Inside the church: A myriad of new shapes

The pavilion route, crossing the city’s market square on 5 meter high stilts, ended inside the Eusebius church. Here, the wooden houses had a different function. Tens of designers — new talents and internationally reknowned names like Lanvin and Stephen Jones alike — used them as a background to their vision on the theme shape. The resulting myriad of new shapes is shown here.

Piet Paris explains:

Motion and technology have always played an important role in Kei Kagami’s work. His repertoire encompasses gowns that change silhouette by a pull device and shoes of which the height of a heel can be adjusted by the means of an adjustable screw. With this exhibit, Kei Kagami continued to push the boundaries. His commission was a floor length skirt made up of thin, sharp water streams. The torso showed a resemblance to Venus de Milo. Kagami sees the fountain as a symbol of the ‘survivor’ in this time.

Paper is usually Andrea Maack's material of choice. She makes sculptural clothing by folding and cutting paper, which she decorates manually with a biro. For her Arnhem Mode Biennale exhibit, she replaced the perishable material with plastic foam and the biro prints with engravings. As part of AMB's international student workshop programme, Maack taught a masterclass in creating forms in and designing with paper.

From biro to felt-tip, product designer Fernando Brizio thought up a concept in which slowly emptying felt-tips formed patterns on a dress. Placed upside down in little pockets on the dress, felt-tips emptied in about an hour and a half. After washing the garment, the wearer could create a new pattern.

Iris van Herpen's greatest challenge is the creation of forms using unconventional materials. In a group of young designers searching for renewal by using untraditional materials, she is an extreme example.

Light is the source of inspiration for this design collective Cosmic Wonder Light Source from Japan. The designers approach the concept of light in all possible ways and invite artists and photographers to enrich their source of inspiration. Results of their work can be seen in art galleries as well as in clothing collections. A shape that often returns in their work is the circle.

Yoshikazu Yamagata and Kentaro Tamai (Writtenafterwards) are excellent storytellers. Their aim is to communicate through fashion, taking it beyond the mere design of clothing, to talk about matters such as education, culture, environment and society. Their collection ‘Prince, Prince, Prince’ tells the tale of a girl waiting for her Prince Charming.

Since the foundation of their label Klavers van Engelen, Niels Klavers en Astrid van Engelen have been fascinated by the shape and construction of clothing. Eight transparent garments on luminous torsos reveal the nature of their construction.

Flowers, leaves and baroque are some the starting points from which Stephen Jones took inspiration for the sculptural forms of the forty hats in this green house. I presume the limited design area of the skull poses an artistic challenge that requires a lot of creative talent. On show was a selection taken from the countless number of hats he made by order of reputable designers and fashion houses including John Gallaino, Dior and Chanel.

A young man lies on a soft pillow - he is asleep. On the chair next to the bed he has laid out his clothes for the next day. The suit-jacket looks light and soft, the trousers look comfortable. It is a party outfit. With their tasteful colour combinations and immaculate choice of fabrics, the designs of Lucas Ossendrijver for Lanvin Homme have caused a shift in men’s fashion. The new man has a softer appeal. Wearing Lanvin is pure bliss.