Her Royal Highness Princess Brigitta Karadjordjevic separated some of her time, full of work commitments, to describe how she found herself in the world of high fashion. She design clothes from the finest materials for many of world renowned persons. She spent a large portion of her time with the her husband, Prince Vladimir Karadjordjevic with whom she founded the charity organisation “Mother and Child Relief Foundation”. She is very noble person, selflessly engage in all crisis situations when people are in need. We also found out some interesting details about the foods she likes to eat with her family, how she spent her childhood in Germany and special impressions from Slovenia.
W: Could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers? How do you see yourself with your own eyes?
I am Brigitta Karadjordjevic, married to HRH Prince Vladimir Karadjordjevic, the eldest son of the late Kraljevic Andrej. I was born in a small town in the middle of Germany and I was truly blessed in having been born into a wonderful and loving family. I am an only child and therefore I would say that as a child I enjoyed the total love and dedication of my parents and grandparents. Proudly, I can say that as loving as my parents were they were also very strict and insisted upon a code of good manners, Etiquette, honest work and style. This has been a tremendous advantage to me throughout my life, to this very day. Having said all this I also possess a rebellious streak, which often caused concern to my parents whilst I was still a child.
Sadly I lost all Grandparents and also my father by the time I was at the end of my teens. Many people would rightly say, how lucky I was to have those golden years, and they would be correct to say this, the years I had together with my grandparents and my father were golden years. My parents wanted me to enter the world of Investment Banking and although I knew that my vocation in life was fashion I did in fact join the Banking world and became a qualified banker, if only for a short time. After my short career with the bank it did not take long before I fulfilled my childhood dream of becoming a Fashion Designer in the world of high Couture. As with most Businesses, it was very hard at the beginning but as my client base grew and my reputation became more known to those woman who insist on nothing less than the best, my business grew steadily, almost by itself. Today I am very proud to continue to dress my clients in the finest Fashion of the highest quality and the greatest reward for me is to hear how much a client enjoys my creations. Whilst work is the provider of our daily bread, as it is for so many people, I am so grateful to be able to juggle my timetable in order to allow me to partake in other activities, such as our Charity work, our official engagements and even a little bit of painting. I would say that I see myself as blessed by God in being given the opportunity as a human being to be creative, very hard working, a person who believes in and fights for justice and rightoussnouses and given the ability to love animals almost as much as I love people.
W: How did you get involved with the world of high fashion?
From as far back into my childhood as I can remember I was fascinating by certain cloths and the materials from which they were made. I cannot explain how or why but even at a very young age I could tell good quality materials from bad quality materials. I could look at a dress or a costume on a woman’s body and see if it is was well cut and if it fit perfectly or if it was not in order. Whilst I was still a very young girl I also remember making my own dresses for my dolls and although they were very primitive and the work of a primary school imagination I believe this was the beginning of my present day career. My parents would have preferred it if my love for fashion was just a teenage interest or hobby and therefore they did not take it very seriously to begin with. Instead I was directed into the world of Investment Banking and I joined a very large German Bank and did in fact become a successful and qualified banker. Although I have never regretted this as it gave me an enormous amount of Financial Knowledge, which has helped me in my business immensely, it did not take long before I left the Banking World and opened my own Atelier, which I shared at first with a fellow Designer. After a while we saw that our interests and directions in fashion did not meet in the middle and, as friends, we severed our business ties.
This was the time I began my solo career and had already firmly set my path along the world of high or Haute Couture. At first I was lucky enough to bid for the costumes and private wardrobe of one or two artists in the world of music and theater. Because my business has always been based heavily upon word of mouth it did not take long before my client base grew and included some well known professionals and a film star. Quite early on in my Solo career I made it a point to go to Paris twice a year for the Haute Couture Fashion Shows in Order to keep up with the trends and meet up with a number of my colleagues. I have always had a soft spot for certain designers, such as Valentino, Lagerfeld and Gian Franco Ferre, and over the years I was very pleased to have had the opportunity to chat with these great people and to exchange opinions. Another avenue I insisted upon following was the direct relationships with the great names in the Haute Couture material manufactures. I refused to entertain a lower quality of materials than the best that is available for each season. For this reason I can dress my clients in the highest quality of Haute Couture materials which are produced by the same firms for the great names in the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Shows. This is a great advantage. From the very beginning of my career I was prepared to lose any potential business by not adopting an open advertising formula. In other words I will never use the names of my clients in order to promote my business in seeking new clientele. Discretion is an enormous part of my business and therefore I am more than just delighted when a new client comes to me, who has been recommended by another client of mine.
