DFF Prelude: Catta Donkersloot & Sjaak Hullekes Presentation SS10

By Ivo Wiermans

It’s time for change! And we don’t refer to the legendary words spoken by Obama, but to the atmosphere at Prelude. You know, the seasonal event on the eve of Amsterdam Fashion Week, where young Dutch fashion talents show their newest collections. The young designers at Prelude brought a unanimous message. Long-lasting designs, with a focus on shape and excelling with simplicity, showed a new generation of designers that prefers high quality to short-term fashions

In the hotel lobby of The Grand Catta Donkersloot presented her collection, which was inspired by poppy flowers and summer birds. The feeling of a warm and romantic summer resulted in graceful ribbon-covered dresses, some decorated with bird prints. The models were draped at the lobby furniture, looking like taken away by a sunny day dream.
Inside one of the hotel’s most impressive rooms, the fashion show by Sjaak Hullekes took place. The collection covered preppy outfits with Riviera-like pieces: shorts, chinos, blazers and polo shirts. Accessories and other small details were both surprising and delicate. Small leather belts covered shirts, very short shorts had fringes at the legs and male models wore bow ballerinas. ‘I want to create a new androgyny in fashion,’ explained Hullekes after the presentation. ‘With small I want to give a new impulse to classic men’s fashion.’ The items and colour palet – bright pink, beige and brown – had a vintage look. ‘My menswear has a vintage edge, but when you come closer you’ll see the renewing materials and high quality’, Hullekes concludes.