Interview with SUMO muse Das Fräulein Fuchs

Aug 19

Written By Sumo Curated Designer & Vintage

Photographer: Hüseyin Yilmaz / Muse: Das Fraeulein Fuchs / Assistant: Vero

SUMO: You have been working as a professional muse for over 12 years. Can you tell us about your creative journey?

Das Fräulein Fuchs: As common as maybe for many people, I naturally grew into this without having in mind to become a so called muse. I was always fascinated with photography, art and ways to express, but never found my own place so I stayed a multi-disciplinary-mind.

Back in the days, I started with writing in 2004 and combined it with self-photography in 2006. A couple of years after, I took all of my courage to ask a photographer if I could assist him. He looked at me and told me that it would be better for me to act in front of the camera, rather than hiding behind. That was a huge change for my path and I worked with this photographer for many years by traveling to Berlin. Berlin became my new home, but to be honest, that was always a bittersweet love for me to move into this huge jungle.

Many creative opportunities opened up and I'm glad that I stepped into this field but I don't want to idealise it. To be a model, a muse or whatever, is constant work and a field of broken dreams and ideals. Many times I was close to giving up. Looking for a sense in my own work, and pushing trough hard times. To me, being a muse means to give yourself to others as an empty piece of paper and catching the echo's of the counterpart's ideas, inspire them or help them to dig out the ideas out of their own minds.

I had the honour to meet the artist Anne Bengard in 2013, and since then have created reference images with her for her realistic multi-media-works such as murals, oil-paintings, pencil-drawings and aquarelle. Next to art, fashion was always a huge passion of mine. I don't know exactly why, but it always soaked me in. I've always been interested in timeless designs, loving to create looks, bring different designs or textures together and inspirit fashion with poses and expressions. So I always focused on look-books and editorials. I had my first runway during the Berlin Fashion Week in 2012 and I realised that this is exactly what I want to do, even if this is a hard and consuming business.

With bloody 18 years, I discovered Shibari while I tried to becoming a bodypaint-model. I never ended up in being a bodypaint-model, but I stuck to Shibari. After a long break of 7 years I guess, I finally found Anna as my main-rigger for this kind of rope-art, who was totally worth to wait for. I crossed two passions of mine: reading and being tied up and created my own way to perform. Moreover Shibari affected my way of finding poses in fashion-photography and holding poses.

Photographer: George Holz. Muse: Das Fraeulein Fuchs. Styling: Charlotte Gindreau. Location: Hotel Bogota. Support: Safelight
Photographer: Tom Brut. Muse: Das Fraeulein Fuchs. Outfit: Thierry Mugler via SUMO ,& To.mTo

SUMO: We really love working with you as you really treat modelling as an art form. As well as bringing your own creative ideas, you pour your energy into each shoot. Did you always have this deep connection with being in front of the camera, or is it something that developed over time?

Das Fräulein Fuchs: First of all, thank you, I appreciate your words about what I'm doing. I guess this deep connection to the present moment and situation grew over the time by discovering myself and experimenting with poses while doing self-portraits. Really, this taught me a lot about my own space in photographs, and about the light and technical knowledge behind. Also it took time to understand the meaning of „beauty“ itself. What we understand if we find beauty in a picture, or a face or a body. And what are the limits of this feeling of beauty.

But of course I have a different connection to my long-term-collaborations. I guess the long-term-work brings the trust and connection to a new level.

Photographer: Aleksander Stojanov. Muse: Das Fraeulein Fuchs

SUMO: What moments of your career are you most proud of? And what are your main goals for the future?

Das Fräulein Fuchs: All of your questions been deep and not easy to answer in a few words, but this is a tough one. As I never thought about my journey, and I don't have specific goals for the future. I just would love to create until I'm old and full of wrinkles, if that counts.

I guess I'm mostly proud about that I never gave up myself, even in the darkest hours.

But my gem's over the past 12 years without thinking are: every long-term-collaboration I got with photographers/creatives/painters, being painted by Anne Bengard in the „Gameover Berlin“, „Melt Festival“, „The No Name Restaurant“ and many other walls, my own exhibition as a muse in 2019 as a part of „Werkschau 2.0“ in Berlin, BFW2012 & 2013, being picked in „The Best Creative Fashion Editorials Vol. 2“ by HUF Mag in 2017, my first cooperation-article for „Brennpunkt“ magazine which was available in many museums in Berlin I always loved to visit, being in german and swiss television with different commercial-spots, being on stage for the 15th anniversary of Cyberesque in the „Dark Matter“ Exhibition by Christopher Bauder in 2022 and all of the magazine-publications as HUF, Fashionela Serbia, Beautiful Bizarre Mag, Mercedes Benz Club Russia, Artplay, Lomography, KODD, Contributer Mag, Kaltblut Mag and many more.