Coffee Break Story #5

Together with our partner Coffeelovers we will be sharing a Coffee Break Story almost every Sunday as of the 4th of June! 5 Local designers who are part of FabricAge will be sharing their “Cup of Inspiration” and “What tickles their fashion senses”. 

Our last Coffee Break is with: 

Maarten van Mulken | www.maartenvanmulken.co | WINNER RADIKAL FASHION FILM AWARD 2017

Maarten Van Mulken, 26, is a Dutch fashion designer living in Maastricht. Last year he graduated from the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts & Design (MAFAD). This year he will be introducing his new womenswear collection at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017. Next to creating own collections, he is working as a costume designer for a theatre, which fits perfectly with how he likes to design. He is thrilled with a project like FabricAge, where nobody is left out, and everyone can participate. Together with the rest of the team, he came up with the design that withholds three different kinds of crafts, creating a ‘gesammtkunstwerk’.

Photo: Team Peter Stigter

Pleun van Dijk - FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

Pleun van Dijk is a young multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Rotterdam. She graduated from The Design Academy Eindhoven and The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. By observing and analyzing moments of transition within society she tries to create new thoughts and show a different perspective on a topic. By taking new ideas out of the abstract and giving shape to a possible outcome she wants to give the viewer the possibility to anticipate on the new developments before they sneak up on us.

Pleun doesn't call her work „fashion” in the traditional meaning of the word. Most of her work is about the relations between human body and fashion in the sense of sculpting our body in itself.
Her biggest personal achievement so far has been her graduation project called “Reborn” and the follow up project “Transcience”. Exhibition wise she would say the Graduation show during the Dutch Design week, the For Play exhibition at MU and recently the DAE #tvclerici expo during Salone del Mobile in Milano  were the highlights of her career. At the moment she’s working on some freelance jobs and she is busy finishing her Artist in Residency at Springhouse (Amsterdam), where she started a new research on the future of human procreation. One of the most inspiring and challenging projects Pleun recently did is helping her brother/filmmaker Bram van Dijk with the production of his graduation movie which will be released this summer.
Pleun's biggest struggle as a young designer/artist is to find ways to produce new work. After graduation she realized how hard it is to find the time and focus to dive into a new topic, do a proper research and transform this into a new project. The reality of having a side job and working as a freelancer gives her often the feeling of loosing time and running around between all different projects.
The thing she loves most about her profession, if she had to choose only one thing, would be having the opportunity to give the viewer a new perspective on a certain topic, and make them speculate about certain things by triggering their imagination on possible future scenarios.

A.P.monde - FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

photo Christina Stohn

Meet Anja Perisic. She designs Kimonos for her brand A.P.monde, She also designs costumes for stage productions and develops patterns for the brand Ann Demeulemeester. 9 years ago she finished her studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and at the Kunsthochschule Berlin Weissensee. Anja was born in Sarajevo, but grew up in Antwerp, Belgium. She lived in Berlin for a while and now she’s back in Belgium. Anja always knew that she wanted to work in the field of design. She grew up between art galleries and theaters. Choosing to make design her profession felt very natural for her. The real surprise was starting her own business. She has worked for great minds like Ann Demeulemeester, Terry Gilliam, Christoph Waltz and Jan Fabre. But winning Fashion One’s first season of Design Genius gave her the mental and financial boost she needed to create her own brand, so far Anja’s biggest pride and joy. At the moment Anja is designing the next A.P.monde collection. She’s developing patterns for Ann Demeulemeester 2018 and she’s mentoring a master costume design program at the Antwerp Academy. The thing she loves most about her profession is how we need to go through various stages in order to develop a new design. Research, sourcing, drawing, experimenting (when there is time), development of a collection, shoots, marketing, sales, and then it all starts all over again. Each time the journey takes you somewhere new and unexpected. That to Anja is exhilarating.

SENSES AND FASHION - INSPIRATION

“Fashion is about bodies; it is produced, promoted and worn by bodies. It is the body that fashion speaks to and it is the body that must be addressed in almost all social encounters”  (Entwistle, 2000).

