Strong Fashion statements of three Fashion Masters

Franciscus (l), Jitske (m) and Oda (r), ready for the real fashion world.

Franciscus van der Meer, Jiska van Rossum and Oda Pausma graduated this summer at the Fashion Masters ArtEZ Arnhem, and proved they really are masters of fashion. Remarkable was that although they have different characters, their collections fitted well together and faded over very nicely. 

FRANCISCUS VAN DER MEER - 'Passant, souviens - toi / passer - by, remember'

Franciscus van der Meer showed a collection based on social suppression versus freedom. He have used fashion to communicate on a human scale, because to him fashion is a powerful phenomenon in our society. A designer can use that power to make people more aware, like 'living in fear', 'be suppressed by others' or 'freedom of speech'. Van der Meer translated the journey of suppression to freedom in a collection that started with a lot of black, coats cut in half, held together with suede belts. Also he used stripe motives with a subtle reference to the camp-uniform of World War II. But then, the collection gets enlightened and focus on liberation. The clothes gets les dark and shows less belts, more volume and more freedom in movement, all very well executed.

JISKA VAN ROSSUM - 'Adorned in Elegance'

Jiska van Rossum showed a tough menswear collection. Van Rossum presented her interpretation of the 'New Man', a man who is seductive by showing his vulnerability. She translated this concept with covering and uncovering the naked body, with slits and openings in classic pieces of clothing. It is clear that her fashion puts men in a new spotlight of being looked at, to stand out. Van Rossum used hard and soft materials, knitting’s, curved as well as straight lines, big draping shapes versus rigid and classical elements of masculine silhouette. Very strong silhouettes and a promising new talent in the fashion field.

ODA PAUSMA - 'Hobohemian Heaven'

Oda Pausma is a one of a kind fashion designer. Highly triggered by the stories, poetry and mysteries around the Chelsea Hotel New York of the 1970s, where actors, writers, musicians, artists and designers lived for months, Pausma created a poetic collection with folded leather, padded necklines, blacks silks, and ochre yellow. Surprising were the finishing of wrinkled curtain bands, the curtain hooks still attached!! One look was  a little uncomfortable: a more or less naked model entered the runway in a leather bustier without the cups. Maybe a reference to the sexual liberty and bra-less times of the 70s, where rock'nroll happened in the Chelsea Hotel. 

Written by Marij Rynja - Mary's Cup Of Tea
Pictures by Vincent Kos - www.vincentkos.com

ABN Opening Soiree: Iris van Herpen S/S 2011

The 13th edition of the Amsterdam Fashion Week has now been officially open! With a special opening event, sponsored by ABN-AMRO, two designer labels will enter the spotlights of the catwalk to present their commercial and creative development and reveal the steps they need to take to make it international. Tonight Spijkers & Spijkers and Iris van Herpen showed their new collections.

Iris van Herpen S/S 2011 'Crystallisation'
Iris van Herpen, a young woman of 26 years, already have blown away the international fashion world with her technical and highly conceptual fashion creations. She works with unusual materials like rubber, leather, metallics, chains and even plastics, and creates fashion that is called 'musea-worthy' by the audience tonight.
Tonight she have shown us an exclusive preview of her latest collection, called Crystallisation. Ten looks - all sexy minidresses made of skillful leather construction - formed the basis. But there was so much more to it. A unique cooperation with architects Benthem Crouwel - made by order of ARCAM - inspired her to conceptualise the concept of water: soft and fluid like water versus hard and mathematic structured ice-cristals. Frozen waterfalls were wrapped around the models bodies or integrated with her technical leather creations.

