and beyond amsterdam fashion week fw2010

Mysterious, magical, from outer space and yet very poetic – those were the characteristics of a strong presentation of End Beyond.

Preview Jan Taminiau Couture

Yesterday Jan Taminiau presented his couturecollection in Paris. Tomorrow he will officially open the Amsterdam International Fashionweek with his collection Duality. These are the thoughts of the designer regarding his collection:

“‘Duality’ is based on thoughts of a duel and of duality. A duel between different cultural traditions, heritage and innovation. It is a noble duel, almost dancelike as in fencing. With a duality of seduction, unveiling and hiding.

The dresses are comprised of a duel between two different forms and a duel between different worlds. The antique Chinese fabric is used for the most dominant, sculptural form and is placed in contrast with a more classical silhouette. The dialogue also takes places between the almost organic substance of the heavily embroidered fabric with paillettes and the sensitivity of the antique hand woven fabric.

The sculptural forms can be interpreted as a shield -or protection- for battle, but at the same time they offer intimacy, play their role in a game of concealing and seduction.”

Trends ss2010: sunglasses

When it comes to sunglasses every possible shape, size and color was presented on the runway.

We saw a crazy pair at the Ungaro fashion show which had diamonds all over the glasses. At Alexander Wang they were very pointy. At Hussein Chalayan they were pentagonal. In the Moschino show a few pairs had the shape of a flower.

Karl Lagerfeld put guitars on the side of his glasses. At Jenden they had all kinds of sparkling colorful rocks on the frame. And Louis Vuitton made them look like diving-glasses.
If there was a trend to be recognized among all those sunglasses it might be the one of the small circular Beatle glasses. They were there at the fashion shows of Erdem, Carolina Herrera, House of Holland, Iceberg and Schwab.

Another variant that stood out were the sunglasses with the pointy Fifties-inspired sides, which give someone the angry schoolteacher’s look. Jenny Packham, Rochas, Sonia Rykiel, Alexander Wang and Giles had them in their fashion show.

So, no specific look stood out for SS2010. Yet it might be time for the Beatle-glasses to return.

Versus Fashion Presentation ss2010

It’s Christopher Kane’s new task to bring life back into Versus, the second line of the Versace-house which was hot in the nineties. The models were being placed on plinths to display the 25 wool, lace, and laser-cut neoprene dresses Kane has designed for his debut.  Donatella Versace herself was walking around looking over the group of black, mushroom, and sizzling red dresses. One dress was detailed with slashes held together with pink, red, and green aluminum safety pins—a reinvention of the dress that made  Elizabeth Hurley famous in 1994.

Thom Browne Catwalk Fashion Show SS10

DFF Prelude: Catta Donkersloot & Sjaak Hullekes Presentation SS10

By Ivo Wiermans

It’s time for change! And we don’t refer to the legendary words spoken by Obama, but to the atmosphere at Prelude. You know, the seasonal event on the eve of Amsterdam Fashion Week, where young Dutch fashion talents show their newest collections. The young designers at Prelude brought a unanimous message. Long-lasting designs, with a focus on shape and excelling with simplicity, showed a new generation of designers that prefers high quality to short-term fashions

In the hotel lobby of The Grand Catta Donkersloot presented her collection, which was inspired by poppy flowers and summer birds. The feeling of a warm and romantic summer resulted in graceful ribbon-covered dresses, some decorated with bird prints. The models were draped at the lobby furniture, looking like taken away by a sunny day dream.
Inside one of the hotel’s most impressive rooms, the fashion show by Sjaak Hullekes took place. The collection covered preppy outfits with Riviera-like pieces: shorts, chinos, blazers and polo shirts. Accessories and other small details were both surprising and delicate. Small leather belts covered shirts, very short shorts had fringes at the legs and male models wore bow ballerinas. ‘I want to create a new androgyny in fashion,’ explained Hullekes after the presentation. ‘With small I want to give a new impulse to classic men’s fashion.’ The items and colour palet – bright pink, beige and brown – had a vintage look. ‘My menswear has a vintage edge, but when you come closer you’ll see the renewing materials and high quality’, Hullekes concludes.

Peter Stigter & Glamour

As we announced before Peter Stigter is joining an exhibition of Glamour during the Arnhem Mode Biennale, entitled Celebrate Shape. The magazine invited their best photographers to send in their view on Shape. You didn’t go yet? Hurry, it closes july 6th. Location: Coberco Melkfabrieken, Nieuwe Kade 1, Arnhem.

Back to the future: CKFree

Outside the venue of Calvin Klein in Milan we spotted a group of gorgeous looking guys in a black Mustang convertible. The picture took us back to the future. Actually the car stars in CK’s new adcampaign for the men’s fragrance CKFree. It’s one of those young, fresh, upbeat fragrances we know so well of Calvin Klein.

Glamour & Peter Stigter in Arnhem

Now in Arnhem:  Glamour The Exhibition, Celebrate Shape. Dutch edition of Glamour invited their best photographers to send in their view on Shape – the theme of Arnhem Mode Biennale 2009.  And Peter Stigter is one of them. His futuristic picture of the recent John Galliano-show is in the exhibition, among work of 62 other colleagues like Carli Hermès, Paul Bellaart and Annemarieke van Drimmelen. Location: Coberco Factory, Nieuwe kade 1, Arnhem. Until July 6th.

Graduationshows 2009, #2 Rotterdam

The location for the graduationshow of Willem de Kooning Academy was typical Rotterdam: the Schiecentrale in trendy Lloyd-district. Raw, industrial, full of energy. The collections also represented that atmosphere, with focus on construction, shape and neutral colors.

Next Page »