·         “With aging, sensations may be reduced or changed. These changes can occur because of decreased blood flow to the nerve endings or to the spinal cord or brain. The spinal cord transmits nerve signals and the brain interprets these signals.” Pen State Hershey

 “Sensation is fundamental to our experience of the world. Shaped by culture, gender, and class, the senses mediate between mind and the body, idea and object, self and environment.” - The Senses and Society

         "Fashion in the context of art makes sense as an evolving form which offers ongoing exploration in understanding the self and in helping me to create connections with others through shared experience." – Jo Cope

        "The senses are one of the things that make us more sensitive as human beings, connecting us to experiences in an intimate way. The sense of the self and the relationship and development of the inner being and how that might be projected outwardly is explored in some of my work." – Jo Cope

        "Does fashion make sense if the quality of the products is low, the labor conditions are poor and it harms the environment terribly? The psychology behind fashion has become less about quality or durability and more about being fast, cheap and easy to replace." – SHI[R]T.

·         "It is inevitable to think of the human body, in any aspect of fashion, without the relation to the senses. They are meant to be provoked, teased and challenged to a game that will result in pure pleasure." – LUDUS

·         "Clothing is in a close relation to the human body because of its tangibility. Body feels the fabric and decides whether it will accept it or not. When they match, they become one. Clothing and fabrics shape the body reacting differently on each person. Clothing serves the body's appearance and also helps a person to express themselves." – NIKA TOM

·       “Clothing, as an extension of the skin, can be seen both as a heat-control mechanism and a means of defining the self socially.” - Marshall McLuhan

Foam of the days - FASHIONCLASH Festival

Kristina Ivkovic is a young designer from Serbia who recently graduated from the  Academy of Fine Arts Brera, Milan. In 2011, she co-founded Skochypstiks, a parkour clothing brand and she plans on moving to London soon to launch her new brand Foam of the days, which will be showcased for the first time at FASHIONCLASH Festival.

Sensewear - FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

Sensewear is an Italian designer duo consisting of Ema and Ivan, both graduates of Polythecnic in Milan . Ema is specialized in furniture and textiles design, but worked in several fields as a trend researcher, strategist, interior designer, and educator. Her expertise encouraged further exploration at the intersection between product design and fashion and gave birth to the sensewear project. Ivan is an industrial designer with a multifaceted experience in product, interior design, furniture, branding, interaction, generative design, and digital fabrication. He is an expert in modular structures and patterns that are used to generate innovative open source products and enhance material performances. We first met in China, where we used to work for the same firm and we have been together in work and life since then. Almost ten years ago we landed in the Arab Emirates where in 2012 we founded Caravan, a design collective with a multidisciplinary approach, whose members share common interests in cultural, material and social aspects of a globalized community, trying to re-establish a balance among being, having and doing. Blending digital-fabrication and artisanal expertise Caravan’s projects aim at creating awareness of heritage to face contemporary challenges. Each work is infused with pragmatic materialism smoothed by subtle metaphors, inspiring its audience reaction alongside empathic participation. Their approach is characterised by strong multidisciplinary and crossbreed process that connects diverse industries towards new unexpected opportunities. Ema and Ivan currently teach design at Ajman University, one of the oldest higher education institution in the United Arabs Emirates.

Sensewear will present their work during the FASHION MAKES SENSE LAB, on June 30 – July 2 at SAM-decorfabriek (free entrance).

Where are you from? Where are you based at this moment?

We are both Italians coming from Lombardy, the region that makes our country worldwide renowned for its vibrant design philosophy and high end industrial manufacturing; although not the typical idyllic postcard of rural golden wheat hills you are used to. We have been based in the United Arab Emirates for 9 years now.

When did you realise you wanted to work in a field of (fashion) design?

