Dutch Visionaries, Couture & Crafts @ Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Amsterdam

Thursday the 14th of January seems to be a special day for dutch fashion. The 24th edition of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Amsterdam will open with two large outline shows on the famous Westergasterrein. It also opens the exhibition Dutch Heritage.

Ode to Dutch Fashion (photo of a part of the exhibition in Gemeentemuseum Den Haag)

Mercedes-Benz presents Dutch Visionaries
At 6:30 p.m. begins the spectacular runway show Mercedes-Benz presents Dutch Visionaries in the Gashouder. Established names and new Dutch talent show pieces from the period from 1960 to 2016. From this Dutch heritage three creations by designer are displayed. Think of Mac & Maggie, Puck & Hans, Monique van Heist, Mattijs, Aziz Bekkaoui, Spijkers en Spijkers, Humanoid, Laundry Industry, Avelon, Bas Kosters, Gletcher, Marcha Hüskes, Oscar & Suleyman and Tony Cohen.

Mercedes-Benz presents Couture & Crafts 
The evening will be at 21:00 in the Gashouder concluded with the runway show Mercedes-Benz presents Couture & crafts, where the wealth left by Dutch couturiers from 1960 to 2016 shines on the catwalk. Couture & Crafts is a tribute to Dutch fashion and to show its creations selected from Fong Leng, Frans Molenaar, Max Heymans Dick Holthaus, Edgar Vos, Frank Govers, Viktor & Rolf, Percy Irausquin, Sheila de Vries, Claes Iversen, Monique Collignon, Edwin Oudshoorn, Ilja Visser and Keupr of Benthum.

Ode to Dutch Fashion (photo of a part of the exhibition in Gemeentemuseum Den Haag)

Dutch Heritage Exhibition
On the impressive opening night the rich history of Dutch fashion and the fashion industry is shown. Dutch Heritage, the exhibition shows unique creations of Dutch designers since 1960, some of which are too fragile and delicate to show on the catwalk.
For this reason, Fashion Week has chosen for an exhibition with works by Iris van Herpen, Fong Leng, Lola Pagola, Jan Jansen, Max Heymans, Mart Visser, Le Cri Neerlandais, Individuals and Collection Arnhem.
From 5 p.m. you can admire the inspiring workmanship and unique visions in the Transformatorhuis.

Designed by Jan Jansen

The 24th edition of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Amsterdam will take place from 8 to January 18, 2016 in the Westergasfabriek and OFF SCHEDULE in various locations in Amsterdam.
Visit www.fashionweek.nl for more information.

For the exhibition Ode to Dutch Fashion you can visit Gemeentemuseum in The Hague until the 7th of February 2016.

My first self-portrait

Inspired by Miss Aniela I started to photograph my self for a self-portrait today.

Two months ago I read the book 'Self-Portrait Photography: The Ultimate in Personal Expression' a book by Natalie Dybisz also known as Miss Aniela but I was still looking for inspiration.

Than a colleague photographer Saskia Bagchus started to promote her green screen photography and I was thinking about it how to do it too.

After seeing Star Wars - The Force Awakens I wanted to step into Rey's shoes, played by Daisy Ridley. Since a little girl I loved watching Star Wars and the new episode I enjoyed most. It has a lot of humor, action and impressive shots but also some moments that I had to wipe away a tear. All ingredients I like about a film!

So with all this information I started to photograph myself in front of a green screen, trying to get the same lighting as was used for Daisy.
In photoshop I removed the green screen and added it to the filmposter of Star Wars and see here the result!

Sorry Daisy I couldn't resist replacing you be me!

My visit to Mattijs van Bergen - Photo to Fashion

Today I visited the Photo to Fashion exhibition of Mattijs van Bergen in Nederlands Fotomuseum in Rotterdam.

For this exhibition Photo to Fashion, Nederlands Fotomuseum and dutch fashion designer Mattijs van Bergen joined for an exceptional collaboration. Inspired by the iconic black-and-white photography from the museum's collection, by Ed van der Elsken, Aart Klein and Cas Oorthuys, Mattijs has designed a new fashion collection. Exploring an inspiring combination of image, material and technique. The fashion designer added a new dimension to the photographs through his designs.

Mattijs van Bergen's collection ZWART (means black) is elegant and shows his workmanship. He used digital, screen print and hand embroidery to 'translate' the photos to his fabrics.
I love the way he used the photos for his prints, some the way they are, some more abstract and especially the embroidery. The copper for the accessories is the icing on the cake!

