The TH Interview: Rainer Wolter, Umbrella Inside Out Winner

Just about now, I.D.'s December 2006 New and Notable Issue, featuring our Umbrella Inside Out finalists and winners, is hitting newsstands. Grab a copy! We're proud as can be of all of all of them and happy that Rainer Wolter, our fashion winner, is already making a difference in the conventional fashion world through his refusal to work with fur.

Seeing Rainer's re-fashioned umbrella dress on the runway at Paris's Ethical Fashion Show last month thrilled me (Rainer rhymes with "designer," btw). Nothing about it belied rain-protective origins as it floated down the catwalk. While laying eyes on the final design was satisfying, spending time with the man behind the garment proved genuinely inspiring. Between round tables, dinners and excursions, Rainer's uniquely principled, kind and humorous characteristics became as apparent as his already obvious talent. At the time, Rainer's boss, Emmett McCarthy of Project Runway fame, had decided to incorporate fur. This meant that, due to his cruelty-free leanings, Rainer would have to quit. Upon his Paris departure, he didn't know what was next for him, but trusted that something would come up. When we caught up last week, I expected to hear job search woes, but his tale took a refreshingly hopeful twist...

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