Showroom Belgium at London Fashion Week

This year at London Fashion Week Exhibition 'Showroom Belgium' presents a new generation of fashion designers from Belgium.
Four promising labels are showcased in the exhibition:  a.KNACKFUSS, Cédric Jacquemyn, OMSK and WOLF. by Sofie Claes.
In the same room there was an RA installation by Niels Peeraer.
Following the success of the 'Six from Antwerp' it's clear once again that Belgium is a fertile breeding ground for fashion talent.
Showroom Belgium is initiated by Flanders Fashion Institute.

London Fashion Week A/W 2012 Street Fashion

Impressions and street styles from London Fashion Week A/W 2012/13.

ego34 magazine editorial

Fashion designer: Branko Popovic
Photography: Lonneke van der Palen
Styling: Branko Popovic
Hair & Make up Carlos Saidel @ Colourfool agency
Model: Rob at 77models

Interview: http://www.ego34.com/branko-popovic/

More info: http://www.ego34.com

Kaspar Hamacher - Ausgebrannt

Nice film by Daniel van Hauten about Kaspar Hamacher.
Belgium designer Kaspar Hamacher creates furniture that range from chairs to shelves. Using nature as a source of inspiration he aims to design simple pieces that are not artificially produced. Included in his current collection are 'the stool', 'the leather belt' and 'the board'. The difference between the purely natural and the technologically produced can be clearly felt. There are things that cannot be copied such as the warmth of wood, the smell and touch of leather, the individuality that cannot be imitated. www.kasparhamacher.be

Culture Couture - Fashion in the Tropenmuseum

On the same day that Amsterdam Fashion week celebrated it’s opening Tropenmuseum opened the second edition of Culture Couture. With a personal note and underscore of the importance of contemporary fashion design Aynouk Tan opened the exhibition. Opening of Culture Couture was definitely such a highlight as the opening of AFW.
Over the years, Antwerp’s Fashion Academy has built up a name in the fashion world with designers such as Martin Margiela, Dries van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester and Walter van Beirendonck.
 From 26 January 2012 to 26 June 2012, young fashion talent from of Antwerp’s Academy of Fine Arts are showing a selection of spectacular creations inspired by other cultures. The fashion students and the Tropenmuseum show in this exhibition how authentic costumes from different cultures can inspire new, contemporary couture. In this exhibition you’ll see the work of three promising international designers from Antwerp’s renowned fashion academy: Manon Kündig, Tabitha Osler and Wali Mohammed Barrech.
The fashion students created a contemporary collection based on a specific costume from the culture of their choice. Each student’s presentation features a replica of the traditional dress together with two contemporary designs inspired by it. You can also watch video portraits of the designers, sketchbooks and recordings of fashion shows. The research and the results are the central focus: together they provide a unique perspective on the (investigative and) design process of the students. http://www.tropenmuseum.nl

Ideas make borders fade at TEDxEutropolis

FAB Store presents

The second edition of TEDxEutropolis took place on the cold Sunday, 4th of February at Muziekodroom in Hasselt (Belgium). The topic of that day was 'Ideas make borders fade', and totally underlines this. FASHIONCLASH was there to direct the fashion presentation.
FAB Fashion Across Borders presented designers who are also selling their designs in the FAB Store in Hasselt. Included in the presentation were creations by young designers Ingo Binder, Monique Poolmans, Sofie Claes, Titi + The German Kid, Collette Klinkenberg and me (Branko Popovic).

TEDxEutropolis is the independently organised TEDx event of the Eutropolis.
http://www.tedxeutropolis.eu

More about FAB: http://www.fashionacrossborders.com/

Ilja Visser S/S 2012 ‘Hyperborea'

Instead of a catwalk show Ilja Visser presented her Ready to Fish label and couture label ‘Ilja’ in off schedule program of Amsterdam Fashion Week. Result is a mindblowing presentation!
Ilja ss2012 ‘Hyperborea’
Hyperborea is a place, which the Greek mythology assumed to be in thefar and undiscovered North. It literally means ‘beyond the norther wind’ and stands for a mystical place hidden behind the cold walls of the Arctic Circle. Supposedly inhabited by a culture, living in everlasting spring and pure daylight, the people were blessend and long’lived. According to the saga, they were a highly cultivated race free of war, hard toil and the ravages of old age and disease. Their pale appearance was defind by an extraordinary tallness and their hair was either white or deep black.
For s/s 2012 ILJA used this secret place as inspiration. The ten extravagant silhouettes refer to a women striving to Hyperborea.
More info about Ilya Visser: http://ilja.nl  / http://www.readytofish.nl/
Pictures are by Branko Popovic

WinterSALON at Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder Museum

Another memorable presentation during 2012 edition of winterSALON is at Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder (Our Lord in the Attic).
Our Lord in the Attic is one of the oldest and most remarkable museums in Amsterdam. Behind the characteristic facade of the house by the canal lies a largely original 17th-century home and a complete hidden church. This hidden church 'in the attic' was built during the Reformation, when Catholics were forbidden to hold public services.

