Nike supports IWISHUSUN! The sportswear brand used the occasion of this year’s Solemart – Germany’s biggest sneaker event where private buyers and sneaker fans are invited to buy selected pairs from numerous brands – to do good once again.

True to IWISHUSUN’s motto “It’s good for you and good for others”, Nike donated the entire profits of the sales to the charity label. The entire sum has been handed over to our partner ORBIS International: with this money the non-profit organisation will be able to finance 237 cataract operations in the Ispahani Islamia Eye Institute in Bangladesh which will be supported directly.

39 million people worldwide suffer from blindness. Thanks to support from Nike and all the buyers, there will be 237 less now!

Many thanks to Nike for their generous support!

Jasmin Gerat

actress – Berlin

Jasmin Gerat started her career in 1994 when she won the “Girl and Boy” model contest and then moved on to TV, hosting programmes like Bravo TV as successor to Heike Makatsch and working for MTV Germany. Only a few years later she turned to acting, which has been her main focus and passion ever since. After switching between TV and cinema appearances as well as some selected theatre plays, 2014 has already been an exciting year since she landed one of the main roles in the thriller series “The Team”, an international cooperation led by the German public channel ZDF. We can’t wait to see the results!

In the meantime we are very happy to welcome Jasmin Gerat as our friend. She is one of those German actresses who tend to stick in your mind – not only because of her acting talent but also thanks to this unique feel-good energy that she exudes.

What is the most important sense to you? Why?
I am extremely grateful for the gift that I can use all my senses. But if I had to choose one it would be my sight.
I am a very visual person. I love to observe everything. And to connect to other souls through my eyes is one of the most powerful things to me.

As an actress and presenter you are at home in many places. What is your vision for your personal work?
To me it’s all about being truthful and authentic to myself and the people around me, as much as possible – no matter which profession I choose.

You were born and raised in Berlin and you are still loyal to the German capital. Which location in Berlin do you love to see everyday?
I love to go to the Grunewald as often as I can. And of course I am in love with the Tempelhofer Feld. The atmosphere created by the light there is stunning.

What is the most beautiful thing you ever saw?
My daughter.

What would you like to see more often?
The sun and people smiling.

When was the last time you gave back and what did you do?
I just smiled at a stranger for no specific reason. She smiled back. I had butterflies in my belly. I guess we both made our day.

What is your tactic for making the world a better place?
Making conscious decisions every day and no matter how tough and challenging it can be sometimes: try to choose love!

Who is your personal hero?
Nature.

What is your picture for IWISHUSUN?

A bright neon pink shooting star with warm, golden glitter raining down on ALL of us.

A few weeks ago we presented our first creative partner project and our first short film, the result of a cooperation between Berlin-based composer and music producer Robot Koch and the photographer Sabrina Theissen. For “In a Creative Dialogue – Robot Koch x Sabrina Theissen for IWISHUSUN” our ambassadors got together to take a look at the topic of sight, which IWISHUSUN has dedicated its work to. These photos shown below and above document Robot Koch’s working process.

The process and the thoughts of the two IWISHUSUN ambassadors are documented in intense imagery in Editude Pictures’ short film, “In a Creative Dialogue – Robot Koch x Sabrina Theissen for IWISHUSUN”: 

A few days ago we presented our first creative partner project and our first short film, the result of a cooperation between Berlin-based composer and music producer Robot Koch and the photographer Sabrina Theissen. For “In a Creative Dialogue – Robot Koch x Sabrina Theissen for IWISHUSUN” our ambassadors got together to take a look at the topic of sight, which IWISHUSUN has dedicated its work to.

Here you can see Sabrina Theissen at work:

The result: a photographic tryptich which is shown below. The sky and the sun are the determining motifs, which, in a similarly minimalist way as the song by Robot Koch, are captured only indirectly by reflection, allowing the greatest possible space for the unexpected aspects of ones own interpretations in their complete reduction – a playing field for one’s own way of seeing and perspectives.

