Front row SIS by Spijkers en Spijkers – Amsterdam Fashion Week

Check out who was sitting front row at the SIS by Spijkers en Spijkers Fashion show. We spotted some cool editors and VIP’s!

Iris van Herpen Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Iris van Herpen started her show with a clip of a naked woman surrounded by splashes of water.  That water appeared to be essential in her collection. Her ten looks represented ‘Crystallization’: the process of water turning into crystal.

Iris translated that process by giving water a determined form. Some outfits looked like someone had thrown a bucket of water over a model and time had frozen that water into an outfit. Exactly that opposition between fluid and hard materials was the starting point of the collection. There was also a strong contradiction between wearable and non-wearable items.

‘I’m fascinated by the fact that secret lines are hidden in fully transparent and fluid materials. At the moment this material freezes (when the crystal arises) this comes to life. It’s then that the symmetry and structure underneath become visible’, explains Iris.

Apart from the frozen water items Iris showed several strong handmade designs. Every detail of those outfits was perfection and must have taken hours to make. Yet those are the designs which define Iris as an artist.

One of the looks had a 3D print all over it. It was based on sculptures and made by the famous architect Daniel Widrig. Iris: ‘It took one computer hours and hours to make that print and it costs thousands of dollars, but it looks so good.’ So far Iris is the first fashion designer to work with this kind of 3D print.

Unfortunately Iris only showed ten looks today, but the clothes and the way she presented them made everything worthwhile. All models were filmed while they walked the runway. And as they moved a video was played on the catwalk in which you could see the models walking. ‘The models in the video were enlarged, so people could see the details of the clothes even when they were not sitting front row, says Iris.

The show was great and the reactions of the audience were wild. London is lucky to be able to show Iris’ whole SS2011 collection.

SIS by Spijkers en Spijkers Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

After showing in London and Milan for years twin sisters Riet en Truus Spijkers are back in Amsterdam. Today they held a fashion show to present their brand new clothing line SIS.

SIS, short for sister, is the new diffusion line (and the little sister)of the fashion label Spijkers en Spijkers. ‘It’s something totally different, but the clothes still have a recognizable Spijkers en Spijkers touch’, explains Truus Spijkers. SIS is less pricy than the regular line and is more widely accessible.

The show started with a film of moving clouds, then the models appeared. They looked like the typical Spijkers en Spijkers women; long, tall, with long blond hair, like the twin sisters themselves, but with a whole new wardrobe.

The clothes of the first SIS collection were inspired by a Dutch folk song from 1774 (Daar was laatst een meisje loos) and had all kinds of maritime references. The collection told the story of a girl looking for adventure and sailing along with a captain whom she fell deeply in love with.

This story was translated through plain blue, green and white (colors of the sea) dresses with eye-catching buttons, pockets and folded boats and parrots as details on the collars of several pieces. Those were alternated by great designs with prints of sailing ships, sea horses and different types of shells in blue and white. Meanwhile Sail Away by Enya was on the speakers.

Of course with a theme like this Riet and Truus incorporated a Breton stripe in the collection. Some small black and white checked prints and several grey outfits looked great as well. Jumpsuits, jackets with tucked up sleeves and cute little shorts proved the designers stayed true to themselves with this collection.

And the best part of this story is the new SIS line will be available for prizes ranging from 85 to 350 euro.

Let’s hope Spijkers en Spijkers will continue showing this line in Amsterdam. It’s good to have you back girls!

Ready to Fish Catwalk Fashion show SS2011

The Ready to Fish fashion show was playful, fresh and trendy. Ilja Visser took some of this moment’s biggest fashion trends and combined them with the type of clothing she is good at making. Jumpsuits, pleated trousers and strong short jackets.

The fact that Ilja is well aware of today’s trend was visible in every aspect of her collection. Not only the type of clothing, but also the colors, the fit and the materials she chose are hot right now.

Shades of blue, black, off-white, pink, peach and light brown were perfectly combined in several outfits. For instance, Ilja took a pair of brown shorts and matched those with a peach colored top and a black jacket.

Great prints were part of summer collection as well. At the beginning of the show they came by very subtle, on the lining of a pair of pants or around the buttons of a trenchcoat. Yet towards the end some great jackets and dresses were printed all the way. The prints had very natural colors and resembled some kind of stains.

