Kisses and the Kill Shot 

  A fashion collection about the assassination of the archduke and duchess of Austria that
ignited World War I in 1914, and how the society of Austria found relief in the arts and
agriculture during the times of war. A story of the coexistence of beauty and terror;
A story about the assassination of my extended family. 


(Family)


In relation to my family, my third-great aunt, Berta Czuber, was married to Archduke Franz
Ferdinand’s brother, Archduke Ferdinand Karl. The younger of the two, Archduke Franz
Karl and Berta Czuber’s marriage was considered illegitimate by the Ferdinand brothers’
father and Emperor, Franz Jospeh I, due to Berta’s non-royal background, and daughter
to a Vienna University professor of maths. Since this marraige was considered illegitimate,
Franz Karl was unable to become the heir to the throne, and further exempt from the
premises of Austrian Empire, with Berta. They moved from Austria and lived between
Switzerland  and Italy. Emperor Franz Joseph I died on November of 1916 and Archduke
Ferdinand Karl  in March of 1916. Berta lived on until 1989.