The process and the thoughts of the two IWISHUSUN ambassadors are documented in intense imagery in Editude Pictures’ short film, “In a Creative Dialogue – Robot Koch x Sabrina Theissen for IWISHUSUN”:

Did you know that our friend, film producer and co-founder of Editude Pictures, Frederic Leitzke, is also a DJ? As one half of the duo, Jazoburbs, or as efalive, he has been bringing beats to crowds since 2003. Now Freunde von Freunden, an international interview magazine that portraits people of diverse creative and cultural backgrounds in their homes or within their daily working environments but presents its own mixtapes on the corresponding blog, too, asked Frederic to select his favorite songs. The result is a mixtape which is definitely worth a listen, featuring Mount Kimbie, Schwarz Dont Crack, Super Flu, &ME among others.

Listen to Frederic’s Freunde von Freunden Mixtape #65 here:

Frederic Leitzke’s Mixtape #65 tracklist:

01. Schwarz Dont Crack – Charade (Adana Twins On A Lonely Night Remix) /Kitsune, 2013/
02. Hanne & Lore – My Oh My /Monaberry, 2013/
03. Ten Walls – Requiem /Life And Death, 2013/
04. Mario Aureo & Manuel Moreno – Arosis (Sebo Remix) /Ritter Butzke Studio, 2013/
05. Chasing Kurt – Lose Myself /Suol, 2013/
06. Kölsch ft. Troels Abrahamsen – All That Matters (andhim Remix) /Kompakt, 2013/
07. Mount Kimbie – Made To Stray (DJ Koze Remix) /Warp, 2013/
08. Super Flu ft. Monkey Safari – Me Roar /Monaberry, 2013/
09. Riva Starr ft. Rssll – Absence (Adam Port Remix) /Snatch! Records, 2013/
10. &ME – Shallow /Keinemusik, 2013/
11. Matt Karmil – Reverse Peephole /IRR, 2013/

Check out Frederic’s interview with IWISHUSUN here.

Moreover, Frederik Frede who co-founded the website Freunde von Freunden showed his colours for IWISHUSUN, too. Read his interview here.

We are part of STYLE.DE’s top photos of the year. Find all the pictures here.

Thanks so much, girls – we look forward to 2014 and more exciting projects coming up!

Frederic Leitzke & Andreas Lamoth

filmmakers & co-founders of Editude Pictures – Berlin

Together they are strong! Frederic Leitzke and Andreas Lamoth co-founded their own film production company Editude Pictures in late 2010. What started as a more or less improvised coalition of five friends, slowly but surely evolved into a young promising company. While music and art are definitely prioritised, both of them have also corporately worked for brands like Coca Cola, Levis, Red Bull and Converse. Nevertheless what we love the most are their urban films which are filled with their passion for street art, illustration, urban culture and music. No surprise that they are best-known for these kind of interactions. Their documentation of Berlin’s creative scene, “In The Belly Of A Whale,” is their first film and at the same time a foundation for many video works that followed.

While their first documentation strung together various filmic portraits of Berlin’s art scene members and is still complemented by new episodes, Frederic and Andreas also worked for our friend and music producer Robot Koch in the past. To unlock the exciting potential which arises from our creative supporters we teamed up with Editude Pictures and two of our other dear ambassadors – beautiful project which we will showcase very soon. Stay tuned!

In the meantime welcome Editude Pictures as one of our supporters!

You are filmmakers and therefore sight must be a very important sense to you. What other sense couldn’t be missed in your life? Why?
Andy: It’s really hard to imagine a life without any of my senses, but besides my eyes I would miss my ears the most of all I guess. For me vision is strongly connected to hearing which you can see in almost all of our films: Sound and especially Music is so important to set the right tone for moving images and are unseperable in my eyes.
Fredi: That’s for sure. Besides that I would probably miss tasting the most, because my hobby cooking wouldn’t make much “sense” anymore I guess.

