We are pleased to announce the programme of the Arnhem Fashion Biennale 2007. Running from June 1st through June 30th, 2007, the biennale's second edition takes ‘happy fashion' as its theme. The biennale programme takes place at several locations in Arnhem, presenting more than 10,000 m2 of fashion-related experiences. Arnhem's city centre will also exude a ‘happy fashion' vibe: with open-air exhibitions and a never-ending catwalk leading through the city centre's streets, happy fashion is accessible to everyone. Fashion will also spread across the planet during the biennale, reaching as far as London, Paris and New York.

For the whole of June, Arnhem will be transformed into a hive of positive buzz as it presents the wonderful world of international and innovative fashion designers. The biennale programme takes place at three main venues: the Arnhem Museum of Modern Art, the Rietveld Building of the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts and the Steenfabriek, a former brickworks on the banks of the Rhine. A walking route interlinks these three locations. The participating group of designers is an exciting combination of renowned couturiers and fashion designers who operate more independently. The confirmed haute couture participants include John Galliano, Lanvin, Viktor & Rolf and Maison Martin Margiela, while the independent designers include fashion labels and individual designers such as ThreeAsFour, Cassette Playa, Henrik Vibskov, Bas Kosters, Cathy Pill, KIND, Sandra Backlund, Peter Pilotto, Romain Kremer, Basso & Brooke and Bernhard Willhelm. Piet Paris, the internationally renowned fashion illustrator, is once again responsible for the artistic direction of the fashion biennale.

The Arnhem Fashion Biennale presents the latest developments in contemporary fashion design at an international level every two years. Arnhem Fashion Biennale enlightens, surprises and inspires the professional public as well as a broader public. Exhibitions, fashion shows, films, workshops, performances, publications and symposia place fashion design as well as the socio-cultural aspects of this applied art in the spotlight. Arnhem Fashion Biennale is also a place of encounter where top creative talents, the fashion industry and the interested public can meet one another. The fashion biennale is an initiative of the City of Arnhem and the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts. The event enjoys the support of the Province of Gelderland, national government and various foundations. Fortis is the main sponsor of Arnhem Fashion Biennale 2007.

More than 10,000 m2 of fashion experiences
The Arnhem Museum of Modern Art is the gateway to the Arnhem Fashion Biennale 2007's main exhibition and sets the tone for this international event. The museum forms the backdrop for a fairy-tale exhibition that will leave the visitor in a happy mood. Masterpieces by international couturiers stand in halls filled with flowers and butterflies, accompanied by the gentle tinkling of melodious musical boxes.

Visitors leave this exhibition via the gardens of the museum to continue the fashion adventure in the Rietveld Building of the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, where workshops for an international group of post-graduate fashion students will be held throughout the month. There is also an exhibition about illustration and fashion design in this building.

Visitors continue to the beating heart of the biennale by boat: the Steenfabriek. The world of a new generation of designers unfolds at this former brickworks, a vast example of industrial heritage, where the designers present their work in specially created installations. The programme includes contributions by fellow designers, visual artists, musicians, dancers, models and speakers. Clothing and art are exhibited in a panoply of landscapes with colourful rainbows and splashing waterfalls. The surface on which visitors walk progresses from washing-powder to mattresses, mirrors and gravel. The Steenfabriek is also the venue for a series of lectures, contemporary dance specially choreographed for the fashion biennale by Introdans, the ‘You wear it well' film programme by fashion journalist Diane Pernet, a programme of pop music and performances by international acts, and a diversity of fashion shows.

Arnhem city centre goes Neopolitan
The ‘happy fashion' vibe is also palpable in Arnhem city centre. The layout and decoration of the city centre is in part being realised in a manner reminiscent of Naples: clothing, accessories and photos in all sorts and sizes hang like laundry on washing lines above the city centre's streets and alleyways. Besides fashion designers, artists and photographers have contributed to this spectacle. The information kiosk makes a fashionable comeback in the streetscape and city centre's shopkeepers respond to the fashion biennale with their personal initiatives. A selection from the London-based ‘Fashion in Film Festival' will be screened in the Filmhuis Arnhem cinema and the literary production house ‘de Wintertuin' is organising a ‘fashion mass'. The longest catwalk also returns as ‘the never-ending catwalk', a spectacular fashion parade through the heart of the city.

Arnhem Fashion Biennale spreads its wings
Fashion can also be seen and experienced beyond Arnhem. The Kröller-Müller Museum is hosting an exhibition about fashion photography and the CODA (Cultuur Onderdak Apeldoorn) cultural centre is organising the ‘Jan, Jans en de Mode' (‘Jan, Jans and Fashion') exhibition. Fashion from the biennale will also be spreading around the world like an inkblot thanks to the launch of the Arnhem Fashion Biennale collection in June. This unique collection of 10 dresses is being created for the 2007 fashion biennale by a select group of participating designers. Throughout the month of June this collection will be available from the biennale shop in the Steenfabriek, at Colette in Paris, Pineal Eye in London, Appartment in Berlin and Opening Ceremony in New York.

The price of admission for the three main venues is €8.00.