It’s all in the Family: Alexia van Engelen of Sage & Ivy

This edition of Amsterdam Fashion Week we focus at designers and their biggest supporters: their family. Where would they be without their mom, dad, brother(s), sister(s)and or grandma’s? They help finishing their designs, they drive the car, they cheer them up and cry emotional tears. The next family we would like to present is Alexia van Engelen, owner and designer of Sage & Ivy, and her lovely and proud parents Gudrun and Evert, brother Evert-jr and her partner Willem.

Backstage at Sage & Ivy FW2012

Sage & Ivy picked a wonderful location to present her fall winter collection, the atelier of Anouk Beerents – where she restores antique mirrors. Take a look backstage.

Sage & Ivy Backstage/Atmosphere at AIFW SS2012

Luckily for Alexia van Engelen, designer of Sage & Ivy, the sun was out all day yesterday. And it helped to create a wonderful setting for her show, that was held at the Spartelvijver near the AIFW venue. The audience was seated next to the pond and had a great view on the stage, the water and the show. Backstage the atmosphere was relaxed, while the team of House of Orange transformed the models into mysterious waternymphs.

Frontrow at Sage & Ivy – AIFW SS2012

It was a small and intimate show of Sage & Ivy whith an unforgettable impact. Check out who was sitting frontrow. Didn’t we spot Daan Schuurmans there?

First Preparations Sage & Ivy-show

Preparations are in full swing for the Sage & Ivy-show this evening. Since Sage & Ivy is an outdoor show, we keep our fingers crossed. Hopefully we’ll keep it dry today.

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.

Amsterdam International Fashion Week Preview: Sage & Ivy FW2011

The young fashion label Sage & Ivy will not be part of the official Amsterdam Fashion Week schedule, yet it’s show on the 28th of January is definitely a must-see. Designer for Sage & Ivy Alexia van Engelen chose to give her fashion show at the Felix Meritus center in Amsterdam. ‘I really wanted the show area to contribute to the feeling of my collection. I only have about ten minutes to explain to everyone what I’ve been working on for half a year, so I want everything to be in line with what I have to say.’

Alexia used St. Petersburg as an inspiration for her new winter collection. ‘You’ll see looks inspired by Russian costumes and folklore. I played with volume and alternated different materials and colors’, Alexia explained.

In the collection light colors like white, soft grey, lavender grey, moss green are used as well as shades of black, silver and gold. Alexia came up with some great outerwear for winter like a cape and a coat of faux fur and mohair. ‘We also used stretch satin and a tweed with threads of gold. Most items are great for winter, but on some of the designs you might wanna put an extra cardigans’, she says.

As well as all of the designs Alexia gave the collection. The words ‘My Beating Heart’ therefore will be visible in different ways throughout the collection. ‘I chose this name, because for this collection I stayed very true to my heart; I listened to myself. I used the name My Beating Heart on a body of gauze, on the sleeve of a sweater and on a belt’, Alexia says.

The collection will exist of 19 looks, which will all be accessorized by some amazing vintage jewelery Alexia got to borrow from someone in her family. ‘That lady had tons of great jewelry and was very cosmopolitan; the jewelry will really add something special to the looks in the show.’

Alexia’s favorite look is one of the three evening dresses of the collection, called Anastasia: ‘It’s a dress made from organza with a baroque fit. The sleeves and the skirt have a lot of volume and the body is very tight.’

A trend Alexia predicts for next fall is a mix of light, transparent fabrics, heavy knitwear and rich fabrics like jacquard.

The music of the Sage & Ivy show will be a clash between an old song from the band Black Cat and a new one, Runaway from Kanye West. We’re looking forward to hearing that mix and seeing the collection. Everything already looks promising.

Photograpy: Jon Loek @ Team Peter Stigter