How the Teabag Collection Merges Fashion with Afternoon Tea

Sometimes we see designs that are just so darn adorable we can’t even believe they’re real. The Teabag Collection is one of those designs. Designed by KOREFE. Kolle Rebbe Form und Entwicklung, they look like actual handbags and even come packaged in their own tiny shopping bag. We spoke with Christian Doering at KOREFE to learn more about collaborating with a fashion designer, showcasing work at Fashion Week, merging unconventional designs with ordinary products, and more.

Walk us through the design process that you went through for this project.

KOREFE: The concept for The Teabag Collection was developed by myself in Autumn 2016 in the Design Studio KOREFE, Kolle Rebbe Form und Entwicklung in Hamburg—

for the customer Hälssen & Lyon. Straight away I knew that only one designer could be in charge of this collection—Ayzit Bostan. Ayzit is one of the most talented bag designers from Germany.

So Ayzit went ahead and created a bag collection of five different bags. Afterwards I transferred her designs into the classical teabag format. Together with Ayzit I edited the materials for implementation. All teabags were produced in Hamburg. Hälssen & Lyon choose five special black tea varieties. Therefore each teabag contains another black tea variety.

The production of the teabags was not that easy. Ayzit’s designs and every tiny detail had to be transferred to the small format. Also the teabags are made of very delicate material. At the end the result turned out great and the full collection was presented in January 2017 at the Fashion Week in Berlin.

What was one of the biggest goals you set out to achieve with The Teabag Collection packaging and how did you accomplish it?

KOREFE: To show The Teabag Collection at the Fashion Week in Berlin at the Vogue Salon was my biggest goal. Ayzit Bostan’s bag collection for Philipp Bree was presented and therefore we were able to show The Teabag Collection for Hälssen & Lyon to a wide audience of fashion lovers.

All influential fashion bloggers were gathered at Berlin’s great venue, the Kronprinzenpalais, too.

How did you balance the design of the teabags with making sure they were functional?

KOREFE: After transferring the bag designs to a classical teabag format we brought the teabag to perfection. Later on the teabags were filled with black tea and tested in hot water. The tests were completed quite quickly with very good result and we could start with the packaging design for the bags.

What was the most challenging part of this project?

KOREFE: The biggest challenge was to transfer Ayzit Boston’s designs onto a classical teabag format.

If you could pick one aspect of the finished design that you like the most or feel especially proud of, what would it be and why?

KOREFE: Of course I am very happy that the packaging for The Teabag Collection turned out to be that special. Each bag is made of white, high-quality teabag material and each has a fabric label, too. Both packaging and fabric label are handmade. This is a real Tea Couture Collection. Not only the teabags, but also the packaging—a high-end cardboard box for this special Teabag Collection.

Share one lesson that you learned while developing the finished product.

KOREFE: Whilst developing The Teabag Collection I learnt that my personal contacts are most important. Through constant exchange and interaction with Ayzit Bostan and Melodie Michelberger, the PR responsible, we were able to bring The Teabag Collection to a very special level.  The workflow, the standard and the quality of the work can be compared to high fashion productions in Paris. The result and the international success would have not been possible without constant cross linking during our working process. The Teabag Collection has large coverage in the design world and is right now being discussed in major design blogs.

Spring 2017Christian DoeringCreative Director/Head of DesignKOREFE. Kolle Rebbe Form und Entwicklung