AIFW 2011 schedule

January is near and that means AIFW 2011 is too! From January 26th - 30th the fourteenth edition of Amsterdam International Fashion Week will take place at the Westergasterrein in Amsterdam. Jan Taminiau will open AIFW and will be followed by various designers like Roparosa, Spijkers & Spijkers, Addy van den Krommenacker en Monique Collignon.

Have a look at the official schedule here: http://www.amsterdamfashionweek.com/official-schedule

I honestly can't wait for AIFW 2011. I saw some pretty great pieces from these designers at last AIFW (2010), so I'm pretty curious if they're going to exceed my expectations. You can find the reports on AIFW 2010 here.

http://www.amsterdamfashionweek.com/

Milan Fashion Week s/s 2011: recap

Also Milan stayed true to some trends we've seen last season: flowers, animal prints, lace and white pieces adorned the catwalk. Take a look at some of next year's must-haves.

LFW s/s 2011: recap

With another fashion week behind us, it's time for another recap! Are you curious about my favorite looks of London Fashion Week or do you just want a quick peek at what the designers have in store for us next season? You can see for yourself after the jump!

NYFW s/s 2011: recap

With New York Fashion Week s/s 2011 behind us, it's time for a 'little' recap of some of my favorite looks that were presented. I picked 4 looks from each designer, which was sometimes really hard if the collection just simply blew my mind or on the other hand, if the looks were just so-so. Some designers didn't even make it because their collections were kind of a disappointment. Or maybe my expectations were just too high? Anyway, be prepared for some serious mouth-watering eyecandy after the jump!

London Fashion Week

Amsterdam Fashion Week has just ended and another fashion week is just around the corner. This year London Fashion Week will be held from 17 - 22 September. Sass & Bide, House of Holland, Twenty8Twelve, Vivienne Westwood, Matthew Williamson, Acne, Peter Pilotto, Mark Fast, Paul Smith, Burberry Prorsum and Designers Remix are some of the many names to show their creations for spring/summer 2011. 

You can view the schedule for the LFW catwalkshows here.

Besides the catwalkshows there will also be a ceremony to honor British designer Alexander Mcqueen. The ceremony will be held for family, friends and colleagues on September 20th in the St. Pauls Cathedral.

AIFW: Roparosa

Last Sunday, Project Catwalk 2010 winner Roos van der Kamp showed her third Roparosa collection 'Come out and play'. Being able to show her collection at AIFW was one of the prizes of the competition. Roos searched for inspiration in forms and materials that are used in functional sportswear and she aims for comfortable power dressing: playful, independent and feminine. The SS11 collection is a sequel of earlier collections 'Catch as Catch Can part I and II.

AIFW: Conny Groenewegen

Unlike other designers, Conny Groenewegen showed her 'Request for landing' collection outside of the Westergasfactory. The guests were asked to put on headphones, kind of like a silent disco. The models were standing in front of them, wrapped up in plastic. As the music started, they slowly started to move and free themselves from their cocoons. You've probably guessed it already; this collection was based on the process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. We saw knitted jackets, raw knitted details, metallic bodysuits, butterfly sleeves and earthtones mixed with pastels.

AIFW: Daryl van Wouw

Daryl van Wouw really surprised a lot of people on Saturday when he showed his new collection at AIFW. He's known for his streetwear, but this time he chose a completely different style from what we're used to. For this collection, he got his inspiration from the videoclip of the song  'Paradise Circus' from Massive Attack, and Shanghai, where he currently lives. He named it 'Lovely weird world'.

AIFW: Dagmar

Last week Swedish label Dagmar showed for the first time during Amsterdam Fashion Week. Dagmar’ clothes usually are inspired by the Art Deco period of the twenties/thirties. Moving images, architecture, art, music and dance often are an inspiration for the collections too. For this collection, named 'Goddess of the favela', the sisters got their inspiration from rawness of the Brazilian slums in Rio de Janeiro contrasted with the beauty of nature.