The show started with a vibrating sound, the audience literally drilled of high expectations. Then, a big videoschreen shows us a naked woman's body, waterfalls and splashing water agains her skin. A model presents herself in the lights of the video, dressed in a frozen waterfall, made of molded transparent plastic, and dissappears again. The sound of falling waterdrops and electronic music of Salvador Breed bumps out of the speakers. It's showtime for Iris van Herpen. Immediately, when the first models enters the runway, the fashion crowd sheers and applauded, you could feel the drill and enthusiasm on their faces. Van Herpen used also video on the runway itself, the image of an identical model followed her footsteps, like a cape that's tailing her body. Spectacular!
The models walked in specially made shoes, an cooperation with United Nude, which looked dazzling high. And the hair of the models even were decorated with twinkling frozen water drops. The whole show was one, clear and well composed presentation.
One item in particular shows how Iris van Herpen re-inventing herself with new ways of creating fashion. She made one showpiece with a 3D-printer, a futuristic new way of printing objects, mostly used by architects. Van Herpens 3D-printed showpiece rests on the shoulders of the model and looks like a sculptured bolero top.

Van Herpen explained before the show that she feels fashion is far behind if it comes to new techniques, materials and construction-methodes. She looks further than only textiles or natural materials. She sculps her fashion, like an artists.

We have asked some first reactions of the fashion crowd. TV-Host Arie Boomsma said that even he doesn't know a lot about fashion, he feld Iris van Herpen is one of a kind in this world. He was blown away by her creations. Andrea van Pol called the show powerful, original and elevated. She admires how Van Herpen is so original in a fashion world where everything is already done before.  The collections makes you wonder how it is made, and what it is what we just saw. Some other visitors called it dynamic, esthetic and fluid.

Well done and congratulations Iris van Herpen with this great, great show. Thank you for giving the Dutch audience this sneak preview for Londen Fashion Week.

Written by Marij Rynja - maryscupoftea- , backstage photo's by Chelsea Syrett

ABN AMRO openings soiree: SIS by Spijkers & Spijkers

SAIL AWAY WITH SISters Spijkers and Spijkers

It was raining cats and dogs. We Dutchies know how to dress up, even when the weather is not fashion friendly. Anne Drijver (Dutch actress) was dressed in an exciting jumpsuit from a new Dutch fashion label called Bravoure. She tells us Fashion Week is the only week when you can dress up without any excuses. Her friend Hanna Bervoets (journalist) wears a colourfull dress of River Island and dressed it up with some vintage accessories. It was clear, that the vision to dress up without excuses was represent by many other visitors. 

Hanna Bervoets (l) and Anna Drijver (r) 

Tonight, during the opening of the Amsterdam International Fashion Week, the time was ripe, for twin sisters Riet and Truus Spijkers to show their second label, called SIS. After working some years in London and Milan, they were back in town, with a warm reception. And that’s not without a reason, because this new collection was

typical Spijkers and Spijkers: powerful shapes, a modern touch, art deco influences from the twenties and refinement in combination with elegance.

Riet and Truus Spijkers after the show, dressed in SIS

The show starts with images of the sky. You almost get a very adventure feeling. The theme of the collection was sailing: we saw stripes, dresses with prints of sailing ships, modern saloir-collars and high waist pants and skirts. Colors like marine-blue, white, light grey and black were added in the creations. Remarkable was that these modern sailing creations were easy to wear and accessible for a broad targetgroup.

The models looks like clones of the twin sisters: long blond straight hair and tall. A coincidence? We don’t think so. The make-up artists of Maybeline New York had chosen for a natural look with only very outspoken red-orange lips. It was clear that this collection - and the make-up as well - communicate fashion for strong independent women. 

Spijkers & Spijkers have come to shore with this new fashion label, called SIS. Happy sailing! 

The young models with not more than statement-red lips and natural make up. 

Stephanie Floor and Mirielle Kuijpers of AIFW are wearing Spijkers & Spijkers dresses of collection SS2010

Merle Deterink, head-director of AIFW wearing Spijkers & Spijkers, f/w 2010.

Written and edited by Vivian Sneep and Marij Rynja, photo's made by Chelsea Syrett

Walking around in Van Lamsweerde & Matadin's heads @ FOAM

Have you ever wondered whats going on in an artists head? How he or she thinks or how it looks? Is it messy or structured? Or is there pretty much everything floating around? Fotografiemuseum_Amsterdam FOAM can give us an impression. Fashion-art-photographers Inez van Lamsweerde (1963) and Vinoodh Matadin (1961) have tried to visualise what has been in their heads for 25 years with more than 300 pictures, varying from blown-up photos, laminated images, posters and tiny pieces-of-art framed in a shiny silver list. Walking through the rooms and alleys of FOAM, you walk so to speak through their heads. 

