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.

MAYN Catwalk Fashion Show Amsterdam SS16

The wave of Dutch menswear is getting stronger every year. Tonight another name came to the surface: MAYN. This Amsterdam based menswear brand was founded in 2014 by the award-winning Croatian-born designer Maja Podrug. She launched her first unisex collection for Spring Summer 2013 and her first menswear collection for Autumn Winter 2014 at Cro-A-Porter in Zagreb. Before studying fashion design Maja graduated in Art History. Exploration of sculptural and architectural formative principles is often at the core of MAYN’s designs resulting in innovative cuts and adaptive features.

And that’s exactly what she showed this afternoon, with her collection called Flow. It was inspired by Yuanyang Rice Terraces -hybrid landscapes that represent resolution between working man. It was translated into continuous and organic curve, soft lines and otoshiana pattern-cutting technique and details. It’s minimalistic pallet of blacks, whites and dark navel color-blocking was based on the work of surrealist German-French artist, painter and poet Jean Arp. Garments also took references from villagers minimalistic work wear in terms of casual widths and longer lengths, a high number of slits and compartments, adaptive details and use of waterproof materials and rubber coating, giving it an urban outdoor feel.

The minimal but functional collection gives the wearer extra layer of confidence for sure and seems perfect for our Dutch modern day city dweller that has to deal with constant shifts between casual and business, but especially the hot temperatures and heavy rain showers that we have to deal with every summer.

Nikki Duijst wins Lichting 2015

Nikki Duijst is the winner of Lichting 2015 supported by V&D. During a spectacular fashion show 14 graduates presented their graduation collection to an audience of national and international fashion professionals. They voted Nikki as the upcoming fashion design talent of Dutch fashion. She received the V&D Talent award and a money prize of 10.000 euro which she can invest in the development of her work. During the show Nikki presented five looks out her graduation collection named As we seek our face. A collection with which she investigated her personal fear of being in the spotlights versus the pressure of social media to promote yourself as a unique, outstanding character. Anonymity, femininity, covering up and exposing were the focus points in the collection full of long, lean, striped and beautifully colored creations.

Recap Amsterdam Fashion Week Day 1

Amsterdam Fashion Week´s catwalk schedule has kicked off with a splendid openings night. Let´s look back and recap some of the highlights of the first day of Amsterdam Fashion Week SS16.

 

Judith van Vliet x Chris van den Elzen LAB Fashion Week Amsterdam SS16

Deep ocean diving is something we normally do under strict surveillance. But Dutch designers Judith van Vliet and Chris van den Elzen took us 14000 feet deep in just a split second. No wetsuit or snorkel needed. Just your eyes, to admire and explore life beneath the waves, with its mind-blowing creatures lightening up the darkest waters and also, hopefully, our feeling of responsibility. “With this collection we wanted to show people how incredibly beautiful the ocean is, with its colours and interesting creatures like jellyfish, plankton and algea. The oceans are the lungs of our world, so we should take good care of it. But we don’t seem to realize their importance, if you look at the heavy pollution that’s going these days. There’s not enough attention for this huge world problem.” So the designers took a good shot at it.
It was translated into a colour palette of different shades of blue, black, whites and coral tones. Liquid lines and light,transparant fabrics resembling the fluid water. We saw some skirts and vests with scaly structures. Simple plastic strokes were made into abstract coral-like adornment. The models’ faces were painted with bold blue tones and soft sparkles on their eyelids reaching over the eyebrows combined with a semi wet hair look. Normally ending rock bottom is something we would avoid by any chance. But this time it wouldn’t have been so bad to stay a little bit longer below the surface.

Monique Collignon Couture Catwalk Fashion Show Amsterdam SS16

Dutch designer Monique Collignon and her deep-fried pizza food regime, it was the talk of the day as run-up for her ‘ultimate comeback’ on the Amsterdam catwalk. But not tonight. The front row was packed with fancy ladies, some famous faces emerged tentively towards their seats and some journalists were patiently waiting while staring at the huge backdrop. One that was soon to be filled with close-ups of mesmerizing earthy tones and minerals, an interesting starting point for a collection called ‘Earth Delight’. It was yet another show that was a shoutout to nature’s most hidden treasures but in a theatrical eighties meets Jerry Hall manner. Big, bigger, biggest.

The show was opened by Dutch model Ovo Drenth, slowly and confident walking down the runway wearing a blossoming black dress covered with lots of shimmerings. Soon followed by more floor-sweeping dresses, fancy skirts and classic silhouettes. All ultra feminine, alternating between soft lace, embroideries and a sea of ruffles. Not to mention the Swarovski-embellishments, sometimes all over, sometimes as small details. The contrast of lightness and weight was as well in the fabrics as in the colours. The final look was a huge white dress with sparkling details, that made some women trembling from excitement.

The clothes may not be very appealing and affordable for the regular fashion crowd, but it’s exactly what a real Collignon woman would ask for. And as Collignon summoned us to take good care of our planet and stop the pollution, what better army could she wish for than this impressive line-up of stunning ladies.

Aziz Bekkaoui Catwalk Fashion Show Amsterdam SS16

“There will be a surprising guest-model walking down the runway tonight”, Dutch tv-host and male model Dirk Taat revealed a few minutes before show time. That already started many rumours about the opening show of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Amsterdam. And it was up to artist and designer Aziz Bekkaoui, who has his roots in Morocco, to warm up the fashion audience. And it seemed to be the follow-up of his last season show. While his fall collection was all about love, named United Hearts Now, this time it was about United Origins. His aim was to redefine everyday lines, squares, colours and symbols that have been around us for ages, surrounding us in the streets and in the media. Sometimes it’s good to look at regular things from a different angle, change your perception and see it in a new and refreshing daylight, considering them more than just a colour or solid constitution. The result was a clean graphic pallet of black, white, red and blue held together by golden cement. In some outfits a bold orange caught our eye, in others the British flag peeped out, perhaps the epitome of his message. Some outfits looked modernly clean, others were richer, more accessorised or slightly preppy. Oh and not to mention those white sneakers. Any guy who wouldn’t want to wear those crispy whites during summer time? We kept on flipping the pages in our ‘How to Stay Cool During the Summer’ guide, which was underlined by Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black and an upbeat Dutch hip hop finale song, which was a direct link to that mysterious guest on the runway, Dutch rapper Yes-R. One thing’s for sure; Aziz gives you a one way ticket to a cool urban attitude.

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