What is your vision for your personal work? 
Andy: I hope to be working more in the field of documentaries in the future. There are tons of lives and people out there who are worth being banned to film and who’s stories are worth beeing told.
Fredi: Documentaries are very important to us for sure. Since our first film “In The Belly Of A Whale” lots of good things happened and we got great feedback for our work. That’s definitely a vision. Always try to do stuff that makes people happy, that entertains people, that has a purpose, that somehow “remains” in that crazy fast moving digital world.

Your personal opinion: what makes a good film? 
Andy: Authenticity. Most of the big blockbuster movies simply have no heart and are only produced for making money. So I really prefer movies with smaller or even no budgets for which the filmakers had to make a big creative effort to get it done.
Fredi: The story. Always the story. In the past, the story was the most important thing in a movie. Movies were made because writers and directors had things to say. Today it’s more about pleasing the market, the industry, the crowd with crazy effects, pompous settings, big stars, telling the same stupid stories again and again, using every cliché available. Of course today still many nice movies are made, but really good and innovative screenplays are definitely more rare than in the last century.

What filmmakers have inspired you lately?
Andy: I love Wes Anderson and am really looking forward to his new movie in January. Besides that I am really into short documentaries about everyday life, which you can find very easily by independent and hobby filmers on Vimeo.
Fredi: Yeah, Wes Anderson for sure. The filmmaker who inspired me the most recently was Malik Bendjelloui, director of the masterpiece “Searching for Sugar Man”. A man with an – again – absolutely amazing story, without a big budget, with lots of struggles during the production but with a strong vision and impressive skills succeeds in the end, brings his vision to the screen and creates one of the most beautiful documentaries ever made.

What themes do you find yourself exploring over and over again?
Both: We have a really strong bond into Berlin’s art scene, so it’s almost natural that we are exploring themes like creativity, making a living from what you love and collaborations between different kinds of people in our films. Besides that we are planing a new documentary about the new age of making music – hopefully we will start filming in 2014, watch out!

What is the most beautiful thing you ever saw?
Andy: That’s a tough one. I believe when you look close enough you can find beautiful things happening around you everyday, even (often mostly) in the most random and trivial situations.
Fredi: Impossible to answer.

Sunrise or sunset – what do you prefer?
Andy: Sunrise.
Fredi: Sunset.

As a seeing person it is hard, if not impossible, to imagine the world from the perspective of a blind person, and the same applies in reverse. How would you describe our world and surroundings to a blind person?
Both: We don’t think it’s fair trying to tell a blind person what the world looks like. We would rather try to find advantages which blind people have. For example we believe they have no problems with prejudice and are able to experience the world in very different but also exciting ways.

What would you like to see more often?
Andy: Justice.
Fredi: Humility.

What is your tactic for making the world a better place?
Andy: There is so much screwed up stuff happening around us that one person really can’t handle all types of it. So I guess you just have to concentrate on 2 or 3 things that matter most to you and try to make a change. Lately I am trying to boycott mass animal farming by not eating any meat no more; it’s really hard to see animals suffering because of massive exorbitance in our ways of living.
Fredi: Making the world a better place is a hard task. I rather focus on little things in my daily surroundings, that you really can influence and that make a small difference. Treat people nicely and with respect, be honest, be humble to the environment and in my daily life. Things like that.

When was the last time you gave back and what did you do?  
Andy: I am trying to support Unicef on a regular basis to help them fight the problem of stranded refugees all over the world.
Fredi: The last time? I guess that was some money I gave to the fantastic street musician on Warschauer Straße, that I pass every morning.

Winter has come to Berlin which means it’s getting cold but our down jacket is a great companion. Our friend Peggy is perfectly prepared for the cold season with our ultralight down jacket and looks amazing!

