Arts Thread

Above FASHIONCLASH Festival 2021  1. Luca Tichelman and Rens de Waa/ 2. Ellen Bloo/ 3. Bea Brucker/ 4. Carlijn Veurink/ 5. Antoine Peters and Lieke Benders/ 6. The Nightmare Disorder

The FASHIONCLASH Festival returned to Maastricht for its 13th edition with both an online and offline programme, showing the events' willingness to evolve and adapt in order to bring the latest fashion designers to audiences.

For this year's FASHIONCLASH Festival, all of the shows, performances and table discussions were broadcast online. Daily digital reports by designer Helène Klein and the De ZAAK collective gave those who couldn't attend IRL the chance to visit the numerous pop-up shops and exhibitions digitally.

Highlights this year included The Clash House show, a combination of performance, installation, film and discussion. The pieces on display are part of The Clash House's development program which focuses on the crossover of fashion and art. This year's participants in The Clash House were Bobbine Berden Design, Carlijn Veurink, TEUN, The Nightmare Disorder and TheNEWtribe. Carlijn Veurink showed her Shared Silhouette project which is both a costume and art installation. Veurink's costume is worn and put into motion by several performers whose movements make the piece come to life.  The Nightmare Disorder presented a dark, demonic fashion carnival that transported the audience on a trip to the afterlife.



At the Fashion Makes Sense show, Luca Tichelman and Rens de Waal presented their short fashion film Off The Top Of My Hat. The film features experimental 'alter ego hats' made by participants of a multidisciplinary fashion project titled Second Skin Tilburg. In the film we are shown young people trying on these hats and experimenting with different characters and identities. Also at Fashion Makes Sense, fashion designer Antoine Peters and theater maker Lieke Benders presented the STAND-IN project, which saw the pair create unique photo stand-ins where viewers could place their face through a hole and 'wear' unique fashion pieces. Learn about the winners of the Fashion Makes Sense winners from the digital edition of FASHIONCLASH earlier this year here. 



New Fashion Narratives featured work by BEA BRÜCKER, Boris Kollar, Dominika Kasova, Ellen Bloo, Katharina Achterkamp, LOST WITH THE NEW, Mariana Malta, Rena Jansen x Michelle Vossen, Studio Adaptive Skins, Vogel Vete and Ploen Mevis. The show explored a range of themes from gender to consumerism and sustainability through an interdisciplinary lens. Pieces on show combined fashion with fine art, installations and audio visual work. BEA BRÜCKER, industry jury winner in the sustainable fashion/textiles category at the Global Design Graduate Show 2021, presented the Morphogenesis project which sees the designer experimenting with living organisms and compostable algae leather to create more sustainable garments. Mariana Malta showed There Is Only Me, a project that examines the designer's own body and the potential shapes and visuals that can be found in its curves and folds.



During the Open Mic Night ten designers and performing artists showcased their work in a hybrid fashion presentation/performance. Participating in the show were Maximilian Rittler, Davidpaulusstudio, Elliot Collective, Rachel Klok, Jolieke Kessels, МАША, Maja Simišić, Leap Concept, DE ZAAK and Who cares what you wear. David Paulus showed his bright and colourful Art Couture featuring leopard print morph suits and teddybear shaped bodices. Recent Willem de Kooning Academy Rotterdam graduate Maja Simišić presented elements of her graduate project which saw the designer interview migrants from former Yugoslavia living in the Netherlands and creating pieces inspired by their own concepts of the word 'home'.

ARTS THREAD is proud to be media partner for the FASHIONCLASH Festival. To learn more about the event visit the FASHIONCLASH website. 

Image credits: 2 New Fashion Narratives