Born in a small village in Southern Austria, Sabine grew up with old traditions and customs and a burning curiosity about the world beyond the Alps. After studying fashion design in Florence, she was invited to help design costumes for the Staatsoper in Munich. She was drawn to the eccentricities of the opera. This fascination hinted at something burgeoning even deeper within- her love for tribal art and dress. She fancied a world of costume and performance to exist in a more everyday context. 

She began working on a Ph.D. in ethnology, performing arts and art history at the University of Vienna at age 21. For Sabine, the program was a vehicle that took her to the villages of Northern India, Southeast Asia, the islands of the Eastern Pacific and eventually South Africa. Over a period of seven years, she lived among indigenous people, immersed in their rituals, ceremonies and making off traditional costumes. 

“I found the purity of humanity and it was the tribal man that taught me about values and hope, optimism and courage, solidarity and friendship. Countless times I found myself alone with ethnic minorities in extreme remote areas. Documenting them became an inner necessity and a way of telling them how distinctively unique they are and that they should consider their culture to be an inheritance worth protecting. “

She finished her extensive dissertation while working as wardrobe stylist for editorials, commercials, music videos and movies in Cape Town and Los Angeles. After receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Vienna she started focusing on authentic tribal art. “The reward that comes with learning about these objects is to be able to perceive both their visible form and their invisible spirit.” 

This led to another adventure, as a tribal art dealer in Los Angeles and Malibu. Displaying refined tribal art objects next to contemporary paintings, created a powerful contrast that attracted important art collectors as well as sophisticated interior decorators. 

After a decade of living at the ocean, she found her way back to the mountains- not to the Austrian Alps but to the majestic Grand Tetons of Wyoming. Intrigued by the creative community of Jackson Hole, she launched SABINE collection, a luxury fashion brand, inspired by ancestral tribal adornment and ethnic minorities living at high altitude.  

Sabine: “I have always been inspired by mountain people, from the ancient ethnic minorities in the Himalayas to our modern mountain communities in the USA and traditional ones in Europe. What defines people living at high altitude? Isolation, creativity, soulfulness, integrity, independence and most of all connection to themselves, their community and surrounding nature.”

Sabine has written following books: “Mani Rimdu- ein Maskentanz als Kristallistionspunkt der synkretistischen Religion des tibetischen Buddhismus” // ”Mani Rimdu- A Mask Dance as a Form of the Syncretic Religion of Tibetan Buddhism“   and “Die Tracht ausgewählter asiatischer und afrikanischer Minoritäten als Inspirationsquelle für die Kostümgestaltung” // “Traditional Costumes of Ethnic Minorities in Africa and Asia as Source of Inspiration for Costume Design “

Languages: English, German, Italian, French and Spanish

Activities: Backcountry Skiing, Vinyasa Yoga