Appendix 1 - Principal Costume and Fashion Designers: Biographical Notes

Summary

Bessie Becker (1919–71), listed in credits also as Irmgard Becker-Schulte or Irmgard Becker, spent her formative years in Berlin. From 1937 to 1940 she studied at the Fashion and Textile School on the Warsaw Bridge (Textil- und Modeschule an der Warschauer Brücke), initially fashion drawing (Modegraphik) and subsequently costume design. In the 1940s Becker worked as a costume designer for Berlin theaters as well as for UFA, where she provided the costumes for five wartime productions, including Großstadtmelodie (1943) and Meine Freundin Josefine (1942), two films with extensive scenes set in a fashion salon and around fashion shows. At the end of the war, in 1945, Becker moved to Munich, where she resumed work for both theater (Münchner Kammerspiele) and film. She is listed as the costume designer in the credits for thirteen West German film productions between 1947 and 1959. Among her most prominent works are: … und über uns der Himmel (1947), Zwischen gestern und morgen (1947), Film ohne Titel (1948), Das doppelte Lottchen (1950), and Nachts auf den Straßen (1952).

Irmgard Bibernell (1910–99) was born in Berlin and trained at the Lette-Verein. After working as an apprentice and star model at the famous Gerson Salon, Bibernell started her own independent career as a designer. In 1934 she cofounded with Heinz Schulze the fashion salon Schulze & Bibernell; after 1941 it became a member of Berliner Modelle GmbH and a well-known supplier of costumes for the stage and film. Bibernell was known as the personal couturier of movie celebrities such as Zarah Leander, Marika Rökk, and Inge Meysel. After 1945 she relocated to Hamburg and rebuilt her business with the help of her friend the publicist Axel Springer. She designed the costumes for the postwar productions Film ohne Titel (1948; working with Bessie Becker) and In jenen Tagen (1947).

Alfred Bü cken (1910–?) designed the costumes for twelve UFA period dramas between 1939 and 1945 (Der Tanz mit dem Kaiser, Diesel, Träumerei) and for twenty West German productions between 1950 and 1959. Bücken's extensive personal archive, including many sketches, is available in the Filmmuseum Frankfurt.