High Fashion Low Countries will be presenting the work of six Dutch and Belgian designers at The Flemish Arts Centre 'De Brakke Grond' in Amsterdam (NL). Why?
The creative industry, more specifically fashion, architecture and design, is a major focus point for the Dutch Foreign Economic and Cultural policy. The Netherlands Embassy in Brussels has converted the rising attention for these topics into specific events over the last years, such as the Dutch Design Days in 2008 and the Benelux Architecture Days in 2010.
In 2012, fashion will be in the spotlight. Over the last years, themes of sustainability and slow fashion have gained a lot of attention in the fashion industry. Therefore the embassy will incorporate these themes in its upcoming event. At the same time the focus on sustainability and slow fashion perfectly fits within the ‘bio-based economy’ activities undertaken by Department for Economic Affairs of the Embassy. This will be translated into different activities on fashion and textile.
The events for 2012 will take place in Brussels, Antwerp and Amsterdam. The embassy has a twofold objective: firstly, strengthening existing partnerships between Belgium and the Netherlands; secondly, connecting relevant actors in the sector such as students, teachers and designers in order to share knowledge and expertise on durability and entrepreneurship.
Sustainable development, craftsmanship, the use of alternative materials and a less-seasonal view on fashion have gained attention amongst entrepreneurs and emerging designers in both countries. The new luxury market demands for long lasting and sustainable products. These products could be created through reinventing traditional crafts, researching on alternative materials and using new technologies and local resources.
This working ethos gains more and more followers in the Dutch and Belgian markets and this places both countries at the forefront of a new fashion trend.
With this project they aim to support outstanding Dutch and Belgian talent working in this field and encourage more development and knowledge sharing.
The project High Fashion Low Countries will be on view for the first time through a capsule exhibiton at the cultural venue 'De Brakke Grond' (adress: Nes 45) from July 13th – 15th (free admission) in collaboration with The Green Fashion Competition and Amsterdam Fashion Week.
As second stop, the project will travel to Antwerp during the first week of October for a series of lectures programmed in collaboration with Flanders Fashion Institute (FFI) on the 11th of October. Participating designers are:
-Pauline van Dongen (NL)
-Natalie de Koning (NL)
-Jantine van Peski (NL)
-Katrien van Hecke (B)
-Lena Lumelsky (B) and
-Celine de Schepper (B)
More information: www.highfashionlowcountries.com
(text by High Fashion-Low Countries. Curated by Eve-Marie Kuijstermans and Javier Barcala)
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