About this Episode
How can traditional craftsmanship remain relevant in a world shaped by mass production, fast fashion and constantly changing trends?
In the second edition of Bourgmeisterin: Fireside Chats, host Julia Khalyavko speaks with sustainable fashion entrepreneur Debbie Kirsch about how heritage is preserved, adapted and carried forward through creative practice.
The conversation explores how textile work, embroidery, pattern-making and traditional materials can carry stories, memories and identity across generations. It also examines what cultural continuity means in Luxembourg’s globalised and cross-cultural society.
Rather than treating tradition as something fixed or nostalgic, Julia and Debbie consider it a living practice: something learned, questioned, reinterpreted and remade by every generation.
They discuss how creative professionals can respect inherited knowledge while developing their own artistic voice, and why craftsmanship still matters in an age of speed, waste and mass consumption.
Debbie Kirsch is the founder of Devï, a sustainable fashion brand launched in 2018. Working with artisan communities in India, Morocco and Turkey, Devï transforms vintage and leftover textiles into distinctive garments while promoting ethical production, zero-waste design, social impact and women’s empowerment.
The episode was recorded at Neimënster in Luxembourg City’s historic Grund district, an area once shaped by tanners, millers, brewers and other craftspeople.
Bourgmeisterin: Fireside Chats is a bi-monthly cultural storytelling series hosted by Julia Khalyavko, co-produced with ARA City Radio and supported by the Ministry of Family Affairs, Solidarity, Living Together and Reception of Refugees.
The conversation is in English.
