Transformation.

Last Wednesday I visited the Graduation show of the senior fashion design students of the Utrecht School of Arts (HKU). A few talents caught my eye and Nynke Eggen was one of them. She made a collection named Transformation.



Her collection is based on the iconic women's suit, which represents the spirit of the past fifty years: years in which our society was predominantly around male properties. Now our society is changing; it is heading for a more feminine society and Nynke tries to express this transformation in her collection by transforming the traditional women suit.



During the show, it seemed as if there was a transformation as model after model entered the catwalk. The first model seemed to wear the traditional women's suit as we know it. But the silhouette changed with each and every model. They all had references to the suit though. And the soft colored suits were combined with tough and high leather boots.



Nynke has not launched her website yet, so far we just have to do it with her pictures. But hopefully we'll hear more from her in the next couple of years!



Photography: Maurice Snabilie
Make-up: Eveline Klumpers
Models: Maiken @ Fresh Model Management & Eldrid @ Favourite Models

Written for BLEND.

Friday Food \ Coconut Macaroon Pancakes.

With the not so summery weather outside and fathers day in prospective, I thought it would be a good idea to give you some inspiration for an extensive and - of course - delicious breakfast. I've never had pancakes for breakfast before, but in the USA it's a common thing to eat in the morning. Maybe good for us Dutchmen to push our conservative old breakfast habits aside for once and try these special coconut and macaroon-flavoured pancakes. Or maybe it’s a good way to show the love for your father or the father of your children? And they're not difficult to make either: just eight ingredients and about ten minutes separate you from a stack of these little miracles.





Recipe from Heidi Swanson on 101 Cookbooks.

Written for BLEND.

Carl Kleiner.

Carl Kleiner is a photographer with a passion for surrealism, emotional properties and geometry. The works of the Swedish photographer are definitely showing love for the beautiful things in life. He has a range of humorous, compelling and occasionally shocking images in his portfolio. Playing with props, models, colours and concepts, there are a lot of different ideas in his photography.

It's hard to choose which images of him I should share here, because there is such a variety in his works and the images are all very beautiful. He makes photographs of, for example, creepy life-size Barbie dolls, graceful paper airplanes and everyday objects arranged to produce mind-melting geometric shapes. Just take a look at the images I gathered here and check out his portfolio and blog for more brilliant works.



Written for BLEND.

Devout/Divine - Fashion vs. Religion.

Religion and its visual externalization are high on the European agenda list of topics. Burqa's are already forbidden in Belgium and soon France will also follow this example. But are burqa's and other religious garments part of rituals or are they just pure aesthetic elements?

From the 26th of June until the 9th of January 2010, the Hasselt Fashion Museum becomes the place where visitors can explore this link between fashion and religion by visiting the exhibition Devout/Divine - Fashion vs. Religion. This exhibition will not show a traditional overview of historical religious garments and textile, but focuses on the relationship between contemporary fashion and religion. It emphasizes the integration and translation of religious symbolism in designs of the past decennia. A few examples of what will be on display are original interpretations of burqa's, a praying carpet transformed into a handbag, rosaries and habits remodelled as catwalk ensembles and haute couture nuns.

Devout/Divine - Fashion vs. Religion will be a compilation of creations of national and international designers and the exhibition examines how religion is integrated in their work. Rick Owens, Walter Van Beirendonck, Mada Van Gaans and Bernhard Wilhelm are just a few names of designers that will participate in this expo.

Devout/Divine - Fashion vs. Religion
June 26, 2010 - January 9, 2011
Hasselt Fashion Museum, Hasselt Belgium

Written for BLEND.

DMY Awards: the outcome.

1. For Use/Numen - Tape Installation

Last Friday, the winners of the DMY design festival in Berlin were announced. DMY annually highlights the most exceptional works in contemporary product design. The DMT Award winners are being selected from a group out of ten projects, nominated by the international festival jury. The first place winner of the DMY Awards was For Use/Numen with their stunning and expansive installation Tape Installation, which was completely made out of transparent sticky tape. Second was the Dutch duo Daphna Isaacs & Laurens Manders with their beautiful designed centrepieces, called Tafelstukken. And EPFL+ECAL Lab came in third with their exhibition Give Me More, which explored the prospects of augmented reality.


2. Daphne Isaacs & Laurens Manders - Tafelstukken


3. EPFL+ECAL Lab - Give Me More

Written for BLEND.