Alya Hessy at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2016

photo by Marte van Haaster

Visual artist Alya Hessy, graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2015, operates in the world between the body and textiles. Born in Ukraine, living in the Netherlands and fascinated by Japan, Alya explores the realms of politics, philosophy and physicality through making objects, writing and performing. She seeks emptiness as a way of letting go of the pre-defined and allowing multiple interpretations.

You can see Alya Hessy's work during FASHIONCLASH Festival at the Heritage Exhibition (July 1 + 2 at SAMdecorfabriek) and Heritage Show + Talk (July 3 at Gebouw M, Tapijnkazerne).



When did you realise you wanted to be a fashion designer? 
I have always been busy with art through my life, but it became the main thing when I went to study to the Rietveld Academy, where I graduated in the summer 2015.

Emma Hasselblad at FASHIONCLASH Festival 2016

Meet Emma Hasselblad, she is a 25-year-old knitwear designer and a textile designer/artist. Educated at ESMOD Berlin from where she graduated with a BA Fashion Design in 2015. She grew up in Stockholm, Sweden and at the moment she is based in Malmö, south of Sweden, in a super small apartment with her partner and two cats.

Emma Hasselblad will present her collection at FASHIONCLASH Festival on Saturday July 2. You can get your ticket here.

When did you realise you wanted to be a fashion designer? How long have you been designing clothing? 
I've always been a fan of colours and shapes and to be creative has always been important to me. I've been fascinated of clothes and style for as long as I can remember and how easy it is to change appearance with how you dress. I wanted to work with something that involves colours and handicraft so that's why I wanted to work with fashion, textile and knitwear. The handicraft is very important to me and all of my garments are hand knitted and made in my studio. I learned how to knit as a kid in school, but it was first when I was around 19 that I became obsessed and realised that it was something I wanted to do. I started knitting as a hobby and now it has become a larger part of my life which is super fun.