Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz and Staatliche Museen zu Berlin mourn the loss of fashion designer Uli Richter
News from 07/12/2021
The Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin) mourn the loss of the great fashion designer Uli Richter, who died yesterday at the age of 94.
SPK President Hermann Parzinger praised his qualities: "Uli Richter was a stroke of luck for Berlin as a city of fashion. Born in Potsdam in 1926 and trained as a couturier, he shaped a style from the early 1950s onward that was recognizable as Made in Berlin. In a career spanning over forty years, he revived Berlin's reputation as an international fashion center. With the West German economy booming in the Fifties, Uli Richter established his own fashion label, which enjoyed great success and made him the "ambassador of German fashion in America." His creations embodied the flair that was famous until the 1930s as "Berlin chic." Among his customers were Rut Brandt, Aenne Burda, Hildegard Knef, and Grace Kelly. He also taught at the University of the Arts in Berlin, where he inspired many young fashion designers."
In 2005, the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz acquired Uli Richter's fashion collection for the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) and the Kunstbibliothek (Art Library). Since then it has presented the couturier's work in several exhibitions, most recently in 2016–17 to mark his ninetieth birthday. His design collections (amounting to 660 haute couture creations), with numerous accessories, some 3,000 photographs, and 11,000 drawings or sketches are a great gain for the large fashion collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.