What better occasion to catch up with old friends than to pen down their ‘Bricks and mortar, blood and tears’ tale of how they ended up in their present lovely home and working together as successfully as they do. Photography couple Maurice Scheltens and Liesbeth Abbenes are living proof of the golden formula of not only staying true to your own obsession, but also to mine it laboriously to dazzling depths, where no one can follow. Hope you enjoy the read, right here in the PDF Apartamento11 – Maurice and Liesbeth, or in the lovely paper issue #11, out now!
Apartamento & the Scheltens-Abbenes story
June 3rd, 2013TimeCapsules launched
June 3rd, 2013TimeCapsules is a great Warhol-esque gift item conceived by youth marketing expert Anouk van der El, designer Mae Engelgeer, creative collective Venour and the award winning product designers at Officeoriginair. It was a great pleasure to join in for some copy for the launch of this thought provoking product. As I am the proud owner of one of the very first TimeCapsules, I can contest it does put your life in a fresh perspective as it throws quite a challenge in your lap. What would you seal up in this pretty white pod for future reference, for what occasion, and for whom? Mine is still sitting here.. waiting for a plan. Chance is my son will open it some quarter century from now….
The Daily Recommendation
November 14th, 2012Today it is my recommendation to get into the good habit of checking The Daily Recommendation on the Fantastic Man website, ehm, daily. Occasionally I have the pleasure of bringing in small delights, like this time when I was invited to the press opening of David Hockney’s show A Bigger Picture at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. I was absolutely thrilled to meet the master himself but the show in it itself is absolutely jaw dropping too. Treat yourself to this trip!
All for YOUASME MEASYOU The Social Show
November 14th, 2012As I model for friends only I was particularly happy to pose for Mark van Vorstenbos and Twan Janssen, the ever so charming couple behind Dutch knitwear label YOUASME MEASYOU, in front of the lens of my good friends at Studio Blommers/Schumm. The portrait is part of an exhibition in Amsterdam’s famed Gallery Torch called YOUASME MEASYOU The Social Show, subtitled The Art of Sharing. All the people in the mirrored portraits belong to the Family of Founders of this utterly contemporary label with its precious quality knitwear and jersey pieces and innovative concepts such as the world wide virtual stores. Do learn more about this really forward thinking new luxury brand concept on their website or come to Gallery Torch to sign up for this wonderful win-win fashion deal: join the Family of Founders! Make sure not to miss Riette Wanders‘ flower arrangements while doing the paper work. YOUASME MEASYOU The Social Show runs until December 22nd, 2012. (The hand knit scarf I’m wearing in the picture will make a comeback in the collection soon and, whisper whisper, they do awesome sales too!)
Rejina Pyo at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen
November 13th, 2012On Friday September 28 I was invited to the opening dinner in Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, in honor of the opening of Han Nefkens Fashion Award 2012 winner Rejina Pyo’s breathtaking exhibition. The Han Nefkens Fasion Award jury panel, including Viktor & Rolf, Gentlewoman’s Penny Martin, fashion lecturer José Teunissen and mecenas Han Nefkens himself, selected the young Korean born Central Saint Martins Fashion Master graduate as the lucky talent to be granted 25.000 Euro’s to realize a new collection and putting it up in a show at the wonderful Boijmans van Beuningen art temple in Rotterdam. Rejina Pyo’s work is overwhelming in it’s sculptural perfection. Niels Klavers and I returned shortly after for a field trip with the Gerrit Rietveld fashion department (which also included a tour by Monique van Heist of exhibition about workwear in the Zeeuws Museum).
Vlisco X designer collabs for Orange Babies
November 13th, 2012It is with pride that I make myself useful as a copywriter for the great cause of the Amsterdam based Orange Babies foundation, whose hands on initiatives help to fight HIV in Africa. The most recent occasion was the Orange Babies Gala 2012, a high profile fundraising auction event which took place on June 23rd. As part of this year’s Chic ‘n Soul themed gala the famous Dutch wax print company Vlisco, with it’s vast African connection, collaborated with some 30 young and established designers to create exclusive accessories for auction. My Eindhoven-connection, fashion and design concept store You Are Here, helped recruit an army of wonderful young design talents to collaborate in this colorful exercise. Besides the many many colorful and perfectly covetable bags, ties and bow ties here are a few gorgeous examples by Thera Hillenaar, Turina Jewellery, design studio RenS and MATTIJS. The night’s auction made a neat total of 527.805 Euro’s for the Orange Babies cause by the way.
GERRIT RIETVELD fashion show MMXII
June 18th, 2012As 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.
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Stef Bakker in ELLE DECOR ITALIA
June 18th, 2012In a series of interior stories I have done with photographer Kasia Gatkowska this one of designer Stef Bakker’s new Amsterdam apartment was featured in the june issue of Elle Decor Italia. As Stef Bakker is designing the all new and improved interior my own modest Amsterdamse School house – together with his amazing assistant Joren Naerebout – I am especially pleased to share the PDFs and an english version of my write up.
GERRIT RIETVELD ACADEMY Fashion alumni exhibit at &Foam
January 20th, 2012The Amsterdam photography museum FOAM is opening a dependence-cum-concept store named &Foam on January 26, 2012. As I am proud to mention that I will start teaching Fashion Theory at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy this February, I particularly look forward to see EVERYONE at the opening of the alumni exhibit there! It is organized by the brand new head of the Gerrit Rietveld fashion department Niels Klavers – formerly of Klavers van Engelen – and it will feature work by JOFF, Freudenthal/Verhagen, And Beyond, Emmeline de Mooij, Paul Helbers, Corné Gabriëls, Thera Hillenaar, Hyun Yeu, Wojciech Dziedzic and more. Let’s raise those glasses to another great season for genuine fashion talent!
BUGABOO magazine
January 19th, 2012Going to print this very day… and I can’t wait to see it: BUGABOO magazine by …,staat creative agency. I got to do the loveliest fashion-mood-lifting interview with Angela Missoni for the occasion of Missoni’s fabulous collaboration with Bugaboo, and I did a fun profile on Mark Jacobs for the same reason. BOO The Celebration Issue as the magazine is called will be launched world wide and in a number of languages.


























