Arrey Berlin Catwalk Fashion Show Amsterdam SS16

Brand label Arrey Kono (founded in 2005) recently changed into Arrey Berlin. And with this change the renewed brand kicked off at Amsterdam Fashion Week. The new and improved Arrey is all about “orginal elements of plisse fashion combined with a world class production and an exclusive slice of Berlin’s fashion scene”, so the press release stated. A signature style translated into a XL show full of original, grungy looks inspired by Arrey’s middle. “It’s not just about the moment it is beyond the moment. It is The Middle.”

Highway lines were pasted onto the runway and could be seen throughout the whole collection. Even the model’s brown painted faces had lines on them. As the show’s soundtrack raved on about robots the Berlin based design label experienced it’s big Amsterdam fashion week moment.

The show seemed divided into three of four different themes. The first one, very dark, was based around black cored leather. It was followed by light shaded satin and bright colored knits, creating a balance between light and dark. Fabrics had a special way of moving, fluent and flowing. Strong silhouettes made the models appear tough, their hair in a long tight braid.

In 2006 Arrey owned 42 shops worldwide. Let’s see where this collection will take her.

Alexandra Frida Catwalk Fashion Show Amsterdam SS16

On the last day of AFW Alexandra Frida, founded in Cuba, was one of the largest LAB shows this week. Designer Alexandra Vollebregt made sure to leave an impression with her ANNA collection. Having lived in Zaire and Nigeria colorful and cultural influences from these countries were visible throughout her collection. And having interned at Bas Kosters, who convinced Alexandra to graduate with a runway collection, might have something to do with the colorfulness and positivity of today’s show as well. During her study at AMFI Alexandra specialized in trend forecasting, textile and print design. Skills, which she showcased through her iconic bright mirrored feather prints, rich fabrics and soft shades. Lots of co-ords, cropped tops, maxi-dresses, knee high skirts, bombers, sneakers, colorful socks, 3D nail art and half buns gave the collecton it’s young and trendy touch. A collection filled with outspoken, original designs that will make anyone recognize a Alexandra Frida piece from a far distance. And any girl or woman who isn’t into full on printed outfits can match her printed pieces with all black tops or bottoms, preferably in leather, if it’s up to Alexandra. Either way no one can be underdressed wearing a piece from this ANNA collection.

 

Monique Collignon Couture Light Catwalk Fashion Show MBFWA SS16

Mother Earth is obviously the main topic this Amsterdam Fashion Week. And for Monique Collignon it was time to turn yet another page of her earth prelude this week, revealing chapter two of her Earth Delight story. The catwalk was blocked with an enormous inflatable planet. And what better way to warm up your audience than to press play Michael Jackson, whispering his earth song in your ear (“what have we done to the world”). It led to absolute silence minutes before the lights turned off.

While her show on thursday’s opening night was based on earthy minerals, this one’s based on nature’s four elements: earth, water, fire and wind. The main differences were not so much in the designs itself, but mostly in the use of colour. When talking of nature’s treasures, you can’t skip its beautiful shades. Each element had it’s particular color scheme: Earth (soft pink, beige, green), water (white, blue, green, yellow), fire (red, orange, pink, black) and wind (black and white). Outfits consisted mainly out of dresses in all sorts: knee-lenght, ballet-like, sleeveless, covered with sequins or wrapped around the body. If you’re not a very dressy person, the elegant cinched or strapless jumpsuits might be a good option. Some looks were accessorised with animal printed scarves and clutches. No surprises there for the real Collignon fans (except for the sneakers), but just a rich collection both timeless and modern.

Susana Bettencourt Catwalk Fashion Show Amsterdam SS16

The SS16-collection is the beginning of a new cycle for Susana and this one’s the first of another four chapters. And also a new start to experiment with new fabrics and techniques without losing her solid signature. “For me it was about how I can keep on developing my work, but people can still see in a second that this is me.” It resulted in her familiar lace techniques and knitwear details, but with a new embossing technique. The collection is build around the way we see the world. How can we all have so different views? “The first book you get to read on Central Saint Martins is about the human body anatomy and especially the eye. So I totally got involved in that, explored every bit of it, as close as I could to the pupil, the colours and even the whole structure of the vains and translated this to my designs.”

