Jacob Kok Preview Amsterdam Fashion Week

Jacob Kok will show his fall/winter 2012/2013 collection on Friday 27 January at 02.00 PM. He spoke with us about his brand new collection and his plans for the future.

Title
“The name of my collection is Schat Zoeken (Treasure Hunting). I began with the idea of minerals and crystals and eventually I added the world of mineworkers to it.’

Inspiration
“My inspiration for this collection is a result of the winning collection I showed on Project Catwalk. There I designed clothes with stone details and I thought it would be nice to start from there. The mineworkers theme is very visible, since I used many work clothing details. Also, I added some sort of treasure to every look…”

Materials
“The treasures in the collection can for instance be a special fabric. I developed my own fabrics at the Audax Museum of Textiles in Tilburg , which represent my treasures. The clothes might appear pretty normal; it’s the fabrics that make it special. Besides those new fabrics I also used recycled ones, so there’s a real contrast between old and new. I, for instance, worked with blankets movers use when they want to protect the furniture.”

Colors
“Overall the clothes look quite dusty. Even if I used colorful fabrics; they still have this washed out feeling to it; as if everything is covered in dust.”

Stress
“I was actually planning on coming up with about 20 looks, but as fashion week is approaching I think that number might diminish to 15 or 17. There’s still a lot to do, so I’ll definitely work till the very last hour. I have really panicked about this, but now I am planning on just doing the best I can and not stressing out any more.”

Goal
“With this collection I am not planning on impressing buyers and press, like others. I just hope my knowledge of fabric and the way I work with it will get noticed. It’s not my goal to create a new collection every six months and sell as much dresses as possible. I would love to just work together with an established fashion brand. For instance, a collaboration like Peter Pilotto and Kipling; I would love to work on a project like that. I don’t even have to work with clothes necessarily; I think I am much better in creating accessories anyway. I don’t see myself as a fashion designer, yet more as an art director.”