Unlike other overview exhibitions, Inez & Vinoodh's work is not presented in a chronological order or in themes. Instead they have chosen for a more intuitive approach and mixed it all up: a glossy fashion spread for Vogue of 2007 next to a black-and-white portrait of a Hollywood actor or a framed Polaroid of 1993. It’s about context and interconnection between images. And all images represents their visual language, their identity, and their professional journey. Inez & Vinoodh described the exhibition like 'ongoing sentences, without a beginning and an end, where every word is an image’.

The duo have explored unique ways to stretch the definition whether it is called fashion, fine art, photography or commercial work. Therefore this exhibition shows how exciting the distinction (and tension) between these conflicting fields can be. It is an overview of indeed pretty much everything this internationally well-known fashion duo have accomplished so far. Don't be too late to visit the exhibition during the summer, mid September 2010 the exhibition will end.

Background

Inez van Lamsweerde (1963) and Vinoodh Matadin (1961) both studied at the Rietveld Art Academy in Amsterdam. Eager for more fashion, Van Lamsweerde specialized in Fashion Photography and Matadin in Design & Styling. Art have brought them together, professionally and passionately.

This broad luggage of fine art, fashion, visual and design have excluded the duo from other fashion photographers. But more characteristic is their edgy integration of commercial advertorial work with the fine arts, two opposites in the eye of fashion. 

Visit this link to see an interview with Vinoodh Matadin & Inez van Lamsweerde during the openings-ceremony last June, 2010. They give feedback on the way of presentation, on their cooperation and their work. Recommended to see this video before you step into their heads!  


Limited Edition Paper made by M/M (paris) ! Only € 7,95, a real collectors item.
Exclusively made for this exhibition, M/M (paris) designed a newspaper filled with 25 superposters, an image for every year Vinoodh and Inez are together, in work and in love. And M/M have designed a custom-made typography them, which is spread through the exhibition and is on the back of every poster as well. So, buy 25 images of Inez & Vinoodh for only €7,95. For sale at FOAM or via their webshop.

Where: FOAM, Keizersgracht 609, Amsterdam | When: untill 15th of September 2010 | Price: 10 euros | Info: www.foam.nl | Free guided tour on 15th of July (this thursday!) at 19:30 hrs.

Text and pictures by Marij Elisabeth Rynja

Kelder sale @ studio Frans Molenaar

Fashion Week DOWNTOWN is the 'off-schedule' program of AIFW and the best thing about it is that it's open to the public! The Kelder sale of Frans Molenaar was on today's schedule.

Frans Molenaar is a Dutch couturier that has been around for about 40 years now. Until 2005 he has launched 80 different collections. Great achievement!



This year Frans collaborated with AIFW and presented a 'Kelder' (basement) sale. This sale is based on the remains of previous collections by the couturier. 'Not everyting in a collection gets sold and this is stored in the basement. Hence a basement sale', thus Frans.















Entering the studio there were multiple racks full of clothes. Mostly hung by color to present a clear and beautiful picture. Walking by the racks you could see the differences in collections. You could find trenchcoats and jackets in tweed fabrics, costumes and suits. It was a walk back in time. 'Some of these pieces are at least 25 years old and they still look great' the couturier added.















And he was absolutely right, we spotted beautiful handmade dresses with details barely noticable by the naked eye. But modern pieces were in store too such as dotted blouses.

Because of the different collections at the sale there was pretty much something for everyone! And for almost half (or even more) off of the original price!

Text by STACEY CURRIE
Photos by CHELSEA SYRETT

You can finally own your own Claes Iversen design, as he opened a beautiful shop/atelier yesterday on the Herengracht 176.

Obviously the whole fashion pack attended the opening - where Claes himself was brimming with pleasure and excitment. And who can blame him, last year his whole archive was burnt to cinders in a disastrous fire.

Congratulations Claes on your perserverance and stunning store!










PHOTOGRAPHY: CHELSEA SYRETT