Go Dutch in style

As I landed in Amsterdam last Monday for the Amsterdam International Fashion Week (AIFW), the day's International Herald Tribune carried a prominent story on how China is making a huge bid to transform from manufacturer to creator. Over 100 design schools have been set up or are under construction in that country. “China is eager to evolve from the world's biggest workshop to being a research and development centre. The question of when (rather than whether) China develops a dynamic design culture is a critical issue in global design: as is what sort of culture it will be,” says the article.

At the AIFW opening event, the who's who in Dutch fashion and design is there along with some international players. The first catwalk show is put up by the twin-sister designers Spijkers & Spijkers. Their designs strive to make a definite feminist expression, and strong, exceptional and distinctive women from the world of art, literature, cinema and design are the inspiration for their works. Their designs are characterised by geometric shapes and bold patterns. “With tailoring that is seen as not typically feminine, the duo makes a powerful statement against stereotypical views of femininity, at the same time achieving an elegant, powerful form of self-expression,” the event catalogue says of them.

An impressive show was also put up by the Dutch designer Tony Cohen; his lineage in fashion and design dates back to his grandmother's passion in selling vintage second-hand clothing. Some of those vintage pieces remain in his archives even today. His father too worked in women's fashion for 40 years.

That women's clothing and accessories continue to dominate international fashion — even though the fashion industry is quickly catching up on all things male — was evident during the fashion shows at the AIFW. And, thankfully, with this being the Netherlands fashion scene, the images that emerged were inspired by the “ideal and independent woman”. The Royal Hesam Spring/Summer 2012 collection summed it up thus: Hesam's collection was inspired by the ideal woman “who loves her freedom, without rejecting all the rules, but by clearly visualising her wishes and goals.” The collection aspired to be “minimalist and wearable, yet feminine and fashionable”.

The materials used were “fluent, as smooth and lively crepe silk, combined with airy and occasionally transparent fabrics”.

But then, fashion can go a bit over the top, as when the press release for Hesam's creations claimed that more than vulnerability, the designs emitted strength. “The design is vulnerable and at the same time strong and fierce.”

But as I'm not strong on either fashion or design, or art for that matter, I totally missed the subtle nuances of a clothing line that defines either the vulnerability or the fierceness of women.

But what did impress me was a visit to the Kuyichi Jeans Company, which has played an innovative role in Holland in exploring and developing new sustainable garment production systems. “We were the first brand to produce organic jeans, and are in the forefront of sustainability with organic and recycled fabrics. We care about where our jeans come from and where they are going,” says Banu Bos, Head of Projects and Design.

The company, whose motto is “Fashion with respect for people and the planet”, uses environment-friendly material and works as much as it can with socially compliant factories. Originally Kuyichi produced only jeans, but has now started making tops too; “it is scary to see the pollution produced in factories, from spinning to the finishing of the fabric,” she says.

While its jeans are mostly produced in Turkey, which says Banu, “is very strong in organic practices”, some have been made in Tunisia too.

Kuyichi (named after the rainbow god in Peru) is present in India and China too, but only for T-shirts and sweat shirts. It targets people in their 20s, and apart from Holland it is available in Britain, Germany, France, Sweden and Norway.

Of course, being organic comes with a price tag; “we have to pay for certain overheads which we pass on to consumers — around €10 — as we are not doing this for charity but are a commercial brand which also makes money.” The mid-range jeans retail from €99.95-150; and premier line from €189-300.

She adds, “Three years ago you could find only a couple of organic labels at supermarkets but today there are supermarkets that sell only organic labels.” Kuyichi T-shirts have provocative logos such as “I am clean now”, or “Modern technology owes Ecology an Apology”.

Returning to the Fashion Week, as in most catwalk presentations, the models were tall, elegant and too skinny to make most women uncomfortable about their ability to carry off the creations they displayed.

I ask Mariette Hoitink, Managing Director of the Dutch recruitment and fashion consultancy HTNK, if the fashion industry's increasing penchant to use more and more skinny models does not put a certain strata of vulnerable women under pressure to strive to look like them. “It is like hanging clothes on hangers; you have to look at it that way. The idea is it shouldn't distract you from what the models are wearing, because we are looking at a collection and not the model. Should the models be one size bigger? Sure, one size bigger is fine for me, as long as it doesn't distract you from the designs and the collection they are wearing,” she shrugs.

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