Remarkable this time was the absence of colour and ethical details, something we have seen a lot in all her previous collections. “This time I wanted to keep it really simple and clean, so I’ve chosen white as main colour. The ethical detail was mainly in the white paint around the eyes.”

To understand the path taken by Susana as a fashion designer, we need to go back a few years and travel to the Azores in Portugal, where her passion for knitwear and traditional lace techniques were developed from early in her childhood. Relocating to London, to undertake a BA in Fashion Knitwear at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Susana continued to hone her knitwear and women’s wear skills and translated her sculptural designs into the dimension of seamless knitwear. She explores the boundaries between technology and hand-crafting knitwear techniques, developing the jacquard to the extreme in order to make textures and volume in detail. And it got her pretty far. Her signature collections have won over fans the whole world over, including pop diva Lady Gaga. Will it also in Holland? As Plato once said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. In that case, she did a pretty good job tonight.

AMWESTEN Catwalk Fashion Show Amsterdam SS16

In a world of fast fashion, designer Annemarie Westen wants to go back to craftsmanship, the point where the fashion process starts from scratch. “My work is never really based on a solid concept, it’s more about the feeling. It surpasses time or age and particular fashion seasons. I aim to give women a certain feeling, I want my clothes to strengthen who they are. Be equal to yourself. Sexyness and confidence is not depending on boobs or butts, but knowing yourself.” Something Annemarie herself has no trouble with, as this collection was full of her familiar signatures. Her designs are simplistic, sophisticated and wearable without losing elegance. She plays with subtle changes in the usual, using sharp graphic layers as a sign of strength, while the soft springy materials such as silk and wool emphasise a woman’s grace. But this time around she added more draping details in maxi-dresses and trousers. For a summer collection though, the colour palette was quite gloomy with only black, white and green. “Black is usually the basic pallet I’m working on, because it’s my favourite colour. And use of colour can cause distraction.” It perfectly fitted the dark, heavy music of Marilyn Manson and Pantera that reached our ears, and gave the show an even stronger heartbeat and a don’t-mess-with-me feeling. Exactly as she had hoped for.

Tailor&Elbaz Catwalk Fashion Show Amsterdam SS16

Two years ago designers slash models slash tv-personalities Maria Tailor and Tamara Elbaz took over Collection PRC, the label of former designer Percy Irausquin. But due to the lack of freedom and design possibilities, especially the lack of space for sporty and super trendy items, made them decide to start their own label. So they did, launching Tailor&Elbaz, a line based on their personal taste, mixing trendy with basic and casual with chic. The exact ingredients they showed today on the Amsterdam Runway. Except, they added a, let’s say, little show element to it. Because how not to go all the way when the theme is Alice in Wonderland. The catwalk was transformed into a dreamy fairytale setting, including a stretch of grass, enormous flowers, mushrooms and rose peddles. All is well, but the question was of course: what is Alice wearing today?

We can imagine Alice her wardrobe isn’t that surprising, but what would happen if you add some Tailor and Elbaz to it? The answer: she would definitely be more glamorous, rock ‘n roll and sporty. She would wear more polo dresses, blossoming skirts, pencil skirts, varsity jackets, ‘love’ and ‘queen’tops and denim shorts covered with hearts. Their color palette of choice existed of shades of black, white, blue and pink. After so much fairtytale sweetness and romance on the tennis court, the rock ‘n roll was mainly found in the many earrings, heavy cat eye make-up and severe ponytails.

This is not a collection that will make heads turn or still you fashion cravings, but if you’re in desperate need of some easy-going daywear glamour, stop searching.

Political Catwalk Fashion Show Amsterdam SS16

It wouldn’t be a strange assumption that the worlds of fashion and politics are so different that they will never collide. But this afternoon, there was serious proof of the growing connections between the two of them during the Political Catwalk. A small group of youngsters from Amsterdam designed fashion for politicians, that politicians showed themselves on the catwalk. An initiative from Stichting f6, who organizes sociocultural projects to raise awareness and to convey knowledge about politics and democracy.

