Claes Iversen Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

On Tuesday fashion designer Claes Iversen presented his spring/summer collection for next year. He chose the Felix Meritis building (a meeting place for art, culture and science) in Amsterdam as his show location; the perfect spot for a fashion show.

To the sound of piano’s the first model appeared in the round show area. She wore a white dress embroidered with hundreds of butterflies. Even her braided hair had butterflies in it. While the model was waiting to start her runway walk, small butterflies came falling down from the ceiling.

Those butterflies appeared to be the theme of the show. For Claes they represented the passing of time, beauty and fragility. They were everywhere; attached to skirts and dresses, but also in yellow and white prints (and even in our goodiebag!). Though the butterflies were something new for Claes, they reminded us of the post-its he’d used is a previous collection.

Apart from butterflies Claes showed a lot of pleats in his summer collection. He designed pleated skirts, dresses and tops. Other show stopping items were several detailed corsets, made with lots of patience and combined with, for example, a pleated or a feather skirt. The sand-shaded jumpsuits and trench coat-inspired jackets were a little more save, but just as stylish.

Overall the collection was beautifully made, pretty wearable and feminine. The color palette existing of hues of beige and sand, mixed with coral/salmon pink, turquoise and light yellow seemed perfect for spring. And hats off to the styling team who combined nude-colored knee stockings with high heels, waist belts, eye-catching clutches and gorgeous hair.

Quoc Thang Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Quoc Thang’s new collection ‘Het moment voorbij’ was all about freedom. The designer translated that feeling through the style of a woodcutter. The collection was very outdoor; rough materials like wooll and cotton mixed with polyester and nylon.

The male models walked in overalls, raincoats and checked tuniques (these checks were especially designed for this collection and were made out of shields with two crossing bows). They carried backpacks and wore shoes by Timberland, the sponsor of the show. They looked cool, but their heads were all wet & sweaty.

The jacket had a central position in this collection; blazers, parka’s and tops that felt like coats were the eye-catchers of the show.

Quoc Thang
Quoc Thang (1979) graduated in 2005 at the Rietveld academy in Amsterdam. He then organized several projects in Berlijn en Parijs. In 2009 he launched his collection under his own name.

Marloes Blaas Catwalk Fashion Show SS2010

Like Franciscus van der Meer, Marloes Blaas also used the second World War as an inspiration. She drew much inspiration from peasant life and the atmosphere surrounding the liberation of that war.

We saw an army green uniform and a thick black leather top which looked very powerful. There were tough shorts with extra pockets and well tailored jackets. On the other hand Marloes opted for airy fabrics and feminine faded prints. So there were some contradictions in this collection.

We have to say the army outfits looked slightly stronger than the elegant, airy items. The prints looked great, yet the army clothes looked more outspoken and different from what we’ve seen before.

Oda Pausma Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

‘Hobohemian Heaven’ was the title of Oda Pausma’s collection, she presented on Thursday. It was based on the fusion of two worlds: poetical and rebellion. Imagine live under the roof of the boheme, artists haven, the Chelsea Hotel New York of the seventies….

Jiska van Rossum Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Designer Jiska van Rossum presented her collection ‘Adorned in Elegance’ this week. Like in al her clothes sensuality and temptation were important aspects of her menswear clothes.