A Thread about fashion’s most avant-garde vegan

Martina Tiefenthaler discusses vegan4000, her culinary project

As a creative, Martina Tiefenthaler is known for her work at some of fashion’s biggest houses. Outside her day job, she’s been building something far more personal - but equally directional. Vegan4000, or V4K for short, is an expression of her commitment to a vegan diet. It’s a resource for recipes, culinary inspiration and restaurant addresses, served with a side of 100% plant-based creative direction. Whilst Veganuary is nearly over, here Martina tells us about living V4K 24/7.

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Tell me about your journey into veganism. When did you become a vegan and what influenced the decision?
I grew up with a very regular Austrian diet. I'm the youngest of three, and when I was 10 years old, my brother and sister and some of our friends all turned vegetarian at the same time. We had this VHS cassette going around from house to house, showing a video on animal transportation from farm to slaughterhouse. We were all shocked.

I wanted to become vegan for quite some years before I actually did it. But there were so many people around me saying it's unhealthy, it's dangerous. That I wouldn’t be able to find food anywhere because restaurants don't know what it is. But then I just said, “No, I want to try it.” And so I did. Now my entire family is either vegan or vegetarian.

When was vegan4000 born, and where did the idea come from?
I started it in 2015. I was sharing what I was cooking with a co-worker at the time. I was already living in Paris and working in fashion, and we had an amazing kitchen in the studio where we worked, but it was never used. And so instead of going to places nearby the office to grab awful salads and sandwiches, we were both like, “Let’s cook together.” And then I wanted to share it. I didn't think it through at all - I just started doing it.

Because I spend the majority of my time with my real job in fashion, vegan4000 is something that I do without a plan. It's something which allows me to have balance, and something besides my job that is much more playful, very intuitive, humble and real.

I work in fashion, and there’s so much about it that is fast, there's pressure. There is so much that we have to do, in terms of the quantity of product that we have to make. At times you lose the foundation that you need in order to stay grounded. Eating vegan and thinking about what kind of food is good for me is perfect to balance that out.

What about the name and number 4000 - where does that come from?
I had my personal Instagram account before (@mrt4000), and 4 has always been my lucky number. Then, when I wanted to do the vegan thing, I thought of vegan4000 as a connection to my other account. Later, I thought about the meaning of it - because it sounds like “vegan for thousands”, like an amount of people. But that’s actually a coincidence. I’ve now started using V4K as an abbreviation, as it’s quicker and easier and nicer to play with.

Also graphically it looks really strong - the sharp angles of the letters. I thought it implied ‘Year 4000’, as in veganism of the future. Because it has quite a futuristic aesthetic.
It has all of these things - and that's that's what I like about it. I don’t think it through. I’m a creative, but one of the things that I’m good at is being quite rational and organized in my job. There's a certain type of control that I always have. But with vegan4000, I don’t do that at all. I have a much more light and playful approach, and that means that I often discover there are more layers of meaning to it than what I originally had in mind.

It's like the subconscious mind takes over when you’re doing something with less pressure, and you end up making something that has more creative layers.
Yes, it's exactly that.

Can you talk about the vegan4000 creative direction? I feel like yours is the antithesis of the ‘live, laugh, love’ vegan aesthetic.
For a very long time I had to go to ugly restaurants that looked awful, the food presentation wasn’t nice. Even the food packaging of certain things - everything was so off in a very strange way. Vegan food was always weird and it didn’t even look like food. Often vegan restaurants had the craziest, brightest LED lamps. If that’s how people perceive veganism, I totally understand that everyone would say we are all crazy and radical and that it’s not nice. That it doesn’t look good and doesn’t make you feel good.

And so, a while ago I decided the thing I have to do is give this way of eating and this philosophy of living a different image. So this is why I’m now putting a bit more effort into it than I might have done at the very beginning. I think that it's so rich to eat this way; so beautiful aesthetically speaking. More beautiful than a dead animal on your plate. So everything around it should look that way too.

Does your aesthetic in fashion complement the aesthetic of vegan4000?
Of course, one thing influences the other. Since I am a creative, I'm a designer and I produce things, I have the urge to do that with vegan4000 as well.

Are there any fabrics which derive from plants that you're excited about using in a fashion context?
Absolutely. I've put a lot of focus on finding out what there is. The good news is that there’s a lot out there, but the bad news is that a lot of them are not yet available in large quantities. Some because there are not enough requests - so they don’t have the money to actually buy more machines, or develop a quicker way to make the fabric in order to supply the necessary quantity for commercial use. Another reason is that the techniques are not scalable. So some lab leathers made from mushrooms or other types of vegan materials, they can only make one square metre of ‘skin’ in a couple of weeks. So if that's all they can produce, it's impossible for big companies with big quantities to use them.

