Collection 'Inlaid Fantasies' by Andreea Mandrescu

Please introduce yourself to our readers. (Who are you, where do you come from and what is your field of specialization?)
My name is Andreea Mandrescu, was born in Romania and at age of 15 emigrated in Israel with my family. At the moment I live in London, where I moved in 2009. I am a textile, material and surface designer and opened my own design studio after I graduated from Central Saint Martins College, London, UK in 2011.

Where are you based?
I am based in London, both myself and my studio.

What inspires you in general?
Anything ranging from a pattern on the street to furniture and architecture can inspire me. Mostly, I love to explore and combine different materials and creating interesting tactile and visual surfaces and construction.

What is it like to be a young designer in your city？
Not very easy, I believe that at the moment nowhere is easy to be a young designer. London is a great city for inspiration which loves what is new and innovative, so I take comfort in that at times of struggle.

New Talent from Gibraltar: Christel Mifsud

Please introduce yourself to our readers. (Who are you, where do you come from and what is your field of specialization?)
My Name is Christel Mifsud, I was born and raised in Gibraltar. I design and make casual, nightlife and creative clothing under my brand named ‘Shorji’.

What inspires you in general?
Basically anything that catches my eye can inspire me, for example, people, cultures, fitness, TV, music, travelling, fabrics and everyday life.

Multidisciplinary Exhibition Presented by Lisa Maria Rutten

Please introduce yourself to our readers. (Who are you, where do you come from and what is your field of specialization?)

I’m Lisa Maria Rutten, I work under the name: Maria-Lies, I graduated as an illustrator, but photography and fashion are a big influence in my work. My work is mainly about creating a certain atmosphere, which mostly ends up as a surreal situation. I prefer to put things in another perspective, playing with the function and use of objects is distinctive for my work. By illustrating with objects, I try to create a set-design that makes people question. Photography is the main key in all of this, however I often combine more mixed media techniques, since I haven’t lost my love for working with real materials. My style consists of creating an illusion, with a dark sense of humor and an overload of imagination.

Uta Bekaia & Ideal Glass NY present a multimedia show 'The Purple Jester'

Please introduce yourself to our readers. (Who are you, where do you come from and what is your field of specialization?)

I’m Uta Bekaia, a designer and multimedia artist interested in exploring art wear, clothing as sculpture, performance and based in New York City. I’m going to be present at ‘FASHIONCLASH Maastricht 2013’ with project ‘The Purple Jester’, a multimedia performance created by me and our creative group, Ideal Glass NY.

Handmade Jewellery by Lucie Houdková from Prague

Please introduce yourself to our readers. (Who are you, where do you come from and what is your field of specialization?)

My name is Lucie Houdková. I was born in Brno, it´s the second largest city of the Czech Republic. I studied Academi of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague and I graduated two years ago. I attended studio of Metal and Jewellery which was renamed K.O.V. (Concept, Object, Meaning). My specialization is jewellery and design.

HEYNIEK by Niek Pulles

Niek at work

Picture from Matandme blog.

What is your name? Niek Pulles

What is the name of your label? HEYNIEK

Where did you study and when did you graduate? I graduated in December 2009 at Man & Identity of the Design Academy Eindhoven

What inspires you as a designer/artist? I think almost everything in life :P If ''it" or "something'' gives you the energy or the feeling to create a piece, that inspires me.

Who is your favorite (fashion) designer/artist? Why? Alexander McQueen and especially what he did around his shows. Creating new worlds, he really was a precursor. It's a shame that he died...

What can you bring to FASHIONCLASH Maastricht 2011? I will join the CLASH project and the plan is to show an energetic and experimental piece based on the material of one of my graduation project, which is black foam.



What do you expect from the FASHIONCLASH Maastricht 2011? I think it will be an even hotter show the last year :)



Niek's atelier
Picture from Matandme blog.



How did your experience with fashion started? When did you decide to be a (fashion) designer/artist? I was really triggered by the fastness of fashion during the Academy. In my third year I decided to jump into this fashion adventure at Man & Identity, which I still don't regret!

What are your goals concerning your career? What are your ambitions? Where do you see yourself in the future? My plan is to focus on fashion film. Using film to make trend forecasts and visualize (fashion) material experiments. And hope to work with nice people:), but that is already happening...

Edited by Natalia Serwanska

Knitwear by Diana Tax

Knitted menswear by Diana Tax
picture by Rik Versteeg

What is your name? Diana Tax

What is the name of your label? I don't really have a label yet, but it will probably be something with my own name (Diana Tax) or the name of my last collection (FSHRMN)

Where did you study and when did you graduate? I've studied at Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam and I graduated in January 2011.

What inspires you as a designer? I'm most inspired by fabrics, and especially knits. I love what you can do with knitted fabrics. You can make a design, you can make ladders in a knit. Sometimes a use of a metallic yarn is enough to make something special. I also like weaving and the ausbrenner technique, but my main interest is knitwear. And I'm also inspired by things around me, and stories from the past. My last collection (which will be shown during FASHIONCLASH Maastricht 2011) was inspired by fishermen ganseys and the stories behind the ganseys.