Dorothea Melis

Dorothea Melis (born Dorothea Voigt: 22 February 1938 – 29 June 2015) was a German fashion journalist.

Life Early years Dorothea Voigt was born in Berlin. Her father worked as an architect. Margot Pfannstiel, editor-in-chief at "Sibylle", became aware of Dorothea's dissertation and spotted an opportunity. The women met: "I've read your work: it's most interesting. If you know it all with such clarity, then start here. Do [the fashion section] yourself, and make it better" ("Ich habe Ihre Arbeit gelesen, ist ja interessant. Wenn Sie alles so genau wissen, dann fangen Sie mal hier an. Und machen das mal, und zwar besser.") By the time the marriage ended in 1961 it had produced a son who stayed with his mother after the parents parted. By the time she died Dorothea would also be a grandmother. Sources credit her with having introduced the mini-skirt to the German Democratic Republic in 1967. Dorothea Bertram left "Sibylle" in 1970. and in 1970 the two of them were married. The business had been established in 1962 by order of the Council of Ministers, through a conviction, they said, that East German citizens should be able to obtain luxury goods without being forced to involve themselves (illegally) in using western money (known colloquially as "Westgeld"). This also involved organising fashion shows. The company sold high-quality modern clothing, much of it imported, which was differentiated from more mainstream "off-the-peg" fashion products through its sophisticated design concepts and its insistence on high-quality manufacturing. In some ways the business expanded beyond its original niche: sources claim that at its peak, with 44 outlets, it accounted for almost 30% of East Germany's clothing sales by value.

Beyond the change After several years during which the winds of Glasnost blowing across from, of all places, Moscow, found a growing resonance in East German cities, in November 1989 street protestors broke through the Berlin Wall. It very quickly became obvious that the Soviet troops had received no instructions to intervene, as they had back in 1953, and the self-confidence of the political establishment rapidly crumbled. A succession of further events led, in March 1990, the East Germany's first (and, as matters turned out, last) free election. reunification took place a few months later, formally in October 1990. VEB Exquisit failed to compete effectively with western retailers from, which quickly bought up most of its well positioned city centre retail outlets. Some of those who had worked for it proved themselves more adaptable to the changing times, however.

Dorothea Melis's East German reputation initially counted for little in the new Germany, but it soon became obvious that not everyone wanted to forget the "socialist" version of Germany. In 1992 the first edition of Dorothea Melis' book "Sibylle. Modefotografien 1962–1994" appeared, and very quickly became acknowledged as the standard work on Fashion Photography in the German Democratic Republic. She was able to organise exhibitions of the work of photographers who had worked with her for "Sibylle", such as Sibylle Bergemann. She gave lectures on fashion in the German Democratic Republic at the art colleges, wrote more books about the past and wryly observed the present.

Dorothea Melis was predeceased by her second husband. In June 2015 she herself died, on a Monday, in Berlin aged 77, following a long illness.

Output (selection)

Sibylle. Modefotografie aus drei Jahrzehnten DDR. Verlag Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 1998. Die Berlinerin. Fotografien und Geschichten. Verlag Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2000. Sibylle. Modefotografien 1962–1994. Lehmstedt Verlag, Leipzig 2010.