In our work we are quite experimental, we try not to get trapped into compartmental definitions, working on the edge of several disciplines. The only constant in our work is the narrative we based our collective on. Caravan is a trip across diverse cultures and media, where the process takes control over the outcome. Whenever we start a project, we don’t know what is going to be in the end, with sensewear it happened to be the same, our objective was to involve sensory therapies in people’s daily activities and a garment collection came up as the most natural solution among several other possibilities. We embraced the challenge with enthusiasm and even though we are not fashion designers, we share the same tools and methodology. We teamed up with professionals working under our direction and in the end we are quite satisfied by the results of the collection and now we are pushing it through an injection of technology to make it responsive.

What are so far your main achievements in your career?

Our collection won several prizes: the Lexus Design Award 2015, the Wearable Technologies Competition at the Venice Design Week 2016, the AXAPPP Health Tech Future Award. We exhibited in Milan, Tokyo, Moscow, Dubai, London and now we are going to be in the Netherland. It’s a great satisfaction although we are aware that there is still a long way to go!

 In what projects are you involved at this moment?

We are mainly working in developing and promoting the sensewear, wearables are becoming the next big thing, but we are also on some collaborative projects with experimental theater performers and we are active in social design, working with disadvantaged communities, a quite mature thematic in Europe, but still underestimated territory of exploration in the Middle East.

What are your biggest struggles as a young designer/artist?

Ehm…young? Trying to escape conventional labels that constrain your work into boundaries of a tiny specific field sometimes makes people diffident about how much focused you are, even because we also renounced to a recognizable signature style it is difficult to grow an organic audience. Still we believe the worst struggle is to find financial support for experimental non for profit projects.

What do you love the most about your profession?

Our profession is our passion and our life. We strongly believe underestimated design’s potential could make a big change in everyone life rather than being just a luxurious patina on the top of ordinary products. Design give us the possibility to satisfy our curiosity, to explore everyday new environments, new techniques, new materials, new media, new places and new people that in the end are the real objective of our projects.

 

How would you define fashion?

Fashion is the real foundation of popular culture since it is the most immediate way to communicate and express yourself. In some regions homologation makes it a standardized status statement that sometime becomes vulgar exhibitionism, expression of wealth without culture. Luckily the fashion system as we know it, basing its success on such extravagances, started to show its limits and other more grounded experiences are becoming sensibly prominent on scene, Fashion Clash is one of them.

What fascinates/inspires you and why?

People, nature, math and chemistry, all the biggest contradiction in life are really a great source of inspiration that help us understanding the complexity we are living in. Dubai and the Emirates are full of such contradictions, the tallest buildings in the worlds are towering on narrow traditional alleys were deliveries comes on hand pushed carts; sometimes you might start your trip on a 7 lanes motorway that narrows down to an unpaved rural road with cows and camels crossing your way; sometimes you could feel being in a Swiss financial district and in a matter of minutes you could find yourself transported in Calcutta.

 

Finding your own distinctive voice can be difficult, where and how do you find your personal creativity (before you start designing/during the design process)?

Design as a drawing activity is the last resource, narration, discussion, storytelling, scouting, researching, documenting. Empathy, when you establish that contact than you know you have the right motivation to do a great job.

What challenges did you face during the design process?

People they don’t want to embrace challenge sometimes and they talk to designer with already something in their mind; they just need someone to visualize it. To makes them confident and reassure about your competence it is important to get out of any misunderstanding.

What do you want to communicate with your work in general?

Design is for all! …and fashion too!

Can you tell us something about the project you will present at the FASHIONCLASH Festival?

Sensewear is a collection of clothes and accessories that emphasize the use of senses. Their primary purpose is to stimulate and improve awareness of our senses, while training us to better use them all. Some Sensewear items are designed to mute physical sensations, some to sharpen them. The collection is inspired by therapies applied to Sensory Processing Disorders and developed with the technical support of therapists assisting people affected with autism. Anxiety, stress, panic attack are most typical autism’s symptoms but more and more people suffers them, therefore the collection is not addressed only to people with disabilities but it is aiming at enhancing everyone hectic urban life. The aim of the project is to design an inclusive collection that could be attractive and wearable by anyone and does not stigmatize a person affected by a disorder. 

Why have you decided to participate at FASHIONCLASH Festival? 