In the museum shop you can by shawls and jewellery by the fashion designer!

Here my photo review (this time by my smartphone)

The dutch photographers Sascha van Dorssen, Wendelien Daan and the duo Petrovsky & Ramone have captured in their turn the new designs of Mattijs and put them in new settings.

Photo: Sascha van Dorssen

Photo: Wendelien Daan

So an exhibition from photo to fashion to photo again!

The exhibition is open until the 10th of January 2016 so a perfect visit for during the Christmas holidays!
For opening hours and more information visit Nederlands Fotomuseum.

It isn't the first time Mattijs van Bergen presented a collection inspired by art in a museum, in 2014 during fashion week his collection was presented in Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

About Mattijs van Bergen

Photo: Sascha van Dorssen

Mattijs van Bergen was born and raised in the Eastern part of the Netherlands. From an early age he showed an aptitude for all things creative and was considerably influenced by his mother’s artistry and knowledge of tactile materials and his father’s successful career as a graphic designer.
Mattijs credits their influence as dualistic - whereby he designs to achieve a balance between emotion and elegance, craftsmanship and luxury. Raw versus elegance.

Mattijs graduated with a BA in Fashion Design from the renowned Artez Hoge School voor de Kunsten in Arnhem, the Netherlands, the same school attended by Dutch duo Viktor & Rolf. He received his MA in Womenswear from Central Saint Martins in London and his final show was attended by scouts from the Gucci Group and IMG. Mattijs’ graduation collection ‘Dream With Me’ received worldwide press coverage - from French L’Officiel to British Vogue - and went into limited production for sales.
Source: Facebook

My visit to H&M Showroom

Last week I had the pleasure to visit the showroom of H&M in Athens, I had a closer look at the Studio collection for Spring-Summer 2016.

The printed dress on the mannequin caught my eye and I wanted the try it on immediately! The collection exists of colourful prints, influenced by the Bohemians, patchwork, jacquards and a lot of faded colours. Getting you ready for travelling or a walk in the city.
The pieces are elegant and easy to wear at the same time.

The main colours are yellow, red, green, off-white, beige and neutral brown-gray.

The basic fabrics are silk, cotton, linen, canvas and leather. H&M continues to provide 100% organic cotton in many items.

Key accessories are the backpack, the bandana, the printed silk scarves, flip-flops and espadrilles with or without platform.

The knitwear looked so cosy, that it made me long for the cold evenings in spring, so I can wear them!

Can't wait to see the collection in the stores on the 25th of February 2016. The collection is worldwide available in 200 stores, in Greece in Athens, Ermou 54, in Glyfada, Metaxa 41 and in Thessaloniki, Tsimiski 20-22.

UNITED WE STAND - FREEDOM WE SEEK @ 13th THESSALONIKI HIP HOP FESTIVAL

The biggest festival of Hip Hop Culture, the "Thessaloniki Hip Hop Festival 2015", known to friends as THHF, returns for the 13th consecutive year in Thessaloniki, and more specifically on Saturday, the 19th of December at Principal Club Theater (in the venue of the mill).

The annual meeting-institution will unite all elements of Hip Hop culture. MCs, DJs, Graffiti writers, B-boys and Beatboxers an all-day program full of color, rhythm and dance. The festival will have live performances from the cream of the species to be joined by a plurality of parallel events such as THHF MC Battle, workshops music production, the Blackbook Sessions and of course graffiti action with special guests.

THHF focus of this year's festival theme, «UNITED WE STAND - FREEDOM WE SEEK». In these difficult times we live we remain united and seek freedom together with our basic element common our love for the HIP HOP culture.

Participating artists are:

Also during the 13th Thessaloniki Hip Hop Festival food, clothes and relief items will be collected in cooperation with the social organisation Arsis.
Arsis is active in the area of ​​Idomeni (border with F.Y.R.O.M.) where hundreds of refugees are arriving daily from Greece and deals with the needs of refugees that arise daily. Volunteers will collect the items(1) and inform the public about their activities, where everyone can assist in any way they can to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis and to actively show their solidarity with the refugees of war.

