Sjaak Hullekes wins Dutch Fashion Award 2009

Sjaak Hullekes won this years Mercedes Benz Dutch Fashion Award, and received a price of € 25.000,- to extend his brand. Last friday the third edition of the MBDFA took place. After being held in Amsterdam twice, for this edition the Dutch fashionscene was gathered in The Hague.

For these annual award five Dutch designers were chosen by an international jury. Bas Kosters, Iris van Herpen, Mada van Gaans, Sjaak Hullekes en Jeroen van Tuyl were all nominated for their distinctive designer style.

The most important award of the evening is the Mercedes Benz Fashion Award. It goes to the designer who is most likely to succeed on an international level.

On the night of the awards Sjaak showed an enlarged version of his summer collection, called Oscar. Backstage before the show he told Team Peter Stigter: ‘The Fashion Awards are something I look forward to every year. Winning an award on this special night is really a great way to get noticed on a national and international level. It’s a great boost for your label and your career.’

Sjaak thinks he won the award because he distinguishes himself in the use of fabric. ‘I use natural materials, light fabrics like silk or linen. These are materials you usually wouldn’t expect for a menswear collection. My tailoring and the many details I use in my designs are aspects that mark me off as a designer too.’

Apart from his way of designing Sjaak also stands out because of the niche market he designs for. ‘In Holland everything always has to be favoured by the crowd. I’m glad I design for a special group of intelligent, classic, sensitive men unafraid to address their feminine side.’

The money-prize Sjaak won will be invested in his label. ‘We will continue doing what we were doing. We can use the money to maintain the status we reached. We also want to explore the new vision we have on men.’

Sjaak thinks he will be successful in Japan, America, Italy and France. In time he wants to build a strong and independent fashion label. We wish him all the best.

Tess van Daelen

Trends ss2010: new basics

You could consider a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt as everlasting basics. However, even basics change a little bit every year.

A few seasons ago some slim fit pants were indispensable. For next summer a pair of wide-legged beige pants, a straightforward skirt, a loose-fitting jacket and a long cardigan are the season’s must haves. We saw many of these items at Stella McCartney’s show.

What’s so great about these clothes? You can easily mix them with the rest of your wardrobe. Especially the beige pants can go well with almost every color. The jackets and cardigans can be worn in a masculine way but with a waistbelt they will look very ladylike. We could see this combination in many shows.

The MaxMara, Chloé and Tommy Hilfiger fashion shows all had some great basics with which you can make endless variations.

Tess van Daelen

Trends ss2010: black & white

Although you might expect bright colors for the summer-season, many designers chose black and white as their main colors. There were lots of outfits in full black or white, but also good combinations as well.

Rick Owens, Ann Demeulemeester and the two Japanese designers Yohji Yamamoto and Junya Watanabe didn’t use any color in their shows at all. Their designs were all in black, white and some hues of grey. Rick Owens’ designs stood out because they were very pointy. Watanabe’s clothes had black and white checks that matched with the checked shoes.

Givenchy showed some black and white in his renewing geometricaly shaped outfits. Jill Stuart made a few pairs of extraordinary black and white leggings. At the Moschino fashion show modern white blouses were mixed with black bows.

(Tess van Daelen)

Trends ss2010: step by step

For some models walking the runway was a tough job in the past fashion weeks. Of course the shoes were to blame. Not only were they high as ever, they also had the craziest shapes. They seemd somewhat inspired by clogs and that made them look rather clumsy. The most outstanding examples of this ‘clog-shoe’ were those of Alexander McQueen. He showed some great fashion forward ones, which were no less than twelve inches high. With reptile prints they looked futuristic and animalistic at the same time. Passing by to the beat of Lady Gaga’s new song they indeed looked rather Gaga to us. Yet they might become a huge hit. At least McQueen wasn’t the only designer with clog-shoes in his show. Celine, Dior, DSquared, Givenchy, Bottega Veneta and Ferré showed some clog-variations as well. And not to forget Louis Vuitton and Chanel. Their Swedish clog-like shoes will probably become the most copied of all next spring. (Tess van Daelen)

Trends ss2010: la la lingerie

For season ss2010 a lot of attention went out to underwear and lingerie. Many designers used lingerie-influences in their collections. Sometimes underwear was even presented as fully-fledged clothing. Especially at Dolce & Gabbana and Jean Paul Gaultier lingerie played a big part. The Dolce & Gabbana fashion show ended with all the models on stage wearing sexy, vintage-like lingerie with animal and floral prints. As the inventor of the famous cone-bra, Jean Paul Gaultier could not stay behind in this lingerie-trend. He used cone-bra details in many of his designs. Marc Jacobs let one of his models wear silky lingerie on top of her regular clothes. At Dior lingerie was combined with airy nightwear. Many models wore corsets in which their breasts were highly accentuated. Most of the time  they were worn with sexy skirts, but they were also manufactered in some dresses. The corsets were made of silk or transparent fabrics, adorned with bows, laces and ruffles. Karl Lagerfield decorated them with pieces of leather that reflected the bright spotlights as if they were made out of metal. (Tess van Daelen)

Y-3 Catwalk Fashion Show SS10

At the end of the Y-3 show a net dropped from the ceiling and Yohji Yamamoto—accompanied by Zinedine Zidane, one of the world’s most famous soccer players—came out to take a shot at a goal.  Does that mean Yamamoto is a football fanatic? Not exactly. What inspired Yamamoto’s World Cup-themed collection was something more poetic: the movement of the net after a goal. Netting was integrated into the collection with lots of airy (and body-exposing) pieces. These worked best when worn under tailored separates, like pants and jackets. The combination of structure and flow, as in a blazer over a long dress, or the draped jersey tunics and stiffer cotton pants, was effective.

DKNY Catwalk Fashion Show SS10

DKNY Catwalk Fashion Show SS10

When Donna Karan launched DKNY in 1989, its streetwise, fast-fashion ideas were a welcome innovation. Now, 20 years later, it’s the grand mother of secondary collections. Yet DKNY’s is still a New York state of mind. Named City in Bloom, Karan’s collection played neutrals off a host of florals, including charming little peonies and splashy floral and -graffiti prints.  There were endless propositions of the suit: boyfriend jackets paired with little cuffed shorts or slouchy pants—even a silk bomber with matching sweatpants. Biker shorts were worn under every dress and short.

Diane von Furstenberg Catwalk Fashion Show SS10

Diane von Furstenberg sent out a spring-collection of real-world clothes, which referred to nomads, Egypt, deserts and had a hint of Pre-Raphaelites.  Tiger-print safari suits and leopard-spot shirtdresses mingled with floral-appliqué chiffon and a daisy-chain maxi dress. Brightly colored macramé hippie dresses were mixed with more urbane jersey numbers.
It lookes all very eccentric, but there were also a few tailored looks: printed-silk and belted jackets and cropped, high-waisted carrot pants. For evening, von Furstenberg heated things up with a draped gold mesh dress and a gold coin-beaded leather gladiator shift.

Derek Lam Catwalk Fashion Show SS10

Forties-style meeting disco seemed the overall theme of Derek Lam’s spring summer collection. Lots of color, lots of feel good, easygoing clothes. He showed a sweet little floral-blouse-high-waisted-shorts combo, a great-looking dark denim zip-front jacket, and retro swimwear in which you only lounge. Stars were everywhere. Small like polka dots on a belted  dress. A bigger multicolor print was used for a sleeveless blouse tucked into corseted trousers. And then there was a sundress, patchworked together from black and white poplin with a big star front and center.  It was enough to make you nostalgic for a summer by the beach.

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