W: You always look extremely elegant. Can you reveal which fashion creators or houses You like the most? Or do you wear your own designed clothes?
As I mentioned, I do have some favourites in the world of designers and I admire their creations with a very open heart but in truth I would say that perhaps 90% to 95% of what I wear is my own creation. Without trying to belittle anybody, I do this because I can then be 100% sure that what I wear is of the quality that I insist upon for my clients, as well as for me.
W: Who are your clients and can you share a beautiful story about your fashion design, that you are especially impressed with?
As I have also mentioned, absolute discretion is a golden role in my career. Although some of my clients do not mind, and would never mind, if I use their names for promotion I have chosen to apply this rule of absolute discretion across my entire client base. I am very lucky and extremely privilege to be able to say that I dress ladies from many walks in life, who all share the desire to dress in the finest materials and enjoy the highest quality of work. From busy royals to the humble lady in the office, I am truly grateful for having a wide spectrum of clients. Some of these ladies come to me with a definite idea of what they want whilst other ladies trust my ability to look at them and know exactly what will suit their style. I am very proud of all my many creations and it is difficult for me to pick out just one or two of my creations as favourites, but I must say that I was extremely proud of dressing a well known celebrity for her wedding, who wanted to get away from the traditional white wedding dress and for whom I created an Indian outfit, which included a long skirt of many semi precious stones. I had this piece made for me personally in India, through my contacts, which took over 520 man hours to complete. Even I must boast and say that this was a dream come true for my client.
W: You also work hard in the humanitarian field. Can you specified what kind of engagement you do?
Yes, together with my husband and a small group of friends I set up our charity organization, Mother and Child Relief Foundation, in 1999. I had been working in the field of humanitarian aid since the wars broke out in Croatia and Bosnia. I felt it my duty to help those peoples suffering from the devastating effects of the wars. When my husband and I set up our organization we made a charter which dictated that our humanitarian efforts would benefit as many people who needed aid and we would not be dictated to by race, religion or ethnic background. For us, a victim, or a person in need, has no humanitarian borders. They are human beings in need of help and it is our duty to do what we can to deliver that help. I am very proud that we held firm to this principle and still do so today. Our charity is not anything in the frame of one of the big international organizations but we have been able to respond to a very large variety of needs over the years. Although our main theme is, of course, Mothers and Children, we are able to widen our scope on several occasions. We have been involved in all sorts of projects, from the normal duties of delivering medicines and equipment to hospitals, right through to the financial aid given to certain families in order to help them build their lives after the recent floods. No project is too small and therefore we have been able to achieve many successes in cases where other charities would not have had this ability. Whilst on one day we might send a child abroad for surgery, on another day we might supply a family of refugees with the basic monthly items needed for hygiene and daily survival – it very much depends upon our financial situation too.
Prince Vladimir and I try as much as possible not “advertise” our humanitarian work. We concentrate more on attempting to advertise our Humanitarian Organization and the multitude of needs of the peoples. Humanitarian work is not a popularity contest in which you are always looking for praise and medals of reward for your work. For us it is an honour to be able to help other who are in need when we can and we do not want or need any praise for it and that is why we do not make a big advertising campaign about our personal work in the humanitarian field!
W: Is the UK still strictly divided into classes according to socialising, especially when it comes to the Royal family, and do your family have meetings with them?
As I was not born or brought up in the UK I cannot really answer this question in any broad manner. I can only tell you what I have personally seen and experienced though! I would say that in the past few decades many of the old and classic walls between various classes in the UK have diminished in size and relevance. Of course, some of these barriers very much still do exist but due to a vast amount of reasons, many of these are becoming harder to identify. Prince Vladimir and I are very open people and do not base a person’s worth upon the social class from which they originate. We choose to spend our time, both private and professional, with people who possess the qualities in life that we appreciate, such as honesty and acceptance of the values of human rights. For Prince Vladimir and I, mixing, socializing and working with peoples from all walks of life and social backgrounds is an essential part of our daily life! I cannot accept that a human being is shut out of an opportunity in life based upon their social standing! This is something from the arcane past for me! I am happy to say that when it comes to the British Royal Family, the Karadjordjevic Family has very good ties and relations, but of course much of this stems from the fact that the two families are very closely related on many different family levels.