The festival program starts at 3 p.m., tickets can be found in pre sale at the price of 16 € / 18 € and on spot of 20 €. For more info visit www.thhf.gr
Location: Principal Club Theater, Andreas Georgiou 56, Thessaloniki (περιοχή Σφαγεία)

(1) Any of the following items are more than welcome:
Relief items and food: toast, nutritious biscuits, cereal bars infant / baby food in jars, cans not need opener, nuts, individual juice, water, pampers, baby powder, baby carriers, baby creams, handkerchiefs, napkins liquids, sanitary napkins, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, sleeping-bags, fleece baby blankets, tents
Clothing for adults and children (0-12 years old): raincoats, jackets, sweatshirts, long sleeves shirts, winter pants, scarves, gloves, socks, caps, boots, shoes

Hannah Jinkins wins H&M Design Award 2016

Yesterday in London, Hannah Jinkins was announced as the winner of the H&M Design Award 2016.

Jinkins, a graduate from the Royal College of Art, London, was selected from eight finalists by an international jury that included amongst others Kate Bosworth, Olivier Rousteing and Nick Knight. As the H&M Design Award winner, Jinkins receives a one-year mentorship from H&M, a prize sum of €50,000 and the opportunity to develop her winning collection to be sold in selected H&M stores as well as online in autumn 2016.

“Hannah is really brilliant. She has the ability to balance so many difficult things, like the raw with the refined, or something very grown up with something more youthful. I found choosing the winner of the H&M Design Award very difficult, because the calibre of the finalists is up there with the best in fashion,” says Kate Bosworth.

“I was so impressed by Hannah’s collection. It is very contemporary, with a real understanding of a woman’s body. It feels like something very new in womenswear, which makes her such an exciting winner of the H&M Design Award 2016”, says Ann-Sofie Johansson, creative advisor of H&M.

“Hannah is amazing. She has her own unique vision. She has such strong energy, she’s modern, young and really knows what she wants. She works with a tough fabric, yet somehow manages to make it sexy and glamorous at the same time,” says Olivier Rousteing, creative director of Balmain.

Eight finalists selected from 40 of the world’s most respected design schools took part in a fashion show at The Orangery in Kensington Palace, London. Each finalist presented four looks from their graduation collections to an audience that included the jury and, for the first time, invited members of the global fashion media.

Hannah Jinkins' collection created a balance between tough fabrics like raw denim and inner linings of silk. Her silhouettes are oversized yet feminine, showing a real understanding of the female body.
Have a look at her 4 designs.

“I feel very honoured and proud to have won the H&M Design Award. When my name was announced, it was very surreal and I felt quite emotional. I want to start my own label, and winning the award means I can follow my dream,” says Hannah Jinkins, winner of the H&M Design Award 2016.

The H&M Design Award was founded in 2012, underlining H&M’s strong commitment to the future of fashion. It is open to students and graduates of the world’s most respected design colleges in 16 countries, with the winner each year chosen by a highly-respected jury of international fashion experts.

The H&M Design Award 2016 featured students from the highest number of colleges ever, with schools from Austria, Belgium, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the US, Japan and Korea.
The eight selected finalists each won €5,000.

The Finalists

Daphne Stergides @ Six D.O.G.S.

Yesterday evening at Six Dogs Project Space in the center of Athens Daphne Stergides opened her exhibition “Cool as a lobster, red as a cucumber”.

Nikos Molyvas entertained the guests with his music while the guests had a look at the drawings by Daphne.

Daphne used ink and watercolor and for each artwork she had given a unique name. Like Claiming a War Horse on a Pink Mountain, All I Do is Try, And Try, And Try, Last Night Wasn’t So Much Fun After All.

Until the 10th of December you can visit the exhibition, I loved the artworks with the many colours like the one on the left on the photo. Six D.O.G.S. is in Monastiraki, Avramiotou 6-8.

About the exhibition
Cool as a lobster, red as a cucumber explores notions of the absurd, the liminal spaces between sense and nonsense, chaos and order. The fragmented bodies reflect the non-linear narratives of the drawings and vice versa; things that could almost be, aren’t: can an individual zebra, destined to be lost within a sea of sameness, feel alienated?

Just as human nature is often defined in arbitrarily contracted binaries and thus extremely untidy, the ecosystem of dedicate creatures presented in the exhibition is of questionable morals and motives, neither good or bad: the beings exist in a universe of constant struggle, despair and fear, but are occasionally sprinkled with small crumbs of delight.

About the artist

Daphne Stergides was born in Paris in 1988 and grew up in Athens, Greece. She holds a bachelors of Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington in Seattle and a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from Cranbook Art Academy in Detroit. She has exhibited in group and solo shows in the United States and in Europe.