Our History

Once upon a time, there was a little girl. This little girl was not like most girls who loves to dress up in pretty dresses and to play with dolls. Well, she had pretty dresses, but she didn`t spin in front of the mirror or dance around gracefully in her castle. She preferred to play cowboys and Indians and most of all she loved to climb the highest trees in them. She had the most loving parents and many brothers and sisters. Her loving parents did not nag about the dirty dresses and sometimes ripped stockings. They enjoyed seeing their daughter exploring the nature and growing independent. They raised all their little children to love God and His creation as his work. And they all did love the nature. They explored the woods and meadows, rode their horses, and became close friends to their cows. It was not only once they came home with dirty dresses and mud on their noses. There was something else they all loved; it was Music. They sang a lot and played their instruments. So, the big house was always full of music and full of life. Beauty was always close to the hearts of this family, for God is good, true and beautiful and everything that is true and good is beautiful.

But there was another wondrous place where they grew up. An area to which they kept a special connection. It was the high mountains of Austria. They loved their unique spicy air, the gurgling of the creeks and the distant sound of cowbells.

When I tell you about this little girl, I also have to tell you about her mother. She was the most beautiful and tender mother, and she had abilities like a fairy. Flat and boring cloth transformed under her fingers into the most beautiful skirts, coats, and dresses, what her daughters watched in amazement. Well, it is not quite true, that the cloth was boring. At least the little girl did not think so. Although she was not too fond of playing with dolls, she always loved to create. She was pleased about the pieces of fabric that remained and fell under the table. So, when she sat under the table, when her mother did her wondrous work, she took the leftovers to cut dresses for her dolls.

But the girl grew older and her creating dresses for her dolls evolved to sewing skirts for herself. And when the time came for her and her sisters to prepare for their first ball, their mother shared the secret of creating ball gowns. I am sure you can imagine how they felt like the happiest and most beautiful princesses in the world, wearing their first ballgowns and dancing on their first ball. It did not remain their last ball. Many balls and celebrations followed and also some dresses. As the young girls’ passions where singing and dancing, balls, and celebrations where feasts to her heart.

But not all times the children experienced, where happy times. Their beloved mother fell sick. She fell very sick. And because she loved her children so much, she gave her life for them, and God took her soul into his eternal kingdom. The house was full of sadness that time and she was terribly missed. But God looked down to that house and blessed it and their mother provided for her family now with invisible hand, herself more good, pure and beautiful than ever. The family grew even more together, and even more peace, laughter and music returned to the castle.

There came the time for the girl to leave her home and to enter the big, wide world. So

she asked herself what to do. What she was most drawn to, was education and culture.

She wanted to live for the eternal kingdom and start building it in this world. And

education and culture are the things that shape society deeply and lastingly. So, she

started with studying the studies of humanity. But her mother’s dream of bringing

beauty to the world through beautiful clothing lived on in her. Her mother’s dream was

to build a fashion house and she already had made a name for herself, as a dressmaker in Bavaria’s aristocratic circles when she was young. But when she married and had children, her family was the most important to her, so she gave it up for them. Well, also her daughter loved creating so she started to look around for a suitable brand to potentially work for. But as most of the clothes she saw didn’t serve their carriers in beauty and dignity, she decided to start her own fashion brand. Therefore, she started to study fashion design in Munich and started her own atelier at her grandfather’s house at the age of 21. She had the great gift of her Father, brothers and sisters supporting her with advice and action, which she was always grateful for.

She named her fashion label “Honór Couture” as she wanted to create clothes for God’s greater Glory. She loved colours, as she was always full of the joy of life, hence she searched for fabrics in the most wonderful colours. She gathered beautiful and exquisite linen, wool, velvet, brocade, lace, and silk above all. Authenticity of the materials and high quality was very important to her, as they lay the foundation for noble dresses. But because she found it very difficult to find beautiful patterns, her little sister started drawing some for her.

Word of mouth spread, and her little company grew and grew. She soon had a master seamstress helping her and she started working with a Bavarian tailor shop.

But what went down particularly well was her first fashion show, which she got to put on at the home of two kind friends who lovingly supported her. They were not the only ones who supported her. Her family and many other friends also helped her a lot. Her brothers opened the show with a flourish of hunting horns, she herself gave a little speech and then the models came in with the dresses. They were all friends who wanted to support her and enjoyed it. As an intermission, her aunt recited a poem she had written about the niece’s fashion label. After the show, other friends came and served drinks and snacks. It was such a cosy and familiar atmosphere that sparked the enthusiasm of many, and they talked about the evening for a long time.

After four years of experience and her second successful fashion show, she decided to take the next big step and open a shop in the very centre of Munich. It became a shop that was like a cosy living room, welcoming the customers as guests. Downstairs, dresses hung ready to take away, and up the stairs was the workshop where one found the most wonderful fabrics, which tailors transformed into dream dresses on the spot. The first month was a great success.

However, this success could not last, as the opening of the shop coincided with a tragic year. It was the beginning of 2020. The whole country fell into rigidity, one lockdown after another haunted them and people stopped meeting each other. They laughed and danced no more. They also stopped shopping. After a year of hard struggles, she closed the shop. A dream that had started so promisingly was over.

At least for a while.

“And now?”

“Now? Now, as some time has gone by and the biggest storm seems to have past, my enterprising spirit and my strength have come back (it probably is even increased) I think it is time to take all the experiences I have made and all that I have build and try it again.

You know, when someone says he has to start over again, it sounds like his first try was in vain. But that is actually not true. You learn and grow so much with your first try, you will never start from the same point again.

The world is still in need for more beauty and my wish to serve women by underlining their dignity and highlighting their beauty is alive as ever.

This was my (Franziska Rüsch's) story and the story of Honór Couture. And if you want to know how the story continues, stay tuned 😊