Marij Rynja on Contemporary Culture & Visual Communication: Dutch ELLE Style Awards 2011

Winning stylist Bonne Reijn (in white shirt) with his royal ton-sur-ton creations.

For the 7^th time, fashion magazine ELLE presented the ‘fashion party of the year’, the ELLE Style Awards 2011. Every year three awards can be won: the Styling Award for an upcoming stylist, the Personal Style Award for a Dutch female celebrity, and a price for best dressed guest of the evening.

It was my first ELLE Style Award attending. Together with friend Lorianne van Gelder, party reporter for newspaper Het Parool - and two official press cards - we entered the Stadsschouwburg, what turns out to be a great choice of location for a night like this. Of course there was a dress code involved, Rock-n-Royalty, a theme the fashion lovers interpretates like only fashion people can: stylish, creative, clueless or very delicate. They flannered in front of each other, and the media to show off their rock-n-royalty outfits.

Most people chose a mixture of black leather elements, strass stones, and a hard rock t-shirt. Myself, I put on a white leather skirt with black details that reminded me of the 80s rockband KISS and their extreme black and white make-up.

Stylist Fleur (finalist): “To dress differently everyday, to have that kind of freedom is awesome, don’t you think?”

Camera’s flashed, reporters interviewed arriving celebrities. The level of inspiring and fashionable garments was high, because all fashion stylists came to the show to support their colleagues Bonne, Fleur and April, nominated for the ELLE H&M Stylist Award 2011.

The first part – making a grand entrée and invest quickly who you know or recognize – is done, so part 2 arrived: find your seat on the runway. But where or what was the runway? The hallways of the theater were, what was pretty uncomfortable – but fun at the same time -, because if people haven’t seen you yet, they now surely will. There was no way you reached your seat without walking over this ‘runway’ with all eyes on you, because waiting for the show to begin is boring. And watching people while waiting isn’t! Lorianne and I were lucky to sit in the VIP area.

Then part 3: the show. In a rush the creations of the three stylists passed by before you could say ‘Rock and Royalty’. All models entered the runway in three separate groups – for each stylist one – and were in a hurry like they had to catch the first plain to Paris – or a shot of free champagne, waiting for them backstage. It took a flag carrier with the words ‘The End’ on his flag to make us realize this was indeed all there was to see. What a pity!

Cecile Narinx (ELLE editor-in chief): "Tonight we present stylists, not fashion designers".

The awards were presented inside the theatre; so again, everybody had to find a seat, what made the evening a bit chaotic. It was like the audience couldn't wait no longer for the after party to begin. Some shouted a joke, others cheered when ELLE’s editor-in-chief Cecile Narinx thanked the supplier of the free champagne.

A dancefloor with bar on stage and a skeleton-chandellier.

The winners are revealed, it was party time. The decor disappeared and a dance floor appeared on stage with bar, lounge, disk-jockey and punk band. Now, everyone could be a rockstar on stage. ELLE have used the whole building and it’s facilities perfectly, it was a fun ride. This fashion night was about having a good time with colleagues and fashion friends, less about the winners of the awards. That’s just a useful topic to start a conversation with.

For me, fashion is about the clothes, the design, the presentation, the exposure of new ideas, new talent, new silhouettes and contexts. I hoped to see more of the stylists' creations, which looked inspiring. Stylist Bonne (the winner) appeared most promising, fresh and visionary to me with his ton-sur-ton creations, while the other two finalists still explore the boundaries of eclecticism and style blocking.

As an outsider of the hardcore fashion scene, you can tell these people have a strong unifying connection, they are fashion relatives. On the other hand it's a segregated culture with room for only those who work hard and have enough balls to stand out. Or are effective networkers...apparently I'm not, I haven't had the chance to speak with Cecile Narinx this night...maybe next time.

The winners of the ELLE Style Awards of 2011:

- Fashion stylist Bonne Reijn (ELLE H&M Stylist Award)

Bonne: “LEGO has been my fundament for styling”.