Washing powder and blue tunnels

Anne Buis recalls her encouters with Klavers van Engelen.

I visited Arnhem Mode Biennale four years ago. I remember entering the Stone Factory, one of the biennale locations, where floors were covered in a thick layer of washing powder. Mannequins were hung from the ceiling, dressed in designer clothes. One of the designs caught my eye: it was just too beautiful to walk away from it. A shimmering blue fabric, transparant and delicate, folded in zig zag, creating a collar similar to a medieval cartwheel ruff. It was only after a while that I proceeded. And then I saw one design created with this similar, beautiful technique. The information label said ‘Klavers van Engelen’. At that moment, I didn’t know anything about these designers. But what I did know was that I hadn’t seen anything like it before, and that I adored these designs.

Upon visiting the exhibition ‘Gone with the Wind’ in the Zuiderzeemuseum in Enkhuizen, it wasn’t washing powder I walked on, but I found myself inside a blue tunnel made out of fabric. The exhibition’s theme was the Dutch fashion world and its relation to traditional Dutch dress. Here, Klavers van Engelen created the installation ‘Overboard’ referring to the ocean (‘Where everything moves and sloshes’), the wind and the sky, ‘so typically Dutch’.

One Arnhem Mode Biennale later, the designers were present again. Their work was shown in the Klavers van Engelen house. A large, dark box contained mannequins lit from the inside, making them appear almost transparant. Apart from the cartwheel ruffs, they showed breathtaking drapery, in bright colours as yellow, green and pink, with an emphasis on construction and design. For a moment, I felt as if the world of Klavers van Engelen was my home. These last years I have been following the two designers, and everytime I am blown away by their beautiful creations and installations. Luckily, they return this year at Arnhem Mode Biennale. What will they show us this time?

(Quote from maryscupoftea.blogspot.com)

Anne Buis is a journalist, currently graduating from AMFI with a focus on fashion journalism. She is interested in the relationship between fashion and society.