Because our design will definitely seem out of place at any conventional fashion show, as much as at a regular healthcare business fair. Since contamination, not to be confused with weirdness, is our playground we found ourselves perfectly in line with FASHIONCLASH mission.

FASHIONCLASH is already working on future themes. What are the topics you find interesting?

Inclusive design, design for all, wearables, contamination among fashion and furniture, multipurpose, habitable garments, transformable, magnetic, performing costumes, cross cultures, cross-religions, emergency, hi-tech nomadism.

What are your thoughts regarding ‘religion and fashion’?

Very interesting question! We are living in Dubai, a place where 200 nationalities are co-existing, and among them a lot of different religions! I believe fashion has no boundaries even though, sometimes fashion and religion can really challenge each other.

             Does fashion makes sense to you?  

Recently fashion in general is a big mess and I’m looking for some sense in the product I buy and design. Unfortunately fashion is one of the most polluted industries and I hope new generations can make a difference!

What are your thoughts on making ‘fashion’ more environmentally-friendly?

Ah! That’s what I’ve meant! It’s a real emergency!

What are your thoughts on the senses in relation to the human body?

Well sensewear express fully this answer!

Do you think that fashion can contribute to a better world / better well-being, and what do you do to make a difference?

We design products that can improve people’s life.

What senses are engaged in your creation process?

We try to include all of them, but I believe the most important is touch.

How does technology change your creation process?

Technology is a very important source of inspiration. Ideas can come from technological innovations, new production teschnologies, new materials. We like to be experimental and we usually try to link new technologies to old craft.

 What’s a standard day for you?

Up by 7, breakfast, late to Viola’s school by 8 (Viola is our daughter), late to work by 9, late lunch by 2, we are constantly living on an average 15 minute late, will catch up on Sunday! Insha’allah!

Vegan, vegetarian, healthy diet or any food will do?

We tried gluten, diary, eggs free, but what a sacrifice and what to do with our last compulsive grocery?

What’s your favourite song at the moment?

OK GO – the one moment. The video clip is amazing as all their previous ones. (ivan)

Best Tv-show/movie at the moment?

Black Mirror

What is your bad habit?

Ivan smokes! Ema hates the smell of cigarettes!

Are you a people's person or a loner?

We love to have guests and cook for them.

Do you have a pet?

Better not to, since we are living in the desert. We enjoy camels in our backyard!

Your favourite quote?

Imagination is more important than knowledge – Albert Einstein

What’s your favourite city?

Every time we visit a new one we fall in love with it…this summer we’ll find our next crash

What/Who do you miss the most when you are not at home?

Food!

If you could move anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

I’m not lying if I say The Netherlands!! I feel it’s a good place to live. Amsterdam gives me the idea that it is a human scale city where you can live well either single or as a family

What do you enjoy the most in life?

Exploring the culinary landscape of every country and how it relates to culture and language

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Chocolate!

Who is your biggest example/idol?

Yves Behar, Victor Papanek, Buckminster Fuller, Madonna, Dolce & Gabbana.

Favourite magazine?

Frame, Monocle… Unfortunately, we lack independent magazines in UAE.

Your favourite hashtags #?

#

You favorite social media app?

Instagram, zomato

Instagram account you think deserves more attention?

Jahnk0y very inspiring work!

                   Find more about Ema and Ivan's work here: sensewear

Coffee Break Story #4

Together with our partner Coffeelovers we will be sharing a Coffee Break Story almost every Sunday as of the 4th of June! 5 Local designers who are part of FabricAge will be sharing their “cup of inspiration” and “what tickles their fashion senses”. 

Our fourth Coffee Break is with:

Photo: Marloes van Doorn

 Jolijn Fiddelaers | www.ixxcreates.com

 Jolijn (1979) is born and raised in Limburg. In 2002 she graduated at the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and Design (MAFAD). She is a passionate initiator, creator and entrepreneur and since 2002 she has worked as an academic teacher and industrial textile designer for various international companies. She is owner and art director of IXX. Jolijn is one of the designers in this year's edition of FabricAge. In collaboration with Maarten van Mulken and Suzanne Vaessen she is also responsible for the design of the first FabricAge creation.

