blog http://geeksbible.com/2014/04/meet-the-denim-expert-tilmann-wrobel/
 * Monsieur-T.: Meet Tilmann Wröbel, Denim Expert from Paris – Freegmaz http://www.freemagz.com/event/meet-tilmann-wrobel-denim-expert-from-paris-7278
 * Monsieur-T.: Tilmann Wröbel: "Aujourd'hui la marque qui ne connaît pas parfaitement l'amont est confrontée à des difficultés - Fashionmag http://fr.fashionmag.com/news/Tilmann-Wrobel-Aujourd-hui-la-marque-qui-ne-connait-pas-parfaitement-l-amont-est-confrontee-a-des-difficultes-,339283.html#.UwNkXF5Q62w
 * Monsieur-T.:Dress code: Comment s'habille-t-on chez Monsieur-T. ?  – L'Express http://lentreprise.lexpress.fr/carriere-et-management/dress-code-comment-s-habille-t-on-chez-monsieur-t_32486.html#content
 * Nadel & Pen: Tailors Jeans Sewn With Passion - Flux Magazine http://www.fluxmagazine.com/index.php/fashion/nadel-pen-tailored-jeans/
 * Nadel & Pen: Quand le blue jean devient Haute-couture - Masculin.com http://www.masculin.com/news/3641-nadel-pen-blue-jean-haute-couture.html
 * Nadel & Pen: Denim d'initiés - Madame Figaro http://madame.lefigaro.fr/style/denim-dinities-211112-306228?page=3
 * Nadel & Pen: Jeans Unikate aus Paris - World's Luxury Guide'' http://luxus.welt.de/fashion/trends/jeans-unikate-aus-paris
 * Nadel & Pen: Nadel & Pen – Jeans, genäht in reiner Handarbeit – Stil Magazin ''http://www.stilmagazin.com/nadel-pen-jeans/
 * Nadel & Pen: Bleu Couture – Manager Magazin 04/14
 * Nadel & Pen: Blue Jeans: Von der Arbeiterhose zum Haute Couture-Stück - doppioTV http://www.doppio.tv/videos/64302-blue-jeans-von-der-arbeiterhose-zum-haute-couture-stueck