Jef Montes Fashion Week Amsterdam FW2014

A burning, spinning communion candle as a backdrop; Artez graduate Jef Montes again (like with his 2012 graduation collection) seemed inspired by religion. He immediately caught everyone’s attention as he kicked off his show with a model pouring two ‘candles’ of indigo paint over her white dress. What followed was a mix of blue and white wet-looking creations with matching head pieces. Impressive were the shiny designs, created out of satin duchesse and hand painted fibre glass. And even though the fit of the designs (robes) was loose and structured beautiful, colorful, cross-shaped embroideries added a touch of refinement to the Illuminosa collection. The first official fashion week collection for Jef and most certainly not the last one.

Jan Boelo Fashion Week Amsterdam FW2014

You don’t have to undress to be sexy was Jan Boelos message tonight. And indeed, he didn’t show a lot of skin. There was no need to. His male and female models rocked his autumn designs nonetheless. Walking the show on flat boots, fully dressed; how surprisingly comfortable! Long knitted skirts with loose cardigans and leather lace up gloves for the girls. Tailored jackets, leather pants and dito gloves for the lads. A series of strong metallic pieces, heavy leather, some linnen even as well as a bit of black sheerness. No full volume rock music this time; a live band beautifully performed two songs on stage. The models walked much slower (than we’re used to at Boelo) too, but there was just as much energy in the show area (those front row celeb guests might have something to do with that too). A big applause at the end for the Groningen-based designer who is doing so well. This, more commercial collection, will sure score too once it hits the stores (including Boelos new selling point Azurro in Amsterdam) in half a year.

Francisco van Benthum FashionWeek Amsterdam FW2014

Francisco van Benthum formed a perfect start of our Friday evening. He presented us with a strong, cohesive, masculine collection (titled CON-STRUCT), which had a little something for every men with a desire to look fashion minded yet not too trendy. Socker scarves and socks worn with slippers; Francisco’s models might have been dressed up as fashion hooligans, they looked stylish nevertheless. In a color palette of red, white, black and grey all fall/winter musthaves made their appearance. Sportive and tough bomber jackets, trenchcoats, pleated pants, leather sweaters, crispy white shirts and structured sweaters paired with super small ties, black suits, double breasted coats; they were all there with a special focus on outerwear. All perfectly tailored, color coordinated and styled. As the collection build up, the music got stronger too. Graffiti prints popped up on several items. ‘Stop the repression choose freedom’ was Francisco’s message, but even without his call for freedom his clothes had more than enough to say. The story of well dressed men ready to hit the office, a family get together, a fancy party or just the streets of any global city.

MATTIJS FashionWeek Amsterdam FW14

Mattijs kicked off the fall winter 2014 edition of Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek Amsterdam. His collection was inspired by Van Gogh.

FashionWeek Amsterdam FW2914 Fashion LAB: Franzel & Duran Lantink

Eric Franzel, the designer of Franzel Amsterdam, took a current subject like the loss of our privacy due to activities on the internet and Edward Snowden as an inspiration for his FW2014 collection. The vibe was sportswear/streetwear based, with bomberjacks, tracksuits and nylon raincoats wit velcro-details as the heart of his collection. Big logo’s were attached to the (black, gray, khaki) nylon and jersey garments screaming Privacy, Sell, Google and SaFeSex.

The second designer that showed during this Vodafone FashionLab show was Duran Lantink. This time he took the audience to what seemed a Mongolian culture. Silhouettes were stiff and angular, with lots of white, silver and neon-green. Cropped tops, wide pants and layers made an intriguing collection.

FashionWeek Amsterdam FW2014, this was Day 1

FashionWeek Amsterdam finally kicked off yesterday with a poetic show of Mattijs and a strong presentation of Aziz Bekkaoui which received a standing ovation. The festive openingsnight closed with a big birthday-cake tot celebrate the 10-th anniversary of FashionWeek Amsterdam.

Aziz Bekkaoui Fashion Week Amsterdam FW2014

Aziz Bekkaoui’s fashion show was the closing ‘act’ of tonight’s opening ceremony. The artist and designer, who has his roots in Morocco, treated us to a grande fashion spectacle – named Images Rule – that never seemed to end. “An homage to diversity”, as he stated in his show notes. A selection of soldiers dressed in black opened the show, marching to the beats of Fight the Power. Dark designs followed in a mix of materials like leather, lace and fur. Both men and women paraded in the show, yet their ensembles weren’t all that different for most of the part. Strong silhouettes, mix of textures and Bekkaoui’s eye for detail came through in all of the creations. Some looked modernly clean, others were richer, more accessorized and therefore appeared more classic. Enormous fur bags, high collars, long gloves and heavy head pieces made it a true f/w collection. No worries if next winter will be freezing cold; with Bekkaoui’s collection we’ll have plenty of warm pieces to choose from.

Watch the video of the show Images Rule below:

Maison the Faux Fashion Week Amsterdam FW2014

Looking for a fashion faux pas? Look no further. Maison the Faux indeed presented everything that was SO wrong, it looked right. After a video full of nude body parts the shows’ backdrop was revealed; lots of flowers and a large chandelier. A woman appeared, climbed on top of the stage setting and started singing.. from Ave Maria to jungle-like sounds, while men and women appeared. Not your ordinary models though, but strangely looking boys and girls, plus two older women. They were dressed bizarrely in pastel shaded, busy printed attires accessorized to the max. Green powder came from the ceiling, outfits had ruffles and beads and crazy hat pieces. The circus was complete as all creators entered the stage and started cleaning up the models’ mess. Nice meeting you Maison the Faux and your surprising, refreshing new side of fashion.

Mattijs Fashion Week Amsterdam FW2014

The first edition of the official Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek Amsterdam kicked off with Mattijs van Bergen presenting his fall/winter 2014 collection ‘Complementair’. Dutch (pregnant) actrice and longtime muse of Mattijs Jolanda van Berg opened the show by singing an a capella version of Starry, starry night by Don Mclean. Then from a gorgeous colored backdrop – inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s use of color – Mattijs’ models (with heavy, bright colored make-up on) slowly appeared, trees and falling leaves completed the setting. In collaboration with the Van Gogh museum Mattijs came up with a somewhat romantic, bright colored collection throughout which digital prints of Van Gogh’s work could be seen. On an extravagant, long evening gown or used, literally, as a kaleidoscopic all over print. The Dutch paintings could be seen more abstractly in just the use of colors (from his first dark works till the more explosively colored pieces of art). In between all the art references Mattijs’ signature could be seen, like in pleated skirts and jackets, duo colored pieces with graphic parts, metallic details and butterfly jewelry. New were the knitwear items combined with comfy pleated day-wear pants, which both appeared refreshing and seemed to be perfect commercial assets to Mattijs’ autumn ’14 collection.

 

 

Melissa Siegrist SS2014 Amsterdam Fashion Week

Melissa Siegrist’s boys were all ready to hop on the baseball field, or at least look pretty on the sideline. They sported striped and uni colored shorts, baseball jackets and shirts worn underneath T-shirts. Everything had a fifties vintage touch, inspired by legends like Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth. Designs, made out of linen and cotton looked effortless and comfortable. Nothing too crazy, never trying too hard; this was just a beautifully made, perfectly fitting menswear collection.  Plus, the live trumpet player and DJ made Melissa’s forth AFW show into a fun, inspirational Monday afternoon event.

« Previous Page — Next Page »