ABOUT A&C / Awareness&Consciousness by Christiane Gruber

Christiane Gruber – Between Textile Thinking and Lived Mindfulness

Christiane Gruber is a pioneer at the intersection of art and fashion. In her work, creative practice, philosophical intent, and artisanal precision merge into a coherent expression of sustainable aesthetics. Her creative output is shaped by a deep awareness of material, form, and context – a continuous dialogue between art and sustainability, between intimacy and societal change.

Her artistic career began at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, where she laid the foundations of her design practice under mentors such as Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Viktor & Rolf, and Raf Simons. Her talent was recognized early on: in 2002, she received the Fashion Award from the Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport (BMWKMS), followed by formative experiences with A.F. Vandevorst and Haider Ackermann in Antwerp. Yet her practice never remained bound solely to fashion – it was always a transdisciplinary process.

In 2005, Gruber co-founded the sustainable fashion label AWARENESS & CONSCIOUSNESS (A&C) with visual artist Anneliese Schrenk – a manifesto for mindful, reflective design. By 2007, they had presented four collections at Paris Fashion Week. Fashion was never the sole focus; rather, it was an expression of responsibility, reflection, and artistic attitude.
From this ethos emerged one-of-a-kind pieces and limited series in the years that followed, in which Gruber experimented with dyeing, bleaching, and embroidery techniques – textile objects that carry individual stories.
Between 2014 and 2018, she operated her atelier with shop on Lindengasse in Vienna – a space for a decelerated experience of clothing, functioning as an expression of personal identity and lived mindfulness.
Her work has received multiple accolades – including the City of Vienna Fashion Award and the International PR Prize at the Austrian Fashion Awards.

Gruber’s works are textile reflections of a slowed-down present. Her series INTIMACY (2023–2025) particularly explores themes of closeness and comfort – unisex sweaters, cushions, and textile images made from the finest natural materials, dyed with plant-based colors, individually tailored to the wearer. Each object tells a story, invites introspection, and opens the gaze to a new sensitivity in how we relate to ourselves and the world.

A central element of her current artistic research is hand-stitched quilting – a slow, meditative process that consciously resists the fast pace of the fashion industry. Her reversible objects, such as those in the series SIGN/INSIDE OUT, combine functionality with symbolism: reversible jackets made from quilted material, custom-made, adorned with signs and symbols that convey comfort, protection, and inner strength. These objects are not just outward-facing statements, but also textile spaces of inner resonance – expressions of social values, identity, and mindful selflocation.

AWARENESS & CONSCIOUSNESS is much more than a label. It is an attitude, a counter-design to the brand-driven, hyper-commercial fashion world. It calls for a return to the essence of clothing: authenticity, sensitivity, vulnerability.
In this way, clothing becomes a medium – a mirror of inner states, a bearer of personal stories, and an appeal for a new, deeper relationship with materiality, the body, and the environment.
Christiane Gruber stands for a kind of fashion that is not consumed, but experienced. Her works are more than only fashion, they are between fashion art and textile art and invitations to see the world – and oneself – with new eyes: mindfully, reflectively, sensitively.

Summary:
Christiane Gruber is an Austrian artist and designer working at the intersection of fashion, textile art, and mindful living. Her label AWARENESS & CONSCIOUSNESS, founded in 2005, stands for authenticity, sensitivity, and a deep connection to materiality and the human experience.

Rooted in craftsmanship and philosophical reflection, her work explores the emotional and symbolic dimensions of clothing. Using natural materials, hand-dyeing, quilting, and embroidery techniques, she creates unique, seasonless pieces that blur the line between wearable art and intimate textile objects.

Whether through her unisex garments, soft sculptures, or hand-quilted jackets, Gruber invites a slower, more conscious engagement with fashion – one that prioritizes meaning, presence, and inner resonance over trends and consumption.

Her creations are not just worn – they are lived.