It’s definitely not a first that fashion shows have been linked to political engagement. But it’s definitely a first for these pupils, who used fashion as a tool to air out their thoughts on politics and democracy. While the musical background was filled with sound clips from Dutch political debates, the politicians slash models came walking down the runway in designs such as a jumpsuit covered with Twitterbirds, a skirt made out of newspapers, a dress with vote pencil fringes, a Dutch flag kaftan or a Van Gogh printed shirt.

But there was more to the program, as there was the Encouragement Award to be handed out. Cécile Narinx, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, was one of the judges. “Uniting fashion and politics is just as hard as trying to merge the north and south pole. Most politicians generally play it safe when it comes to the clothes they’re wearing. Which is a pity, because the way you look can really underline your story and your political statement. You can use it in smart way. These kids made an brave attempt to bring those two separate worlds together throughout their designs. As a judge I will pay attention to movability, personality and, of course, if the political message is well translated.” According to the judges, it was Gaby Reiman’s bike tire skirt design who succeeded to do this best. Nonetheless the question still remains– will fashion and politics ever fully join forces? It’s up to you to mark your cross.

Amsterdam Fashion Week SS16 Streetwear Day 3

What are they wearing during the Amsterdam Fashion Week? A Bas Kosters dress, this seasons Spijkers en Spijkers summer suit or an asymmetric Tony Cohen trench? We don’t judge, we’re not the fashion-police, we just enjoy (Dutch) fashion and your own personal style.

SIS by Spijkers and Spijkers Catwalk Fashion Show MBFWA SS16

“She loves me she loves me she loves me. A love from outer space. Take a ticket to ride this space express. Meet the girl in the star dress.” The music had set the tone right away. Although it was not exactly a star dress, there were many outer space dresses indeed to be seen tonight. Colourful and shimmery sleeveless dresses with space shuttles or soft PJ-like shirt-dresses printed with spinning planets and galaxy creatures. Truus and Riet Spijkers are not the first one this fashion season flirting with rocket science (remember Prada’s quirky sweaters for men emerged with rocket ship motifs?). They got their main inspiration from Margaret Hamilton, the female engineer who took the Apollo 11 to the moon. “Astronauts that have been into space and have seen the earth from above got enlightened. It happend to Wubbo Ockels as well. They suddenly seem to realise how beautiful the earth is and we should take better care of it.”  And how to take better care of it with lots of love. We need cupido’s arrows (seen on the dresses and tops) to feel the love and passion. “Love and passion gives direction to our lives and fuel our hearts.” And it also fueled our love for fashion again, pampering us with beautiful daywear summer suits, easy-going skirts and flared trousers. Probably clothes that NASA wouldn’t approve before going up in space, but at least it got us dreaming of outer space. And although the show had already ended, we couldn’t help but keep dancing on Jamiroquai’s Cosmic Girl.

House of Byfield Catwalk Fashion Show Amsterdam SS16

Designer Carmichael Byfield, who has Jamaican roots, had one goal this season: bringing us closer to each other and closer to nature. “I saw it on the catwalks in New York City last year, nature is a hot topic now in the world of fashion. Because it’s important to us as human beings, nature and life are intertwined forever. We should not escape or ignore it, but embrace it instead.” So he did, but in a rock ‘n roll way. We were sucked into a fifties western movie, played by modern day cowboys. All dressed in ‘daywear suits’ balancing on the edge of bold and sophisticated, like semi-transparant bomber jackets and shirts or high waisted trousers. All clothes dipped in bold colours such pink, blue, purple and green. “My collection is for men who’re not afraid of some color in their wardrobe.” He even allows the lads to show some bare skin, sleeveless jackets and unzipped jackets, without feeling like an presumptuous arrogant prick. But as we all know, a man’s world would be nothing without a woman or a girl. The ladies had 50’s retro hairstyles and red lips that would make Gwen Stefani or Paloma Faith jealous, and ladylike dresses that want to make you swing forever on tonight’s jukebox tunes. If this is a proper way to embrace our planet, we feel you Carmichael.

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