ARNHEM, WHERE THE NICE THINGS ARE

Fantastic. This one word should be sufficient to describe last week’s graduation show of fashion students of Artez, the Academy of Arts in Arnhem. The East of Holland was the place to be for fashion incrowd. Not only was there the closing weekend of the Arnhem Fashion Biennale, but also tout le monde had left off to Arnhem to see which talents the best fashion school in Holland – where Viktor & Rolf and Alexander van Slobbe were raised - had next. The show was a quite impressive one, with a variety of colours, shapes and materials; from the futuristic designs with high-tech fabrics by Hellen Rees and Ingrid Meijer to the powerful yet elegant designs in sheer materials of Lieke Pantsers. Ratna Ho’s ‘Tribal’ collection was a pleasure for the avantgarde fashion loving-eye. With her sharp shaped constructions and fabulously draped ‘spiders’ on the body, creating a beautiful and harmonious composition of lines on the body, this designer presented a totally unique look.

Then there were the more playful and quirky collections of Gladys Tumewa, Colette Vermeulen and Dido Yland. Although their designs would fit into a theatrical performance rather than in the subway, we certainly got a big smile by looking at the colourful polka dots, modern Pierrot’s and over-the-top voluminous dresses. All in all, seeing the 2009 graduates of Artez, we got to remember why we’re in fashion for: out of love for dreaming, escaping reality and grasping in a world where everything seems possible…hurray to our future fashion designers!

Mehtap Gungormez



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