STUDIO SAMSON at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2016

Meet Karmen Samson, born and raised in a small village called Wilnis. She studied fashion branding at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, where she will graduate in June. Her passions are photography and film, mostly within the context of fashion.

You can see Karmen Samson’s work at the Heritage Exhibition. Friday July 1 open at 18:30 and Saturday July 2 open at 16:00 (free entrance).

What are your main achievements in your career at this moment? 
One of my main achievements was completing my internship at Iris van Herpen. The creations of Iris van Herpen have always been an inspiration to me. To work there was truly a once in a life time expe-rience. Another big achievement for me was when I created my first fashion film called AETHER. A project where I creatively totally went my own way.


In what projects are you involved at this moment? 
Currently I’m working on my branding graduation project. This is a retail design project for the Dutch brand First of August.


How would you define fashion? 
To me fashion is a way to communicate with the world, this could be by text, visuals but is always through feelings. Fashion is a feeling and an atmosphere that is always surrounding us, but yet it’s hard to grasp.

Who are your artistic influences or inspirations and why? 
Martin Margiela is a big inspiration for me, especially his work from the 90’s. I admire his highly con-ceptual designs and material choices. Surrealisme is a ongoing theme in his work, an art inundation I am a fan of myself aswel. As a brander I admire how he builded such a strong brand identity and philosophy that was very different from the other brands in his time.

What challenges did you face during the design process? 
Mostly finding the right people how would help me out disinterestedly. A film is always a collective creation. Im still very grateful for all the help I got form the crew, friends and especially my family. 

What do you want to communicate with your designs in general? 
For me fashion is a certain way of looking at the world, society and culture. Fashion can tell you a lot about these different subjects but at the same time the fashion industry can be very narrow minded. It’s these kind of paradoxes that fashion has that makes it such an interesting field to work in. I like to push those boundaries and see how people receive and judge it.

Can you tell us something about the project you will present at the FASHIONCLASH Festival? 
I will present my fashion film AETHER. The inspiration and starting point of this film was de Empyrean collection of Dutch designer Marieke van Geffen (an old fashionclash participant herself). I took the collection items and especially the artificial atmosphere coat, as the main karakters of the film. With-out these pieces of clothing the story would have been out of joint and inimitable. The fashion cre-ates the story within the given context.

What does your work try to communicate (what is it about)? 
The story takes place on planet Earth. But it’s not the same as we know it today. This planet doesn’t have an atmosphere anymore. The atmosphere exploded ten years ago, due to the pollution and destruction done by humankind. Nobody survived, expect for one girl... Aether. She is the last per-son on Earth. She survived this disaster thanks to an artificial atmosphere. But for how long will she carry on with this kind of life? AETHER is a film about how the choices humankind makes today will influence our future and how this will create a heritage for the many generations to come.

Why have you decided to participate at FASHIONCLASH Festival? 
When I was looking for a designer as inspiration source for my fashion film project, I started looking at the 2014 participants of FASHIONCLASH. When I saw Marieke van Geffen’s Empyrean collection I was intently inspired. What I love about FASHIONCLASH is that it is an interdisciplinary festival, therefor it allows designers to create fashion through different disciplines. The result is a creative chain reaction. Fashionclash gave Marieke van Geffen a change to show her Empyrean collection, therefore I found my inspiration and could I create a new project. Now I got the change to (hopefully) inspire someone else to create something new.

How is the theme Heritage related to your work (can be also preferred to previous work) 
The fashion film AETHER is a fictive future scenario. Its about how the past choices of mankind had led to a horrible future. I didn't look at the heritage we have got today but at the heritage we might leave behind. The choices we make today will create the heritage for many generations to come. 

Describe yourself in three words. 
I would describe myself as: visual thinker - thorough - intuitive

Are you a people's person or a loner? 
I´m an introvert person, which i find a positive thing. It makes me an observer of my surroundings. Its where i get my inspiration form. I get inspired by the weirdest things at unpredictable moments. 

Do you have a pet? 
YES! I have the cutes pug in the world, Momo de mopshond. I could spend hours on the internet watching pug videos and images. Honestly, it has become an obsession.

Read more about Karmen and her brand: http://www.studiosamson.com/