1.What makes the social design label & project FabricAge so unique? Why do you wanted to be part of FabricAge?

I love the entire concept of FabricAge as it uses design to build bridges between different worlds, on various levels. This is what I intend to do with my design studio IXXcreates and slow fashion label KARIGAR as well. I preferably contribute to projects that are design-focused AND have a strong a
social/sustainable pillar as well. As a designer FabricAge is a wonderful playground to explore new and old techniques and various materials in big-scale artworks. Working together with senior craft experts and workshop attendees is inspiring because I learn from their skills and creativity, also on a practical level. And just as important: I am amazed by the aliveness and vibrancy I meet in their eyes and personalities. They truly inspire me, and again and again, I see the beauty of being creative.

2. What can we expect from you during FabricAge, FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017 and/or in the future? 

FASHIONCLASH is a great place to be inspired by the work of young designers, and I will visit as many events as possible! I am curious to see what moves them and how it expresses in their work. With two business partners, I am building an international presence for KARIGAR, our slow fashion brand for which we work with traditional artisans in India. A commercial follow-up for the design work I started doing in 2010. It is exciting and rewarding to see how my pioneering is now paying off and our beautiful hand-woven products such as capes, shawls, scarves are finding their way across
the globe. Currently, we are working on a new collection to show at Dutch Design Week in October 2017. We have just received the cape-prototypes for a new colour range, a fashion shoot is planned in July and I am preparing for another India trip this winter, to start up new collaborations with textile artisans. Besides establishing KARIGAR as a brand, there are a few nice design projects for IXX. My work now is a beautiful blend of creative expression and commercial viability, and I enjoy it!

3. How does Fashion Make Sense to you nowadays?

Fashion Makes Sense when it is looked at from a broader perspective. Beauty-, identity- and self-expression are intrinsic and healthy values for human beings, and fashion is a great playground for this. Of course, how our creations are produced matters as much as how we wear them. There is a growing sense of responsibility amongst designers and creators. And don’t get me wrong: this can be fun! Travelling a new road is challenging and exciting.

4. What magazine or book does every creative/fashion designer should have on their coffee table?

Honestly, I hardly ever use books or magazines to get inspired. The only book that I always have with me is my notebook. I prefer to create my own stories.

From 1 June until 15 July 2017 Jolijn will be working with four other designers and six craft experts during various FabricAge workshops, covering the techniques of (experimental) knitting, embroidery and weaving. Together with the senior (55+) participants, one spectacular textile design will be created for the city of Maastricht. Wanna join one of the FabricAge workshops? Check out www.fabric-age.nl/workshops (NL)!

STRIKKS | FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

Meet Maartje Boer and Suzanne Vaessen, the designers behind STRIKKS. Their studio is based in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Maartje graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Maastricht (NL), and afterwards, in cooperation with her co-designer Suzanne, she opened her design studio. Their main focus is knitting, co-creation with other designers and companies, as well as research of all possibilities in the field of clothing production. STRIKKS has showcased at several design weeks in cities like Eindhoven, Milan or Brussels. Their designs are published in various magazines and newspapers. During the 9th edition of the FASHIONCLASH Festival STRIKKS will showcase a research project regarding the way people respond to a knitwear collection that can be personalized. The project will be interactive and the prize might be a personalized garment from STRIKKS, so don't miss it! Find out more about the program and tickets here.

What are your biggest struggles as a young designer/artist?
Time, I would love to have more time! Time to spend on the knitting machine to invent new knitting structures, samples and yarn trials.

Does fashion makes sense to you? 
Fashion is our second skin, let’s make it worthy. As designers we should cherish our skin and make a beautiful and both functional layer for it. Life is too short for dressing down.

Do you think that fashion can contribute to a better world / better well-being, and what do you do to make a difference?
I find it important that people are aware of their clothes and production. That’s why I am investigating a new way of making fashion: a sustainable collection in which personalization has the lead.