Check out our down jackets that will keep you warm and at the same finance a cataract operation in Bangladesh with every jacket sold. Shop them here.

concert promoter & agent and CEO of MCT Agentur – Berlin

Scumeck Sabottka knows them all: as a concert promoter and agent who founded the online ticket sale tickets.de and is co-founder of MCT Agentur in Berlin, he has overseen the German tours of the likes of Arcade Fire, Atoms For Peace, Florence & The Machine, Pearl Jam, Kraftwerk, Lenny Kravitz, Marilyn Manson, Tom Waits, Moby, Radiohead, Rammstein, Robbie Williams and many more. Even though he has been involved in music professionally since the early 1980s (and a music lover for much longer) and back then worked with great musicians from all over the world – Einstürzende Neubauten and Ramones to name two of our favourites -, Sabottka has also proved himself a talented photographer as well as being truly big-hearted. While his eyes catch beautiful views of landscapes, human faces, cities and, of course, concerts to translate them into photographs, Scumeck Sabottka is very engaged in social activities too. In addition to showing social responsibility by supporting the organisations Amnesty International and Make Poverty History on his website, he also founded his own website: Remember Chernobyl, a platform that reminds us of the disaster of Chernobyl as well as the fight against its aftermath.

We are very happy to welcome this fascinating Berliner onto our list of friends and supporters. Immerse yourselves in his world and learn more about Scumeck Sabottka in our interview. A very warm welcome!

You are a concert promoter & agent and therefore hearing must be a very important sense to your work. What other sense couldn’t be missed in your life? Why?
All of them really – to see an artist or a band, to smell a venue and the fans, to hear the music — all of those senses are used when visiting a concert and these senses make the concert an experience.

Your work mainly focuses on the acoustical side of life. But how does your personal life sound like?
Music and sounds follow me throughout my entire live – I collect cars and motorbikes because of their look but also because of their sounds ….

Your personal evergreen?
Musicwise – Paul Desmond forever !

What is your sound for IWISHUSUN?
The sound of wind and waves, of trees and barking dogs…..

You are a creative person and have organised numerous tours of well-known bands and musicians. What is your vision for your personal work?
To archive the best in my field by offering fairness and understanding to the people I am dealing with; to learn from the vision of the artists I represent and to bounce back those visions in my head to make them a reality.

You oversee concerts but at the same time you show social responsibility not only by featuring several organisations such as Amnesty International and Make Poverty History but also by founding Remember Tschernobyl. Is this your tactic for making the world a better place?

I feel , that even by the smallest effort, we can make the world a better place and I try and push the envelope to everyone around me to share the love and experience I receive when being rewarded.

When was the last time you gave back and what did you do?
I wish not to brag about my social doings but like to say, that it is very rewarding to offer a helping hand; whether this is in our neighbourhood or in far away places, I enjoy learning of people who are in need.

Who is your personal hero?
The unnamed liquidators of Chernobyl.

Blind people and those who can see surely experience the world in different ways. How would you describe the world to someone who suffers from an irreversible loss of the ability to see in one sentence?
As the most beautiful music/sound they ever heard !

What is the most beautiful thing you ever saw?
The architecture in Brasilia by Oscar Niemeyer & Lúcio Costa – truly breathtaking.

What would you like to see more often?
The ocean.

Sunrise or sunset – what do you prefer?
Sunset for sure – especially on the beach in Rio de Janeiro.

Photo: Anton Corbijn.

Our friend Marcus from Civilist Store says “hi” from wintery Berlin! It’s getting cold outside, so it’s just the right moment to grab one of our ultralight down jackets and head out into the winter, toasty warm. True to the motto “It’s good for you and good for others”, showing your colours in this way is rewarded with the financing of a cataract operation in Bangladesh.

So do what Marcus does and invest in a warm down jacket at the same time as supporting a good cause. Our down jackets are available in our online store.

Also, Alex Flach, co-owner of menswear store Civilist, supports our cause – read his interview with IWISHUSUN here.