W: You have your Facebook page. How did you decide to take this step and what is your main goal with it?
Yes indeed! We have several pages on FaceBook as well as our profiles. The world of social media is truly a magnificent arena in which to present your persona, activities and goals. But, it is also a potentially very dangerous place, which can often be abused by other in many different ways, including skillful hackers. Although we have a website, I have chosen to use FaceBook as a means of communication with a large group of the public as it is a much more direct way for me to interact with the many people and keep our current news constantly up to date with very little effort. The other difference between a website and FaceBook is the manner in which information is delivered. It is so easy to upload information on FaceBook without the need for me to control a Website or to know any code. I believe that today a Website works very well in conjunction with the social media platforms by using a platform like FaceBook as a promotional basis for the website!
W: Do you travel a lot and what is your favourite country which you visited as tourist?
I am very lucky that I have travelled as a tourist very much in the past and I have seen many wonderful countries and sights as a tourist. Since I married my husband we have only been on one or two holidays and since 2003 we have only ever travelled for business or for other official engagements. We actually travel for business more now that I used to travel for private reasons before. The only downside to this is that we cannot plan any free time as we could before. This does not mean that we do not get a chance to see the sights, but we must use all available free time without actually planning for this in-between our business and other official commitments. A typical example of this was in Australia. We had six official engagements from Brisbane to the Gold Coast and then we had three days free before another three engagements in Sydney, so we hired a car and slowly drove from the Gold Coast to Sydney and were able to fully enjoy the sights in the time we had free! It is very difficult for me to say what is a favourite country that I have visited as there is so much that goes into what makes a country special. I must be honest and say that I love the places in Serbia that I have had the chance to see but the same is true in Slovenia. Sadly, we have not had the opportunity to see much of Croatia, except for a business trip to Zagreb and a drive through the beautiful town of Opatija. It would be great to see more of the country when we have the chance. I would say that until now I have no favourite as I take the best from each country as my memory and there is still so much to see!
W: You have nice cooperation with Mr. Nani Poljanec, founder of Kunsthaus museum, in Rogaška Slatina. How did you started with this cooperation?
Mr. Nani Poljanec is a wonderful person. Prince Vladimir and I are so proud of what he has achieved, almost single handed. His museum in Rogaska Slatina has the biggest single collection of Karadjordjevic exhibits in the world and Mr. Poljanec has had to personally secure many of these items with his own personal funds. Prince Vladimir met Mr. Poljanec many years before I had the pleasure of meeting him and I was very delighted and honoured when he invited my husband and me to be his special guests in the lovely town of Rogaska Slatina, where he arranged for us to stay at the very hotel where my husband’s late grandfather, King Aleksandar I, also stayed. We hope very much in the future to have the chance to closer support the work of Mr. Poljanec and to maybe expand the museum on an international scale.
W: What kind of food specialities do you like the most and do you prepare meals for you and your spouse Prince Vladimir?
This is a very good question because I have changed my own diet quite extremely in the last year and a half. I have slowly cut out all meat from my diet and tend to lean more and more towards the Vegan influence, although I still enjoy milk in my coffee and will still eat fish if it is served to me. Prince Vladimir still enjoys very traditional meat dishes, especially from the Balkan and Asian kitchens. We try to plan our meals very carefully but because of the pressures of our daily work schedules, it is often difficult and so we must be able to adapt very quickly. Of course this is easier for my husband in some cases but I am usually always able to prepare a wonderful meal for myself in the very versatile Vegan kitchen!
W: In which country do you like best to stay, native Germany, the UK or perhaps Serbia?
At the moment this is not actually a choice for us. Like the vast majority of others, we must work very hard for our daily bread and so our work actually dictates where we must operate from to a large extent. It has long been our wish to move our businesses to Serbia and to set up our living base from there but it is just not possible at the moment for a multitude of reasons and therefore my own firm is still operating from Germany and the UK. In the ideal world I would love to be able to rotate throughout the year and enjoy living in Serbia, UK and maybe Germany.
Author: Diana Mikloš