Ilja worked a lot with pleats and paid some extra attention to the collars of some looks. Some dresses got a little extra volume, cause they were not only pleated but also layered.

Many of the outfits were finished off by nice accessories. Necklaces made out of fabric for instance, but also some great clutches.

We couldn’t think of anyone who would not want to relax in those clothes. Each and every outfit, looked so comfortable and had such a nonchalance feeling to it. There was nothing too tight or too short. Ilja once again designed a collection of clothes in which women can feel beautiful, sexy and relaxed at the same time.

Armani Prive Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

Bad news for the brown-, black- and red-haired models who wanted to walk in Armani’s couture show. The Italian designer chose to work only with blonde models this time. He gave them all a classic and feminine look, with a business touch.

The girls wore Armani classics; skirts at a decent knee-length and perfectly tailored jackets. One black croco leather jacket with a waist belt worn over it looked stunning.

The theme of the collection was ‘A play on amber’. This was visible in the large wooden and amber brooches Armani put on his jackets. They were the perfect classic accessory and really made the looks work.

For evening Armani brought on the floor sweeping dresses, mostly in brown and beige like the rest of this couture collection. They all flared out form the bust down. Armani used some gorgeous draping on the dresses. He played with materials like tweed and cashmere. And he ended the show with some mermaid dresses covered in thousands of shiny sequins.

Jean Paul Gaultier Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture collection was all about proportions. The designer accentuated the shoulders and the waists of his designs and therefore made his models look super feminine. His shoulders were not highlighted like on a regular eighties dress, they had extra (thick) fabric and even fur on them which was placed on a big part of the sleeves.

All models wore hat sculptures, which, regardless of their crazy shape, looked quite elegant.

The collection was an obvious fall/winter collection; lots of leather, lots of fur and lots of black. There were a few outfits in remarkable colors though, like a bright green dress, a yellow (almost neon) one and a purple jumpsuit.

With a few looks Jean Paul Gaultier was reminiscing his previous success items. He for instance emphasized the boobs and buts of one outfit by placing a cone of black mink on them to remind us of his already unforgettable cone bra moment.

The whole collection felt very Parisian chic; the models looked sexy and feminine. Dita von Teese’s appearance was the perfect match for this kind of fashion show. The burlesque artist walked the catwalk twice in a detailed lingerie look to promote the upcoming lingerie line of JPG and La Perla.

Chanel Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

The setting of the Chanel Couture show was a round stage on which a huge bronze Lion was standing. Getting the lion inside of the area must have been just as hard as it was with the iceberg, cause it was HUGE! The lion’s front paw was resting on what looked like a giant pearl. From out of that ball Lagerfeld’s models appeared.

The girls made a tangled impression; their hair was messy and most times was hanging all in front of their faces. The clothes on the contrary were flawless. Karl Lagerfeld designed many typical Chanel suits. They were made out of tweed, camel, velvet and many other thick autumn fabrics. The focus was often on the sleeves; those were loose and had pleats.

Karl also played with his jackets; he let his models wear short jackets over long ones and made them look like a one-piece. His skirts were all at knee-length or longer and were often wide like the skirts at the latest Louis Vuitton show. The waists of the outfits were small.

All creations came in shades like maroon, brown, camel and navy. They were highlighted by gold details;  embroideries, sequins and beadings. Eye-catching bracelets and golden boots completed the gorgeous looks.

And we sure hope that big lion was a sign of Karl Lagerfeld saying ‘Holland is going to win the World Cup’. We’ll see about that on Sunday.

Ps. This week rumours were spread about Lagerfeld appearing on Gossip Girl any time soon. Since Blake Lively and Leigthon Meester from that serie attented the Chanel show we think it’s not going to be long before we see Karl on TV.

Christian Dior Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

John Galliano kicked of the haute couture fashion week with a ‘flowerful’ collection. His creations were based on the most exotic flowers. They had outstanding shapes (resembling the shapes of famous flowers) and gorgeous colors (yellow, purple, cobalt blue, turquoise and red).

To stress the floral theme large flowers were the backdrop of this couture show. Plus, the model’s heads were packed in colorful plastic, like bouquets.

Galliano came up with his designs after studying real flowers for hours and hours. He for instance watched the light change on a tulip, which resulted in some stunning shades and a few amazing degrade effects.

