As the rookie fashion theory teacher at the fashion department of the infamous Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam I am especially proud of ‘our’ first fashion show, held on Friday June 15. The brand new head of this fashion department Niels Klavers picked an excellent location for starters, on the third floor of the academy’s new wing across from the famously stylish Gerrit Rietveld building which served as a backdrop for the 45 meters long minimalist catwalk, a fruitful collaboration with Audio Visual students Kristinn Gudmundsen and Peter Sattler, Foundation Year student Karim Adduchi and other students. The show included a fascinating selection of first and second year fashion students, three fashion graduates – Jolka Wiens, Poul Brouwer and Morta Griskeviciute – and two more graduates, Elisabeth Leerssen from textiles and Torfi Fannar Gunnarsson from audio visual. Here is a selection of first reviews of the show by Kristoper Arden-Houser on Diane Pernet’s A Shaded View On Fashion site, prominent Dutch fashion reporter Georgette Koning and fashion blogger Branco Popovic. See the finale here on YouTube.

Great laser cut silhouettes by Jolka Wiens

Gold sheen neoprene minidress by Jolka Wiens

Crisp watered down tile prints by Poul Brouwer

Awesome sweaters knitted by Elisabeth Leerssen

Torfi Gunnarson's eccentric knitwear
The runway pictures are shot by by the infamous Peter Stigter and Jetty Ferwerda team, always loyal to budding talent, here with a bow to the lovely Schoon den Boer PR team.
For the graduation paper we did in collaboration with graphic design student Aude Debout, photography student Kyle Tryhorn I interviewed the three fashion graduates of 2012. (more…)