HOW&WOW - Studio

Christa van der Meer

Crafts Council Nederland presented the exhibition HOW &WOW - Studio in VEEM building during the Dutch Design Week 2018

Featuring work of: Agustina Bottoni, Astrid Luglio, Babs van den Thillart, Boris de Beijer, Christa van der Meer & Gino Anthonisse – Das Leben am Haverkamp, Christine Jetten, Daan Veerman, David Derksen, De Ploeg, EE Exclusives, Emma Wessel, Foteine Makri, Joana Schneider, Lio de Bruin, Louët, Maartje Trooster, Makers Unite, Making and Metal, Maartje van der Heide, Nane-Sophie Bergmann, Patric Bakker, Sara Ricciardi, Tamara Verbruggen, Wieger van der Heide and Xandra van der Eijk.

More info: https://craftscouncil.nl

HOW & WOW - Crafts Council Nederland

Jules ten Velde

Crafts Council Nederland presented HOW & WOW exhibition during Dutch Design Week, highlighting the importance of crafts in the context of design.
At Veem building, an exhibition was set showing the processes of making and inspiring examples of crafts in design. In addition, masterclasses where organized.

'We’re at the beginning of a new creative era. The value of crafts and the urgency to preserve this immaterial heritage is finally being recognised. Designers explore how things are made and give more attention to craft processes, new industrial techniques and unique handicraft. The making process serves as the overarching theme for the crafts center.'

The curated exhibition contained designs by Koos Breen, Walter Van Beirendonck & Gerard van Oosten, Isaac Monté, Bibi Smit, Esmé Hofman, The Anti Efficients collective and many more.

http://craftscouncil.nl

Barbara Langendijk x Noon Passama

Barbara Langendijk x Noon Passama at Amsterdam Fashion Week presented a beautiful collection with a performance developed in collaboration with House of Makers.

Barbara Langendijk x Noon Passama met during their studies at the ArtEZ Fashion Masters. Barbara designs clothing and Noon is a jewellery designer. For this collaboration they were inspired by traditional smocking and gathering.
"Today's presentation is inspired by the people who use to wear a smocked garment, called the 'smock frock', which historically were a group pf tough men, shepherds and wagonists. Together with interdisciplinary arts company House of Makers, we developed a scene in which the audience and the models are placed in a context inspired by the shepherds and wagonists. However, in a play on the historical context, the shepherds are replaced by the models, and the audience is herded by them, confined and forced to view them from an opposite position than is usual for a fashion show."


www.barbaralangendijk.com
www.noonpassama.com

Photography by brankopopovicblog

Jahnkoy at New York Fashion Week Men's

JAHNKOY,  by designer Maria Kazakova is one of the most exicting collections that came out recently, expressing the current state of the fashion industry and society.
With the collection “The Displaced,”  which was a continuation of her graduate collection at the Parsons last year,  she made a debut at New York Fashion Week: Men’s

By origin Siberian designer, based in Crown Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn known for its Caribbean population, said “The Displaced” is a commentary on the fast-fashion industry’s production methods, which lead to excess clothes being dumped into Africa and the loss of artisanal jobs."

"Everything you do matters, so what we wear matters too". 

Tip: interview with Maria Kazakova at ContentMode.

www.jahnkoy.com

Photography: Sesse Lind

Alya Hessy at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2016

Alya Hessy, graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2015, operates in the world between the body and textiles.

Born in Ukraine, living in the Netherlands and fascinated by Japan, Alya explores the realms of politics, philosophy and physicality through making objects, writing and performing. She seeks emptiness as a way of letting go of the pre-defined and allowing multiple interpretations.

At the Heritage exhibition at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2016 she presented a 'knitting performance' with aim to explore the physicality of knitting.

"The work explores knitting as a concept, whereby this heritage craft becomes a model of human relationships. 
Two entities, working together, create a material. Two human bodies start moving to become knitting needles, the choreography of knitting unfolds into space and materialises into a story of two people collaborating"

Q&A with Alya Hessy

In what projects are you involved at this moment?
I am exploring new possibilities through collaborations with inspiring people. I am resear ching the meaning of craft through history and now. And I am still trying to figure out life, ha-ha!

Who are your artistic influences or inspirations and why? 
Louise Bourgeois: incredibly consistent, stubborn and mischievous. Kenya Hara about the concept of emptiness as an opening of possibilities. Japanese spaces, gardens, poetry. Roland Barthes “ The Empire of Signs” – a collection of refined witty essays on various aspects of emptiness in Japanese culture.

Finding your own voice is difficult, where and how do you find your personal creativity (before you start designing; during the design process)? 
I use my background in computer programming for collecting, analysing and dissecting data, extracting the essence. I combine it with an intuitive approach to feel the quality of the material and find a way of shaping it.

What do you want to communicate with your designs in general?
Make space.
Take your time.
Look. Listen.
Feel.

Can you tell us something about the project you presented at the FASHIONCLASH Festival? Together with a choreographer and my co-performer Pavlos Marios Ktoridis we will explore the physicality of knitting. It is a durational performance, which we performed during the Heritage Exhibition.

"A seemingly simple action, a whole range of human emotions, growing material: human relationship as a garment."

