Young German designer turns milk into clothing
In the fashion world, color belongs in the clothes but usually not in the office. And that's also true in the white-washed quarters of the fashion company Qmilch based in Hanover. But there the milky color takes on another dimension. Qmilch founder and fashion designer Anke Domaske is turning milk into thread with big plans for the future.
The 28-year-old from Leipzig comes from a fashion-oriented family and created her first label called Mademoiselle Chichi (MCC) when she was 19. MCC took off, including with Hollywood stars like Mischa Barton, but that didn't stop the young designer from pursuing a second interest: research in the sciences.
"I thought I should also learn something a bit more practical, since who knew whether the fashion thing would work out," Domaske said with a smile about her biology degree.
Starnes starts her journey at Pan Am Games
The podium finish Starnes is gunning for would represent a significant climb back from a year ago, when she was riding for Team Tibco. She was careening along on a descent during the Cascade Cycling Classic in July 2010 when she crashed heavily on her hip, fracturing her pelvis in two places, and had to be airlifted off the course.
The injury immobilized her for a few weeks, but bones heal. More worrisome was a concussion whose effects lingered for months, affecting her eyesight and concentration (and oddly, breaking her lifelong habit of biting her nails). The trauma was psychological, as well. When veteran Chris Horner rode the final 20 miles of a Tour de France stage last summer with a concussion and was filmed, clearly disoriented, at the finish, Starnes found the footage so upsetting she had to leave the room.
But the gregarious Starnes, who laughs easily and often when she talks about herself, said she never seriously considered quitting. "I have some goals in the sport, and I'm going to go for it," she said. "You can't ride scared.