But there is so much innovation - there are also materials made from cactus, pineapple, different types of plant fibres. And mushroom leather of course, which is mycelium.

Why do you think there’s a reluctance to adopt these fabrics across the fashion industry?
The problem is time and financial targets. A lot of innovations and inventions are already there, but they don't match with what the capitalist system requires. It’s unfortunate, but I have hope.

I wanted to ask your opinion on why you think food and fashion have become so intertwined recently?
I think that fashion and brands have started to serve themselves anywhere to make a bigger buzz. In an interview I gave a while ago I said that, to me, there is almost no difference between the entertainment industry and the fashion industry anymore. Because you need to create moments and experiences and events and things people can talk about. I would say that's what it is. They just needed more, so why not food? Why not make a drink? Why not make dinner experiences? I do see it in a bit of a critical way, because it's almost sad that fashion could not just remain focused on the fashion product. Now everything else has to join to create this lifestyle brand.

But then on the other hand, like me for example, I enjoy creativity and I enjoy the fact that I'm able to make conscious choices in terms of my lifestyle. So I choose what I want to wear, and I'm representing myself in a particular way with what I wear. And I'm doing the same with eating.

For that reason I totally understand that they go hand-in-hand, because it's not only about what you put outside on your body, but what you put inside it. For me, both are so important. So they almost belong together.

I also feel like we're at such an emotionally heightened place in our current world, and eating is such an emotional, primal act. And fashion is so personal - it’s what you put on to protect yourself. It’s a way of speaking to the outside world without using your voice. So the similarity lies in that emotional language and connection.
I totally agree.

What are your tips and hacks in terms of maintaining a vegan lifestyle alongside a busy fashion career?
I personally only buy organic food. It helps me to make better choices in the store because they offer less shit. It's easier to buy stuff that is not wrapped in plastics and seasonal food if you buy organic, because usually they only offer that. From my experience when you buy local, seasonal ingredients, they last longer in the fridge, because it's the right time for them to be eaten. So they don't rot as quickly or turn weird. My boyfriend and I do one big shop on a Sunday in the organic market near our house, and then we try to make a meal plan for the week.

Is there a book you would recommend or a particular resource for people interested in learning more?
I learn a lot on social media, because my algorithm is just vegan accounts. So I learn all the hacks there. Some insta accounts I like are @low_res_food, @plantbasednews, @veganwelcome, @livekindly, @danielhumm, @elevenmadisonpark. There’s also a book by Max La Manna called ‘More Plants, Less Waste’ - there are recipes but also a lot of tips and tricks on how to shop, how to store and how to reduce food waste.

What is vegan4000's signature dish, if you had to pick one?
I love, love beans. I also make tacos all the time, but they are completely freestyled. I don't follow any rules when I cook. With tacos, you can make it with leftovers and whatever's in the fridge.

Which country has the best vegan food?
I think Japan in terms of umami and flavour. Vegan Japanese food can be incredible - the way it looks, the way it tastes, the textures, everything.

And can you think of anyone who is vegan that people would never expect to be vegan?
Maybe my mom, she's 71. She's so cool. She was 45 when she turned vegetarian, and then when she was around 60, she became a vegan. Where she lives in the countryside in Austria, she's the only vegan in her age group. And no matter what her friends or people around her say to her when she goes to a birthday or is invited somewhere - and she's sometimes quite hurt because people say crazy, awful things - she's just going for it. She's healthy and she looks amazing. You know, it's never too late. Anyone can turn vegan at any age.

Lastly, what would your last meal on earth be and what would you wear to eat it?
Corn tacos, and I would wear leggings and a very tight top. Everything very tight. Crew neck, not turtleneck.

Vegan4000’s taco recipe:

4 corn tacos, baked in the oven at 220 degrees for 5 minutes

3 Beyond Meat balls, smashed and fried in flavourless coconut fat

1 large porcino mushroom, cut in 1cm thick slices, fried on medium heat in olive oil or flavourless coconut fat

1 small leek, cut into small pieces and fried in olive oil or flavourless coconut fat. It should turn a little brown for maximum taste

4 small leaves of radicchio, washed

8 yellow cherry tomatoes, 2 smoky garlic cloves, parsley, paprika powder, salt and pepper - all blended into a raw salsa

Chopped fresh parsley to garnish

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