Galliano paid attention to every details of his couture gowns. The ruffles, the feathers, the pleats and the lovely volume of his dresses were all close to perfection.

On the night of the next big gala event, Blake Lively, Jessica Alba, and Lou Doillon, who attended the show, will be fighting over these smoking hot couture creations.

Jan Taminiau Couture Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

Next week we will have to miss him at the Amsterdam Fashion Week. But this week Jan Taminiau gave his audience in Paris a good look at his great couture collection.

His latest work seemed to be an homage to and a reflection of couture. No mass fashion but craftsmanship and attention and love for qualitative goods are the things Jan Taminiau sees in his future.

And with this theme Jan gives his view on the future, the past and the now. Therefore the collection was all about reflection. Jan played with classical silhouettes, accessories and poses and made them modern again. His silhouettes were tall, small and slender and gave the models a certain status.

His creations didn’t have a lot of color. They were made out of grey, light pink and nudes. They were never boring though; Jan embellished them with small sparkles. Sometimes only on the upper body, sometimes all over the fabric.

Like we see in fashion right now the shoulders of most of the outfits were highlighted. Yet instead of the sharp, pointy shoulders we now see in stores, Jan designed round shoulders in more of a couture style.

All looks were finished by large hats out of which slim ponytails appeared. They made the looks feel heroic.

Too bad Jan Taminiau doesn’t show in Amsterdam this season, his collection looked stunning.

Graduation Shows: Artez – Arnhem

As the last fashion academy Artez held it’s graduation show last Friday. And the saying last but not least does apply here, cause we saw a lotttt of talent.

It was probably the hottest day of the year. Yet the 38 degrees didn’t stop the students, the models and everyone else involved from delivering a great show.

Kris Berden
Kris Berden was one of the students who proved to understand fashion. Her collection was fully built around pleats in al kinds of shapes and size. They were there on a skirt, a top and a dress, which were all in black. The pleats came back in Berden’s grey coats. One ultra-thin and slightly transparent, the other somewhat thicker. All outfits looked great, but maybe the jute top and the black transparent ‘cape’ could have had some pleat-details as well. That way the collection would have been slightly more cohesive.

Britt Tan & Fred Farrow
Two students really dared to experiment with their graduation collections. Britt Tan and Fred Farrow both used a great variaty of colors, materials, shapes and techniques. Britt Tan showed us a bright yellow jumpsuit, a loose knitted orange dress, a skirt made out of all kinds of different pieces of fabric with frayed ends. Her models all wore head scarves. Fred Farrow came up with a few light-colored coats. He used some trenchcoat-inspiration and showed one example with fur and checks. He mixed his coats with printed, colored skirts and tights. On all looks loose pieces of fabric were hanging.
We appreciate the fact that Tan & Farrow both showed some gut with their experimental collections. Yet we feel there collections could have been more cohesive and better tailored. Cause both collections came across as a little messy.

Lotte van Schijndel
Before Lotte van Schijndel’s the models started walking they all stood still on stage in a certain pose. We then could already see some great designs. Lotte van Schijndel made a collection with a classic feeling. Loose clothes, long silhouettes and plain fabrics. The blouses and coats were all without buttons. A few waistcoats gave the models some shape. There was no fuss; Van Schijndel didn’t add anything unnecessary. And that’s a good thing cause minimalism is hot in fashion these days!

Piotrek Panszezyk
Piotrek Panszezyk took the hottest fashion item of the moment, the jumpsuit, and gave it a whole new classy image. He gave all (of his many) designs a feminine, classic twist by adding some sort of airy trail to them. He showed one in black, one with lace on the sides, one white, one red, one purple. All looks varied slightly from each other, yet were still an obvious collection. The only misplaced item was an animal printed fur design. It didn’t look feminine or classy and had no connection to the rest of the collection. One other thing we didn’t understand were the loose ends on – for example – the olive green short and the collar of the purple outfit. But altogether Panszezyk’s collection was pretty impressive.

Melissa Siegrist
One last great collection we want to highlight was that of Melissa Siegrist. She designed womenswear with a very masculine touch. She mostly used grey and showed some perfectly-tailored shorts and blouses. She gave her collection a sporty vibe by adding polo’s and shorts made of jersey fabric. And her transparent pair of navy-colored pants just fit in perfectly.

« Previous Page — Next Page »