“I’m running a start-up that just happens to be 20 years old.” – This year, LIGANORD, the agency focussed on styling as well as hair & make-up with offices in Hamburg and Berlin, is celebrating an incredible 20 years. We met founder and Managing Director Anke Kolberg and asked her a few questions about her professional life.
What made you decide to found Liganord?
It was 1999. Before I became an agent, I was a stylist myself and had a really great agent who was an example for me. When I moved to Hamburg back then, we (my former partners and I) decided to found our own agency. It was the era of the New Economy and still before the shock of 9/11. Everything was changing, and there was a kind of gold rush feeling in the air. Digital photography was just gaining ground, and a new photographic language had emerged. It was a very exciting time!
20 years Liganord – what has changed?
First of all, I was able to develop my skills as an agent. As I mentioned before, I was a stylist and had studied fashion design in the Netherlands. As an agent, I quickly built a good relationship with photographers, representatives and art buyers. That gave me the chance to ask a lot of questions and learn. My husband and my meanwhile grown-up son have always provided amazing support along the way.
Today, my constantly growing team and I take on a much more consulting role than we had in the beginning. We serve as a sparring partner who helps to realize creative ideas and are not only accepted as a problem solver, I think we are also appreciated. Clients trust us; we handle big budgets every day. It’s fun!
The core of our work is still the same: training young talents as well as consulting and supporting artists and their projects. Today, the artists are very self-confident and extremely well informed and networked. What is changing are the media channels for campaigns and our distribution platforms. Legal regulations often make work in our industry difficult, unfortunately.
Moving images play a much greater role in our work today than ten years ago. We have much more international clients and editorials, not lastly thanks to international recognition of Berlin as an important production hub for advertising films and photography. Anyway, opening the Liganord office in Berlin turned out to be a smart move ;-). The challenges our artists and the agency face are enormous, which is why I still feel this extremely motivating start-up spirit. What hasn’t changed and never will: A good photo is and always will be a good photo – then, today and tomorrow!
What’s new at Liganord?
We do a lot to communicate the creative sidesteps of our artists more, mainly in the areas of creative storytelling and consulting. With sidesteps, I mean the many skills beyond the “classic” responsibilities of a stylist and hair & make-up artist. For instance, Christoph Himmel regularly organizes and stages food socials, or dinners which engage all senses. Wonderful for use in cooperations with the industry. Berit Hoerschelmann supports and consults the TUI Hotel Group on redesigning premium hotels, she consults fashion companies on how to compile their collections, or we receive commissions to realize brand events... just to give you a few examples. Which is why we like to communicate the description “creative services” together with the agency name. Because our spectrum has become much more comprehensive and versatile, and I hope to expand in these areas over the next few years.
What about digitization – and the consequences for your day-to-day work?
Industry colleagues will certainly tell you the same: Email, WhatsApp, Instagram, Skype, Google Drive – communication is digital, wherever and whenever. The speed has increased considerably. But you still have to take the quality time for a word or two spoken personally now and then. It’s a people’s business. That’s why industry get togethers like your UPDATE are still so important. It’s clear, the booking routine has been completely digitized: Our calendars and the portfolios of our artists are digital, we post images and films on the social media platforms relevant to us and on our website every day – digitization helps us to be fast and efficient and attract more international attention.
Fondest memories?
One of my professional highlights: I had just hired Helena Narra for Liganord, still at the beginning of her career, and met up with her for our first go-see together in Berlin. She came back with a job for a Vivienne Westwood campaign, to be photographed by Juergen Teller. With Vivienne Westwood and Juergen Teller, we now had two of my personal heroes in our portfolio. That made me extremely happy and so proud!
What would you say is the funnest part of your job?
Getting to work with passionate creatives and young talents whose spirit and drive is contagious. There’s always a moment when everyone gets all fired up, and no one knows what to do first. This is where I come in and put things in perspective, provide support and calm things down a bit.
Which developments do you predict for the next few years?
For top talents, I see a bright future. True creative talent will always be in demand! Like everyone else in the industry, we are confronted with increasing costs, and I really hope that our industry not make itself redundant. There’s a bit of a dog-eat-dog mentality at the moment, but I try to uphold the value of my artists’ work against the clear tendency toward the feeling that “someone will do it for a dumping price”. And I’m quite good at it ;-).
When teams in the areas of film, photography or events deliver excellent creative work together, we all contribute to making sure that the reputation of the German fashion and advertising worlds is good and stays good, and that internationally.
And what’s your next private goal?
I’m not telling, but we’re working on something!
Curious? Get to know Anke better at the LIGANORD booth at UPDATE-19-BERLIN. Save the date: 15 November. For further details, please visit the website: UPDATE.salon
