DFA Nominee 2012: Elsien Gringhuis

She is one of the five designer nominated for a Dutch Fashion Award and Elsien Gringhuis might just become this year’s big winner. To freshen up everyone’s memory we’ve summarized what Gringhuis stands for and asked her a few short questions.

Fashion label
Elsien Gringhuis, womenswear. Founded in 2009.

Signature
Clean, chic and architectural. Elsien uses unconventional shapes and makes them wearable in a minimalistic way.

Short bio
Elsien Gringhuis graduated in Fashion Design from the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem in 2008. Since then, she presented her collections during Amsterdam International Fashion Week. Elsien Gringhuis’ design principal is completely based on sustainability. Her choice of materials consists of hand dyed silks, bamboo, wool and cotton, all with a certified eco and/or fair trade label. In 2011 she won the first prize of The Green Fashion Competition for bringing the best businessplan in supporting biodiversity. Next to her high-end sales collection Elsien Gringhuis is momentarily working on a second, more affordable line called BASIC ONES.

Quote
“My challenge is to get the maximum out of the minimal.”

Collection
On Friday, during the Dutch Fashion Awards 2012, Elsien will present a mix of creations from her fall/winter 2013 and spring/summer 2013 collection. Elsien: “It’s a collection on transformation, dead as the start of new life and fall, which is sunny and optimistic yet also dark and heavy.”

Clothes
“All my models will be very covered up and many of the designs can be worn two ways or are multi functional. A long skirt, for instance, can be turned into a dress. I also developed patterns made out of a maximum of one or two pattern parts in order to waste as little as possible”, Elsien explains.

Plans
Elsien: “I have worked very hard to build the fundament of my company and I’ve invested in a good team. If I should win we´d like to start focusing on expanding Elsien Gringhuis abroad. Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Russia and Japan, we’re ready!”

Website
www.elsiengringhuis.com

Highlights 14th edition AIFW FW2011

We did it again! We survived Amsterdam International Fashion Week, with more than 27 shows, presentations and party’s. We shot front-stage, backstage, street-wear, shows and soirees and we loved every minute of it.

More than 20.000 people attended the AIFW this time – amongst them a large group of international bloggers – and we hope they enjoyed themselves as much as we did. We did see some strong collections, beautifully dressed people and a lot of fashion-enthusiasm. We won’t forget the couture-show of Jan Taminiau or the colorful parade of Bas Kosters full with energy and fantasy. And we were surprised by the collection of Marloes Blaas and the sweet romantic style of Sage & Ivy. Die-hards like Tony Cohen and Addy van den Krommenacker demonstrated us what a real professional catwalk-show looks like. And talking about show: you don’t have to tell Supertrash anything about that. This was glamor tot the max!

And let’s not forget Spijkers & Spijkers, Monique Collignon, the LAB-shows, Ready to Fish by Ilja Visser,  Huen Yeu, Velour, Elsien Gringhuis. And the Green Fashion Competition. This is how diverse and inventive Dutch fashion-design is.

Goodiebag!? Elsien Gringhuis Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

No surprises in the Elsien Gringhuis goodiebag.

In it were:

Useful

Rough Paste – Redken

Shampoo & Conditioner sample – Redken

Magazine –  The Adam Issue

Spam

A card from the shoe designer Rosanne Bergsma

Folder het Haartheater

Folder Fur Free

Estimated value: 1 euro

Rating: 3

Elsien Gringhuis Catwalk Fashion Show FW2011

Elsien Gringhuis took her inspiration for her fall winter 2011 collection from the Dutch countryside, with it’s endless view, clear fields and lots of wind. She called her collection ‘One of these days’, after a Pink Floyd song. Giving away a bit of the ominous feeling this seeming fresh collection has.

For her 18 different looks Elsien used natural materials (no wonder she won the Green Fashion Competition!)  like hand painted silk, bamboo and wool and opted for colors like black, white, green and (light) blue.

For this new collection she focused more on the wearability of her designs. She also developed her way of pattern making. ‘I challenge myself trying to use the minimal amount of parts for my patterns, maybe one or two’, Elsien said. ‘I also tried to give the collection more of an airy feeling then I did with other collection.’

We thought the collection felt very minimalistic with it’s clean cuts and it’s plain colors. The silhouette looked refreshing and elegant and we loved the long jackets and jumpsuits.

Check the Elsien Gringhuis backstage!

Elsien Gringhuis Backstage AIFW FW2011

Backstage at Elsien Gringhuis people were gasping at the shoes of designer Rosanne Bergsma, the futuristic looking wedges in white an metal matched perfect with the collection of Gringhuis.  As did the straight hair and make-up with focus at the eyebrow.

Elsien Gringhuis Amsterdam Fashion Week fw2010

The fashion show of Elsien Gringhuis was all about modern times and the feeling to be locked up. The show opened with a girl wearing a helmet embellished with mirror splinters. Unfortunately she had to take of her shoes while they were too high to walk in, yet more models had problems with the shoes.

Elsien Gringhuis’s designs were colored black, white, gray and mint. The clothes had clear geometrical shapes and were made out of silk, wool and leather. Some items seemed as if they were made out of many independent pieces.

The models wore gloves and their hair was tightly braided. The last outfit of the show was a white, silk, circular shaped dress, which caught everyone’s attention.

Elsien’s fall/winter collection was the second collection she presented during Amsterdam Fashion Week. She graduated in 2008, she won the most creative collection of the year award from Italian Mittelmode and was nominated for the Frans Molenaar award.

Elsien Gringhuis Catwalk Fashion Show SS10

It was Elsien Gringhuis’ first  show at the Amsterdam Fashion Week that she presented individually. Gringhuis studied at Artez in Arnhem and works for G-Star at the moment. What she showed at AIFW looks rather strict, with a clean cut silhouette, straight lines, minimal and very constructed. ‘Focus’ was her theme, a collection about all the stress and chaos we have to got through all day and the need to focus. Although it’s not certain she will produce her collection – because she is still looking for ateliers – you can buy a real Gringhuis soon at the Hema. The designer won the Hema-designcontest with her raincoat made of biological cotton and rubber coating.

Lichting 2008: Elsien Gringhuis Catwalk Fashion Show

ArtEZ Lichting 2008 Catwalk Fashion Show

Coen Carstens

Danny Cremers

Elsien Gringhuis

Maarten van der Horst

Swantje Langeheine

Selina Parr

For more information, please read NRC’s Catwalkshows met 36 ideeen in een ontwerp