The
Amsterdam Fashion Week started off with shimmering couture, flowering dresses
and avant-garde conceptualism. Claes Iversen showed the chicest of chic, as we
were expecting from him, with a smart mix of minimalism and romanticism. Marga
Weimans, on the other hand, had created a beautiful, yet challenging collection,
heavily loaded with references to the history of slavery and the suppression of
women.
Iversen’s show started off with very stark and minimal garments in which the models seemed protected against the worst the world would have to offer. During the show more and more details started to pop and eventually fake flowers bloomed on shoulders, skirts, covering whole dresses. The collection, gradually shifting from this stark minimal aesthetic to extravagant flower embossed gowns, seemed to tell a story of fashion history, going from the minimalism of the nineties to the new romanticism we see nowadays. Ending with lavish flowers, the collection could be interpreted as a statement for more sensibility and feeling in fashion, forecasting an end to the strict minimalism we saw the last few years on the runway.
Claes Iversen SS 2013, copyright Peter Stigter
Although Iversen seemed to take
a stand against minimalism, strong minimalistic influences were evident. His
play with volume, proportion and the strong architectural shapes reminded of
Céline, the combination of different textiles of Balenciaga. The romanticism,
the flowers, the pleading and beading, signified influence of the likes of
Viktor&Rolf and Lanvin. All these different vibes and movements combined
into one collection resulted in a rather confusing show: what direction had
Iversen planned to go?
Although slightly all over the
place, Iversen’s show was one of the chicest collections of all fashion week. In
the past, Iversen’s work sometimes was too ‘old’ for the young girls showing it,
this year, however, the garments were wearable for all ages. Dresses combining
the two major themes of the collection, minimalism and romanticism, had a youthful
dynamic vibe. These pieces, literally molded together in asymmetrical compositions
with the one half clean and simple, the other half blooming with sequins,
beading and flowers, said everything Iversen had to say with this collection. There
is no need to pick a side, Iversen seems to state, we just need to combine the
best of both worlds. Curiosity rises for his next collection, for no matter how
interesting this juxtaposition of minimalism and romanticism might be, it
certainly needs some more research.
Weimans raised the bar with a highly conceptual and avant-garde collection. As expected Weimans did not just present fashion, the runway looked like a walking work of conceptual art. The prints of the dresses were strongly reminiscent of traditional Surinam costume, while the upper body reminded of 18th century court dress. This connection between the colonies and aristocratic Europe was even more accentuated by the metal and wood constructions the models were shackled in. Although the first one looked it a bit like a suitcase, the later ones could only be seen as abstract interpretations of torture machinery. Counting up all this symbolism - Surinam, 18th century Europe, captivity in metal framework - one could easily conclude that Weimans was referring to her Surinam heritage, and especially the slavery that took place during that era.
Marga Weimans couture 2012, copyright Peter Stigter
There
are, however, more layers in Weimans’s collection. The tightly corseted bodies
of the dresses, the enclosure of the models in metal torture frames and the incredibly
high shoes by Jan Jansen also signaled the suppression of women. As the models
opened the frames during the finale and stepped out of their cages, a sense of
feminism overcame us. The women freed themselves.
Under the classical corseted bodies a crinoline
would not be out of place. However, Weimans placed geometrical shapes underneath
the billowing skirts, creating completely new shapes and silhouettes. The visual
language she showed with this collection is an utterly different sound in the
world of Dutch fashion. Originality and an intellectual depth are what separate
Marga Weimans from the rest. No wonder that, without ever having showed before
on Amsterdam Fashion Week, Weimans already has international fame. Having
showed during two Paris haute couture weeks, multiple museum exhibitions and a
vast part of her work being bought by the Groninger Museum, she is definitely one
to watch.
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