LONDON — German men’s tailor Egon Brandstetter and his business partner Marc Straub never expected to be the unsung fashion heroes of Todd Field’s third feature film, “Tár.”

The film starts with Cate Blanchett’s character Lydia Tár, the primary female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and an EGOT recipient, being fitted for a bespoke shirt dress and suit on the Egon Brandstetter atelier by Brandstetter himself.

“A location scout got here two weeks before shooting [in November 2021] and said they might be doing a movie, but he was not allowed to say what it was. It was a young German guy and we didn’t comprehend it was Hollywood,” Brandstetter told WWD over Zoom, with Straub sitting next to him.

The proposition wasn’t unusual to the German men as they often rent out rooms within the atelier to promoting corporations to film.

“The following Wednesday Todd got here with a pair of individuals and everybody was wearing a face mask. I treated him like a client and really he was so fascinated by every thing that he was planning on coming back to order a shirt. He was laughing and said, ‘you only got me.’ He then asked me if I desired to be the tailor within the movie, but I said no,” Brandstetter retold of the encounter.

He modified his mind when Field mentioned that he can be shooting with Cate Blanchett. “Everybody began laughing behind their masks and my apprenticeship girls were behind the door signaling me to do it,” added Brandstetter.

Austrian-born Brandstetter is equally as chatty and neighborly as he’s confidently reserved, stemming from living in Berlin for greater than a decade. He isn’t one to be intimidated or overwhelmed by a critically acclaimed solid.

After completing his formal education in Austria, he went to tailoring school after which was enrolled into military service for a yr, during which he wrote 100 letters applying for jobs. 

“I had just a few interviews, which weren’t so interesting after which out of the blue the English National Opera in London called me, which I had actually forgotten that I’d written to them and a choice was made in five days,” said Brandstetter. 

The ENO gave him leeway to work in France and Italy before settling on the Vienna State Opera for six years, which houses the most important costume department in Europe.

“I learned so much about historical tailoring and pattern making, it was a very cool job, but ultimately I used to be never satisfied because I used to be at all times a part of an enormous team and that is the way you meet people within the trade who’re older than you, but you’re still one little piece in an enormous company,” he added.

He moved to Berlin, registered as self-employed and rented a shared space for 100 euros. It happened to be in the identical neighborhood Straub had moved to from Paris.

“I might see him in the massive windows working late at night on this vibrant window, but I didn’t understand what he was doing. I believed it might need been some hipster performance artist who was opening a gallery,” said Straub, who out of intrigue went in in the future, ended up staying for five hours talking to Brandstetter and ordered his first bespoke suit, despite “not having a job or a whole lot of money” on the time.

Straub had just left a profession in consulting for investment banks in consequence of burnout, and he pitched himself to Brandstetter as a business partner, underscoring the eagerness and resilience that he had seen in his own mother, who was an artist and musician. Brandstetter accepted because he felt he had nothing to lose as a really small business.

The Egon Brandstetter atelier has now expanded into a totally functioning store sitting opposite the German CIA with a web site and marketing strategy. Straub orchestrates the day-to-day business, while Brandstetter designs with the team.

The brand is planning on launching a web-based shop where customers can order made-to-measure suits ranging from 1,500 euros and bespoke suits from 5,500.