DFA Nominee 2012: Mattijs van Bergen

Just a month ago Mattijs visited the beautiful city of Istanbul to present his latest collection. Tomorrow night he will show that same collection, named Proserpina, in The Hague. A new collection made out of ´old´fabrics and objects. But just before we enjoy his show in De Grote Kerk let´s fresh up our memory on Mattijs for a bit.

Fashion label
Mattijs, womenswear. Founded in 2008.

Signature
Colorful, feminine, with lots of pleats.

Short bio
After Mattijs van Bergen graduated at Artez he did an extra master at the Central Saint Martin College in London. In 2006 he won the Modern Femininity award. He was also nominated for the Harrods Award. Mattijs has showed his work during Amsterdam Fashion Week and has even presented his collections in London, Aruba and Istanbul. Mattijs designs his own accessories and has worked together with United Nude on different shoe designs, the most recent being The Harem shoe.

Collection
Friday night Mattijs will present his spring/summer 2013 collection named Proserpina. Mattijs: “The collection is about the changes we as people go through. Growth in life, the change of seasons. Proserpina, the goddess of the seasons and growth, was the starting point of this collection. It´s about girls wanting to become women and women who want to stay young. I always look for that dualism in my work.”

Clothes
When he began designing his collection Mattijs asked himself ´What is all that new actually worth?´. “I then decided to start creating clothes made out of fabrics and objects I have been collecting for a while. That patchwork of fabrics and ideas has made this collection the most personal I´ve made”, Mattijs explains.

Plans
Like all four other designers nominated for this year´s DFA´s Mattijs already has a bigger plan in case he´s lucky enough to win the big Dutch Fashion Award. Mattijs: “If I should win it would be an acknowledgment by the Dutch fashion industry for five years of hard work and building a name for myself. It would create international opportunities. I would use the money to improve my sales abroad. The price would help me participating in trade shows and together with an agent in Paris I should be able to give my sales that extra push it needs.”

Website
www.mattijsvanbergen.com

See some of Mattijs´ work below