What does a fashion collection look like, when model, color and knitting structure can be customized? 
With an interactive method I aim to engage the customer in the design process and give her more freedom of choice and better fit. This engagement is key for creating emotional value for clothing, and it leads to longer wear.

What senses are engaged in your creation process? 
My collection and our knitted designs are all about touch and sight! Touching fabrics and experiencing the feeling of a knitted fabric, the way the stitches are formed, it’s a very tangible thing.

How does technology change your creation process? 
In our studio technology is used both in the creation and in the production of our designs. More and more we use automated knitting machines to take over the job. But designing is also about zooming out, taking a step back and analyzing results. Craft and manual work will always be part of the process.

What is your bad habit? 
When I’m stressed, I start biting my nails, very nervously. It makes me think faster although it doesn't beautify my nails.

Are you a people's person or a loner?
Both, actually. I am a team player but I enjoy working on my own. Mostly on a quiet location without any music or people around me. In such situations I can deliver best.

Your favorite quote?
“You should not sacrifice your dreams to make other people happy”

Your favorite hashtags #?
#knitistheshit

Your favorite social media app?
Insta! And I think www.instagram.com/strikks is a very inspiring account :)

Maartje and Suzanne have a website where you can check out their collections and other projects that STRIKKS was involved in. If you are interested, click here.

NOUS AVONS - FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

NOUS AVONS is a platform for highly creative Dutch emerging designers and established brands in fashion and accessories. The collective was founded in 2016 by Fenny Faber, Heidi Long, Manon Boertien and Renske Versluijs and is based in Utrecht, The Netherlands. 

Their aim is to support their artistic and branding enterprises, from global commercial sales to fashion events and communication services, in the development of their professional capacities and by building long-term relations. Their goal is to solve the struggle between creativity and commerce that young designers encounter while expanding their labels in a sustainable manner.

NOUS AVONS style is eclectic, ranging from rough to classic and colorful to pitch-black. The materials vary from silk, wool, organic cotton, leather to porcelain and self-developed fabrics.

NOUS AVONS designs can be seen at FASHIONCLASH Festival during the Fashion Makes Sense LAB on June 30 - July 2 at SAMdecorfabriek.

Read more about NOUS AVONS: https://www.facebook.com/platformnousavons/ and its designers: www.renskeversluis.com, www.manonboertien.nl, www.fennyfaber.com, www.heidilong.nl 

NIKA TOM | FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

Meet Nika Čuić, the designer behind NIKA TOM, from Zagreb, Croatia. She is  26 years old and she holds a degree in Fashion Design and Costumography, and also economics. What she loves the most about being a fashion designer, is that she can be herself. At the moment she is involved in the making of her FASHIONCLASH collection and she is also preparing for an exhibition in Zagreb, as well as designing costumes for a short movie. If you want to check out Nika's and other amazing collections, be sure to buy the tickets to the festival here.

What does your brand represent?
My brand NIKA TOM represent the extension of myself. First of all, TOM stands for my mothers shortened family To continue, my work represents me, respectively, my mind, feelings, thoughts and everything that an individual can't describe with words I have always had a need to express that in one way and, by set of circumstances, had always been surrounded with a sewing machine, fabrics and all sorts of materials helped me to achieve that.

What are so far your main achievements in your career? 
I have participated in lots of shows and exhibitions during two years period, and one of the most notable was Berlin Alternative Fashion Week. I was also a part of the Designers Profile in the Mays issue of British Vogue- page designed with the intention of showcasing a range of upcoming designers.

What are your biggest struggles as a young designer/artist?
Lack of financial resources, technology, materials.

How would you define fashion?
I wouldn’t really define it. Every individual speaks and does for himself, respectively, creates something which he or she finds accurate. You can really communicate with clothing, and I think that is the goal here - to speak out.

What fascinates/inspires you and why?
Literally everything! I always have a different inspiration, but there always has to be a reason and connection why did it happen. These inspirations are often connected with my personality, surroundings, everyday situations, emotions, people, art , music…

What do you want to communicate with your work in general?
I want to transfer my ideas and stories through clothing. The goal is to achieve perfect imperfection, meaning a set of rules that you made by yourself and that are not so common but with its wrong unexpected details they become perfect .

