My Name is Amber

The fourth edition of Arnhem Mode Biennale took you on an exciting journey into the breathtaking world of Amber. Keep reading to learn more about our muse.

Please welcome Amber. Fashion is Amber and Amber is fashion, a whimsical and fleeting phenomenon, whose personality is omnipresent in our society an whose influence we can barely escape. As hard as we may try to pin Amber down, there will always be an element of her that remains just out of reach: the sparkle, the glamour, the dream. She is as a mysterious femme fatale and we cannot help but follow her, lured by her charms and in the hope that she will bestow some on us.

The TITLE why fashion is a woman

The fourth edition of Arnhem Mode Biennale was named Amber and from 1 June until 3 July we searched her true identity.
To personify a phenomenon as multilayered and complex as fashion is not without its complications, but considering the traits we normally associate with fashion, it is perhaps not so farfetched. Fashion is mysterious and seductive, touching our hearts by creating the illusion of an alternate world. As an immediate reflection of the society we live in, fashion shapes our identity. To get to know Amber, is to learn more about yourself.

The TRIPTYCH a methodology for unravelling the phenomenon of fashion

Artistic director JOFF created a concept including exhibitions, presentations, workshops and lectures focused around three locations in the city of Arnhem: the epicentre, or main exhibition space; the city centre; and the Museum for Modern Art Arnhem. Each focused on a different trait of fashion’s wondrous persona.

Hosted in an old industrial plant, the main exhibition focused on fashion’s aura through the vision of international designers such as Prada, Maison Martin Margiela, Rodarte, A.F. Vandevorst and Damir Doma. What does the alternate world created by the designer consist of?
The exhibition peeled away the layers, isolated them and presented them as visions on their own. Each designer was asked not only to show a selection of garments but also to design their ‘habitat’: an installation that constituted a universe dreamt up by its creator. The result was an exhibition that focused not only on fashion as a collection of garments but on the infinitely larger world fashion inhabits.

The city: Artists’ collective Suze May Sho designed an installation that offered the inhabitants of Arnhem an opportunity to discover their own personal relationships with fashion. For this purpose, a popup photo studio was erected in the centre of Arnhem. Photographed against backdrops of their choosing, designed by leading Dutch artists, people were invited to create their own fashionable alter egos with the help of stylists, hair and makeup artists, and photographers. The resulting portraits were displayed on billboards throughout the city, bridging the gap between reality and the universe called fashion. For a few days this experience was accessible to everyone as you were able to book an appointment in the studio.
A shopping and exhibition route, featuring popup stores from the likes of Ra (Antwerp, Belgium), offered you the chance to experience the intimate relationship between fashion and the city in a close and personal way.

The museum: The Museum of Modern Art Arnhem was the site of the exhibition entitled Get Real/ Real Self, created by artists/ researchers Joke Robaard and Giene Steenman. Together, they built an ongoing archive that could best be described as an editorial construction – a spatial lexicon around garments such as the T-shirt, the parka and trousers.

The SHORTLIST the artists involved

In this quest AMB was supported by a large amount of national and international designers and artists. Go to the participant page to learn more about all of them.