Why have you decided to participate at FASHIONCLASH Festival?
The topic Heritage triggered me, as for the performance (that will be shown on the festival) I work with an old heritage craft of knitting. In my work I strive for emptiness (multiple possibilities). It is exciting to place this work in yet another context, that of fashion.


More about Alya and her work here: http://www.alyahessy.com

Nida Gönül at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2016

With A Twist' by Nida Gönül

On Reimagining Footwear with the Zembil Method and Innovative Materials 

'With A Twist' focuses on reimagining contemporary luxury footwear construction and components through employing 'Zembil', a heritage basketry technique from Bafra. in north of Turkey. The original basket making technique dates back to approximately 250 years and is a complete non-waste process using corn husk, a by-product of local farming industry as the cover material.

To create the collection, this plant fiber was replaced by sustainable and innovative materials suited to footwear production; the bacteria spun tissue cellulose tissue, Kombucha leather and %100 Bio-degradable man-made leather innovation from Turkey for uppersand recycled bicycle inner tubes for the soles. Like the baskets inspiring the collection, each shoe is a single unit construction that is made with a continous weave wrapped on a continuous base, combining the upper and the sole together in one unit.

nidagonul.co.uk

http://blogs.arts.ac.uk/fashion/2016/01/27/ma-footwear-graduate-nidal-gonul-creates-sustainable-footwear-single-thread/

LET’S (AD)DRESS THE PEOPLE!

LET’S (AD)DRESS THE PEOPLE! Is a multidisciplinary social design project concerning traditional handwork techniques and participation of mostly elderly people. The whole month of June, Centre Céramique will be transformed into a pop-up workshop. Designers Floor Nijdeken, Jolijn Fiddelaers of IXX Creates, Maartje Boer and Suzanne Vaessen of STRIKKS will be working as a team together with experienced “craft buddies” and participating elderly to make new textile creations. The final execution of the project can be seen from June 30th until July 3rd at Plein 1992, which will be transformed into a crafts square.
LET’S (AD)DRESS THE PEOPLE! is an initiative of FASHIONCLASH in cooperation with Tout Maastricht and is made possible thanks to generous support by Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie, 'Lang Leve Kunst. Op weg naar Age Friendly Cities', Gemeente Maastricht, Coffeelovers and Centre Céramique.

http://fashionclash.nl/lets-address-the-people/

LET’S ADDRESS THE PEOPLE! film by DANIEL VAN HAUTEN, www.vanhauten.film Music:.Sub Yao - Router

Workplace for the New World - Exhibition

Werkplaats voor de nieuwe wereld / Workplace for the New World
1 May – 5 July 2015

What makes work worth the effort? How do our daily actions give meaning to our lives and to our physical environment?

Contemporary urban sentiment indicates a desire for a local, fairer, more sustainable, and more meaningful world: the beer-brewing hipster, the status symbol hand knitted sweater, and the hacker helping to build an open source project.
But what is the relationship between the craft-brewed beer and the self-driving car? Between craft revivals and the rapid development of advanced robotics and artificial intelligence? How aligned are these two developments with each other?

Workshop for the New World explores the past, present, and future of work; how work determines our physical and social environment. By looking at work's future, we investigate possibilities for a sustainable and inclusive world.
The exhibition consists of an installation that explores and stretches work's definition, reinterpreting the history of work and defining a new strategies for work's future, and features a bimonthly program where we test the New World and submit it to contemporary thinkers and doers.

Workplace for the New World is a project by Monnik, Office for New Romantic Politics, commiossend by Bureau Europa.

http://www.bureau-europa.nl

Wood Watches by Jord

Wood Watches by Jord 
Raw material carved into refined design. 

Who wears a watch these days? What once was a core to men's style seems to be replaced by phones, but are phones desfining your sense of style. I have always enjoyed wearing a watch and the feeling of wearing a piece of memory. Watch is a style piece for you to carry along the day, representing craftmanship and timeless aesthetic. Jord wood watches provide exactly this experience.

Based in St. Louis Missouri, JORD launched their wood watch line in the Fall of 2013. The momentum of natural, raw, and sustainable material use in modern products was on the rise but JORD saw a void in the wood watch market. Though the material was present, the design and innovation was lacking. JORD believes that watches are not just timekeepers; watches are statement pieces, watches speak to the style and personality of the wearer. With that in mind, JORD set out to create a watch line that celebrated the natural beauty and intricacy of wood without resting the look on the material alone. The company is committed to continual innovation in design. Metal, texture, and layering are used to achieve a natural accessory that is playful, not childish. The style that is inherent in JORD wood watches is a perfect complement to the modern styling of today.

 “Analog watches are experiencing a renaissance in a time when everything is being moved to a digital platform. There is function in fashion and I think that’s why people are returning to wearing watches, even if they’re still checking the time on their phone. ”– Salman Shah (Brand Manager) 

The full line of wood watches has ladies, men’s, and unisex options featuring both quartz and automatic movements. With price points below $350.00 JORD wood watches offer a tremendous value for modern design and quality craftsmanship. Though the company began as an “online only” brand they have grown and are entering into brick and mortar retail.