Can you tell us something about the project you will present at the FASHIONCLASH Festival? What do you try to communicate with your project?
The project I will present is named 'Peripeteies'. It deals with balance between reality and the inner one made in our thoughts and felt through emotions. The question is what is real and how to delineate it from the mind of a self and is this real just a confirmation of our expectations and beliefs. On the other hand, the mind is living its own reality which is created by interconnectedness of yourself with lived experience, it is a gateway between the finite and ad infinitum. Letting the mind communicate with the reality enables a possibility to create its own reality which is then known only to ourselves. The mean is to represent both worlds, many realities on the same piece and let them connect together. Since the mind of oneself is hard to be grasped with words and expressions, my goal is to express it through clothing and in that way to explore the possibility of functionality of this balance.

Why have you decided to participate at FASHIONCLASH Festival?
I decided to participate at FASHIONCLASH Festival because  it focuses on supporting emerging young designers and gives them the opportunity to experiment with fashion and create something unconventional.

FASHIONCLASH is already working on future themes. What are the topics you find interesting?
Topics that interest me are people, their relations, human body, mind and what can be produced with it.

Does fashion makes sense to you?
Most of the time not, because it had gone to extremes of consumerism, rapidly changeable trends and uselessness. On the other hand, communicating with it, expressing yourself, making something different, long-lasting and with good quality does make a lot of sense.

What are your thoughts on making ‘fashion’ more environmentally-friendly?
I think every individual also has to think and work towards sustainability as much as he or she can for the benefit of the unity.

What are your thoughts on the senses in relation to the human body?

Clothing is in a close relation to the human body because of its tangibility. Body feels the fabric and decides whether it will accept it or not. When they match, they become one. Clothing and fabrics shape the body reacting differently on each person. Clothing serves the body's appearance and also helps a person to express themselves. 

What senses are engaged in your creation process? 
I am using my emotions, intuition and (sub)conscious through every step of the process. Every single sense is engaged , mostly touch and sight as feeling the fabric and seeing its result when its created.

If you want to find out more about Nika and her brand, please check her out at Not Just A Label and Instagram.

Coffee Break Story #3

Together with our partner Coffeelovers we will be sharing a Coffee Break Story almost every Sunday as of the 4th of June! 5 Local designers who are part of FabricAge will be sharing their “Cup of Inspiration” and “What tickles their fashion senses”.

Our third Coffee Break is with:
Verena Klein | verenaklein.tumblr.com 

Verena Klein studied fashion design at the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and Design and launched her label one year ago. She loves Maastricht and the people so much that she decided to stay. “In a restless world it is scarce to find a place where creativity pulsates, and you can find serenity and tranquillity at the same time”, she thinks. Verena combines two passions in her work: handcrafted garments made out of pure natural textiles and contemporary dance. It is important for her that the medium of presentation and the goods complement each other. Connecting these two disciplines enables her to tell her subtle but emotional stories. Verena is one of the designers involved in the FabricAge project. She will also present her collection as part of the Peace Stones Studios collective at the Designer Market during FASHIONCLASH Festival.

LUDUS | FASHIONCLASH Festival 2017

Meet Dragan Hristov, the designer behind LUDUS. He originally comes from Skopje, Macedonia but he studied on the Academy of Fine Arts - Brera in Milan, Italy. Despite his aversion towards fashion environments, Dragan found fashion to be his language, thereby ending up working in the industry. He is currently involved in the preparation of a performance with his latest collection called "#Imperfections", at the medieval mall in his hometown. The performance will take place at the end of May 2017, and it will involve two artists who will bring garments from the 1930s to life. He is also involved in curating local fashion events in his town. Dragan has a cat named Pucko and he misses him dearly whenever he leaves his home. His favorite city is Milan, and due to his upbringing he does not have any idols. He also feels that pleasure should not make anyone guilty, therefore he does not have a guilty pleasure per se.
Check out his and many other collections during this edition of our festival.
You can see the program and purchase the tickets here.