Fashion &foam curated by Niels Klavers

The &Foam Concept &Foam is a unique concept store located at Vijzelstraat 78, selling photography magazines, books, prints and more. Four times a year, &Foam engages in collaborations with special partners on the interface between photography and other creative disciplines. 2012 begins with Fashion&Foam, and is followed by Music&Foam, Design&Foam and Film&Foam.
In collaboration with SALON/,  Niels Klavers presented this exhibition 'ONDER ANDEREN…' in &Foam. For this, he has invited twenty alumni of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie to provide a distinctive item from their collection. The presentation, in the form of a unique installation, contains applied art pieces and original designs, and reflects the vision of the Academie's fashion department over the past twenty years. The design of the installation is by architectual bureau X+L, which was also involved in the design of &Foam's interior.

4th edition of FASHIONCLASH Maastricht on the way

As the name implies, FASHIONCLASH creates a 'clash' around fashion. 'Clash’ stands for an inspiring encounter of different designers, disciplines and a diverse audience. Promising photographer Madame Peripetie brought the work of a number of talents together and the result is the eye-popping campaign image. 

Save the date for the weekend of 8th until 10th of June that will be all about he fourth edition of the fashion event FASHIONCLASH Maastricht!

Open submissions for the fashion shows and exhibition Designers and artists can sign up until 17th February, forms can be downloaded at www.fashionclash.nl.

Yes it's gonna be fantastic!




Campaign image credits: 
photography and sculpture: Madame Peripetie
photography assistance: Vanessa Bejarno
model: Adjorka makeup: Anita Brulee
robotic arm: Wali Mohammed Barrech
wigmaker: Seema Shopra
shoes: Karolina Piech Graphic
design: Ivo Bakkes

WinterSALON 2012 at Bijbels Museum

Nice thing about SALON/ projects is that you do not only get to the see beautiful work related to fashion but you also get to see places you would probably never go to. I have visited several editions of SALON/ and I have the feeling that through SALON/ I actually got to know Amsterdam better. This year Bijbels Museum showcases various artists and installations such as the resentation and performance by Kevin Power and Jacob Plooij. It was also great to finally have a closer look to work of Thomas Voorn. Thomas Voorn creates colourful environmental friendly landscape pollution. He travels around with bags full of clothes, his alphabet, to create Garment Graffiti in a typical colour range.
Take a look at this picture report.

The White T-Shirt Project by WDKA students

winterSALON/2012 presents The White T-Shirt Project at The Waag Society. In association with Hyun Yeu students of Willem de Kooning Academy deconstructed a basic white t-shirt.
This is what the future fashion designers did with the t-shirt

Painted Secret performance by Painted Series

Painted Series presents 'Painted Secret' collection during WinterSALON 2012.
Painted Secret is a limited edition of 24 related tops and shifts. Painted Secret is a series of delicate, fully fashioned knitted camisoles and 'shifts' in silk/cashmere yarn, worn as a secret to the skin. The pieces stem from the same pattern, machine-knitted in different colour variations. They have evolved into unique pieces, by the addition of Bulgarian handlace and woven clothing elements. The various hands and the machine complement each other in this work.

Painted Secret is presented in a video performace 'Dance me your secrets' with dancer Natascha Dejong and the band TOVERSEX. Led by Dutch designers Saskia van Drimmelen and Margreet Sweerts, Painted Series is a collective that blurs the lines between fashion and performance, and expands the idea of what a garment can be.
For more information visit www.paintedseries.com

Atelier Edwin Oudshoorn

Today was the official studio opening of Edwin Oudshoorn in Amsterdam. The presentation is part of winterSALON 2012 edition. I could not be there, but as I was walking by the space last week I could catch a small glimpse of it.
http://www.edwinoudshoorn.com/

The Green Fashion Competition at AFW

The second edition of The Green Fashion Competition took part on Friday 27th of February at the Amsterdam Fashion Week. None other than Princess Maxima of The Netherlands visited the show to show the importance of the initiative. The big winner of the evening was the established label Studio JUX. They went home with a sum of 25.000 euros. Carrie Parry won the price pf 15.000 in the first category of young designers.
In general it was very strong show and I think one of the strongest parts of the Amsterdam Fashion Week. It was refreshing to see introduction video's before each designer showed the collection. That gave the show a very personal feeling. I also really liked the collection of Narelle Dore, she made clothing out of sustainable wool threads. O My Bag gave a really nice presentation and Studio JUX had a live band and gave a very  fun show (Jux means fun in German).
http://www.thegreenfashioncompetition.com/