She is a Wiesn fan, always has been. When she was in her early or mid-20s, she even went there almost every day, says Anja von Keyserlingk. “But you can’t really wear the same dirndl every time,” she said back then. On the other hand, who has a dozen different dirndl hanging in the closet? Men have it easier, they can always combine leather pants with a different shirt. A “basic piece” like leather pants, she thought, women should have too.
A good ten years later, the 35-year-old has solved her Oktoberfest clothing problem. Together with Florian Blickenberger, a designer from the Rosenheim area, she designed a collection herself, “Mamma Bavaria by Anja Jamin” (Jamin is her maiden name): two skirts, three bodices, five aprons, all of which can be combined with one another. Beige skirt with blue apron and blue bodice. Gray skirt with cream apron and green bodice. Beige skirt with coral apron and grey-pink bodice.
Of course, the three-piece principle already existed, “I didn’t reinvent the wheel”. But the highlight of her collection is: the calf-length, monochrome skirts, combined with a different top, no longer look like a traditional costume, so they can be worn on all occasions.
With a different top instead of bodice and apron, a traditional skirt becomes a skirt suitable for everyday use.
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
The clothes are sewn according to an old dirndl pattern from the 19th century by a seamstress in Freising. The look is rather reserved and simple, no deep necklines, no glitter, no ruffles or other frills. Every dirndl is made to measure, women have to pay 1199 euros for it. “It’s expensive,” admits Anja von Keyserlingk. However: If you just buy a new bodice, a different apron, a second skirt – the collection is to be expanded a little every year – “then it pays off again”.
In the world of fashion, the Munich native, who has quite a variety of jobs, is a career changer. She already knew as a child that she wanted to have an artistic profession, she says. Preferably actress. But after her Abitur, her father, an economist and university professor, persuaded her to do something tangible and solid – like many fathers do. So she studied business administration and worked as a dubbing actress and trade fair presenter on the side. And continued to dream of acting.
She brought the idea of ”brunch parties” to Munich from New York
In 2013 she landed a small role in a trailer for Bully Herbig’s six-part series “Bully macht Buddy”. Herbig certified her talent, “and on the same day I decided: Now I’m going to a private acting school in New York.” The time there “was the best in my life, New York just can’t be topped”. She brought the idea of ”brunch parties” with her from New York to Munich and started her own business as an event manager. And made a lot of contacts in the process.
For a while she did the program “Dirndl on Tour” for the TV station Welt der Wunder, and was on the road with a colleague in a dirndl in Singapore, in Thailand. When it became “a bit too childish” for her, she switched to moderation, first at Radio Fantasy in Augsburg, then at Radio Gong. Before you can ask, she adds refreshing honesty: “But only as a sidekick on Radio Gong. Weather forecasts and stuff like that.” She has long since turned her back on the radio, meanwhile she got a leading role as a voice actress for the Netflix youth series “Rainbow High” and is one of the campaign models for a Munich start-up that produces e-fitness equipment.
But the business graduate is still around: in 2015, Anja von Keyserlingk joined her father’s certification company, which she now runs herself after his death. And she teaches communication/presentation/moderation at the University of Applied Management in Ismaning.
As she sits there in a vegan restaurant in Schwabing, beaming and talking about Skyr with berries and cappuccino with oat milk, you can feel: Anja von Keyserlingk is satisfied with herself and her world. And with her husband, the Munich restaurateur Konstantin von Keyserlingk, who is just as busy as she is. “My male counterpart,” she laughs. The fact that she hasn’t made her big breakthrough as an actress yet doesn’t seem to bother her very much. Will be, “so far I’ve done everything I set out to do.”
And now the Wiesn is coming up. Of course she will be there, in her own dirndls. She will give away the old ones.
And wait, she has to tell one “funny thing” quickly. A woman from Los Angeles contacted her through a friend who wanted to have a dirndl tailored. “I then discussed everything with her in a zoom conference and took the measurements.” The customer’s name was Heather Milligan. Didn’t tell her anything at first. It wasn’t until she googled the name that Anja von Keyserlingk realized: This is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s girlfriend.