Arnhem Fashion Biennale 2007 is Happy. A new wave of fashion designers is setting the tone under this cheerful theme. ‘Fashion makes me high!' says the rapidly rising British fashion talent, Carri Mundane (Cassette Playa). More than 40 designers are creating their ideal microcosms for the fashion biennale, where they - and you! - can be happy.

Happy can be a spellbinding Disney World, but it can also be raw, risqué and provocative.

Arnhem Fashion Biennale presents every aspect of joy and happiness in the work of autonomous and established fashion creators, as well as in music, film, dance, photography and the visual arts. ‘Music can be the impetus for a collection and can get the ball rolling,' says Henrik Vibskov, who seeks out the boundaries of fashion, performance and music in his performances, incorporating clothing that he has made himself. This Danish multi-talent is illustrative of the contrarian way in which the new generation makes its creativity manifest: these designers are boundary-breaking and have an aversion to trends (even though they set them).

This generation's individualism is also reflected in the conception of the fashion biennale. Throughout the month of June, the biennale's Artistic Director, Piet Paris, is staging an unforgettable happening with a plethora of sensory experiences at locations ranging from a former brickworks to the Arnhem Museum of Modern Art.

Never before have garments by world-famous designers such as John Galliano, Maison Martin Margiela, Lanvin and Viktor & Rolf been presented in a museum so fancifully. Their designs stand and hang in a garden landscape of fragrant roses, butterflies and delicate sounds from countless musical boxes, as if in a fashion paradise.

A former brickworks on the opposite bank of the Rhine is transformed into the world of The Wizard of Oz, transporting visitors past castles in the air, looking-glasses and clouds towards the end of the rainbow, where there are dresses by Spijkers & Spijkers. There is also work by Bernard Willhelm, Jan Taminiau, Yoshikazu Yamagata, Rodarte, Bas Kosters and other Dutch and international designers to be found in the midst of this Happy fashion fairytale.

Fashion is more than the most recent trends that one simply must follow. It is more than brand hypes and big business. Fashion is creation, fashion is art.

The second Arnhem Fashion Biennale presents fashion to give pleasure as well as pause for reflection. Experience it for yourself!