“My collection is a retrospective of the many tennis courts I played on.” Elisa Klinkenberg
Mustang’s Spring/Summer 2024 Art District collection takes us on a journey through Miami’s artistic district, inspired by the light of the sun, the warmth, colorful artwork and graffiti on the walls.
For the second major artist collaboration in SS24, Mustang has teamed up with Berlin artist Elisa Klinkenberg. Having become known in competitive tennis, the former professional player has made a name for herself in recent years as an established modern artist. With her works, Elisa processes her tennis past, addresses current socially relevant topics and deals with sustainability in art. This results in loud, colorful, refreshing images that are characterized by abstract color gradients, concise statements and timeless, organic prints. Her bright, refreshing personality is reflected in her artwork, creating an authentic, emotional connection between her works and her life:
“For me personally, art was my lifesaver. The end of my tennis career left me with a crushing emptiness that needed to be filled. It took 10 years to take a new path, to redefine my values and my life ideals. Art took me out of a dark time in my life and maybe that’s exactly why my works are so particularly colorful today.”
The greatest influence that is visibly reflected in the artist’s works is Elisa’s connection to tennis and the processing of her past. The Berliner also used this as a guide for the Mustang collaboration she designed together. The collection is a retrospective of the many tennis courts she played on. In addition to sports, Elisa is inspired by nature – while walking in the forest, in Berlin, which is full of bright colors and expressive people and things. In summary, she describes her inspiration as a colorful fusion of various impressions that she takes up.
The capsule consists of a total of 15 pieces that were created together with Mustang. The styles are a colorful potpourri of colorful, urban and sporty T-shirts with expressive prints, vintage-inspired terry cloth jogging suits and highlights such as an oversized retro blouson jacket, which is the artist’s personal highlight:
“The retro blouson is inspired by tennis fashion from the 80s and 90s. It is my absolute favorite piece, both for everyday life and for sports, and reminds me of my childhood in the 90s – back then, colorful tracksuits with broad shoulders and spectacular color combinations were worn on the tennis court – I wanted to take up this inspiration for the blouson. “
For Elisa Klinkenberg, fashion and art constantly meet:
“For me, the artistic influence in fashion begins with striking color gradients – for me, color is the cornerstone of connection. I think it’s particularly nice that in recent years more and more brands want to represent artists through fashion and thus enable them to use clothing as a canvas too.”
Mustang has always stood for freedom, self-determination and individuality. For Elisa, too, these values are crucial guiding principles and a privilege that she was only able to enjoy over time, as everyday life in competitive sports was dominated by structure and daily routines planned down to the last detail. After her career ended, the artist had to relearn her meaning of freedom, letting go, listening intuitively to thoughts, perceiving needs and letting herself be driven by them: “It sounds very simple, but for me freedom means: I get up in the morning, drink my coffee, go to the studio and can spend unlimited time there and let my creativity run wild. I really appreciate the artist cliché of ‘living into the day’, which is sometimes laughed at.”