AIFW: MC by Monique Collignon

On Friday, couturier Monique Collignon showed her new line MC by Monique Collignon. The new line is classic with a twist, overall very elegant and feminine designs. Some dresses with ruches, but also feminine power looks. Apart from black, beige and white, there were also touches of blue and some animal prints.

AIFW: Frans Molenaar prijs 2010

Seven young & talented designers showed their skills during the Frans Molenaar award show on Friday. They all presented five of their looks on the runway. The contestants were Hyun Yeu, Piotrek Panszczyk, Tischya Oedit, Fred Farrow, Ratna Ho, Marie Burlot and Denise Esser. A jury of three fashion professionals chose Fred Farrow as the winner of the Frans Molenaar award. They thought his collection was very new, beautifully made and had lots of nice details.

AIFW: Red Rail

Last Friday, The Red Rail showed a collection of clothes which you can buy by giving your blood for the next half year. After that the clothes will be presented in the Young Designers United store in Amsterdam. With this project, the Red Rail wants to create awareness about Leukemia patients that can be helped by donating blood. 18 Designers created an unique outfit with the support of Dutch designer Claes Iversen and Angelika Groenendijk Wasylewski from Young Designers United. Together they created 20 different looks for men and women.

AIFW: Lichting 2010

For Lichting 2010, 7 Dutch acadamies sent their 2 best designers to present their graduation collections during AIFW. An international jury had to pick who had the best collection. This year, it was Marije de Haan who convinced the audience with her meanswear collection called 'Flatliners'. The collection was inspired by crimescene photography at the beginning of the 19th century.

AIFW: Marloes Blaas

Designer Marloes Blaas presented her first summercollection at AIFW last week. Like Franciscus van der Meer, she also used WWII as an inpiration, but she mainly focused on the peasant life of that period and the atmosphere surrounding the liberation of the war.

AIFW: Individuals by AMFI

This year, the INDIVIDUALS show of the Amsterdam International Fashion Institute (AMFI) was named 'Some dream of running away to the circus'. Individuals is an ever changing collective of young creative designers. By combining talent every time an inspiring story is told. Every generation adds it’s own unique chapter to the continuing story of Individuals.

AIFW: Oda Pausma

On Thursday, newly graduate Oda Pausma presented her 'Hobohemian Heaven' collection. It was based on the fusion of two worlds: poetical and rebellion. Where the poet cared for constructed folds, the rebel added a twist like pants and skirts where the hip has been pushed forward. The clothing was inspired on the 'Chelsea Hotel' in New York in the seventies. The only colors that were used are white, black and some yellow accents.

Visit the website here.

AIFW: Franciscus van der Meer

Franciscus van der Meer got so fascinated by the holocaust when he read 'The Diary of Anne Frank', that he decided to create a collection around it. He used the concept of oppression vs freedom: a lot of black, coats cut in half, held together by suede belts and a stripe that fades away, reminiscent of that camp-uniform…

"I tried to put a new, or different, light on a terrible part of our history. This medium has the power to communicate within a human scale, in an individual way, in a way that hopefully creates more understanding between people and their communities," explained van der Meer.

AIFW: MarryMe-JimmyPaul

Designers Marie Burlot and Jimmy Paul seemed to have a lot of fun making this collection and it looks like they didn't take themselves too seriously if you listen at the false version of Britneys 'Gimme more' soundtrack that was playing. 

The collection was inspired by JonBenet Ramsay and told the story about going to school for the first time. It felt more like a trip to Barbieland to me though. They used a lot of pink, glitters, fake fur, feathers and crowns. Not very wearable if you ask me, but definitely fun to look at.

AIFW: Une petite robe NOIRE

Designer Indra Welman wanted to honor the little black dress (LBD) and decided to create an whole collection around the iconic piece, called 'Une petite robe NOIRE'. Yet not all the models were black from head to toe. A green top and two beige dresses with black accents came by too. Welman used embellishments like paillettes, fringes and ruches to create different versions of the LBD.

AIFW: Nicolaas

Project Catwalk participant Nicolaas had his first own fashion show at AIFW on Thursday. There, he presented his 'Edge' collection, which he designed for the edgy woman whom he calls 'a hot mess'.