Henriëtte Tilan*s is the winner of this year's Lichting supported by G-Star RAW. Both fashion professionals within the audience and an international panel of fashion connoisseurs chose the recent graduate of the ArtEZ Institute of Arts as the most promising Dutch design talent. In addition to awarding Tilan*s the G-Star RAW Talent Award of €10,000, the jury recognized the impressive talent of all 2013 Dutch fashion graduates.
Tilan*s designed her collection as a tribute to Lady Edith Sitwell, an eccentric British writer known for her uncanny sense of drama and style. According to Tilan*s today's society is in need of more creative visionaries like Sitwell, a sentiment supported by many in the fashion industry.
On the 16th of July the 13 most talented graduates of Dutch fashion academies presented their collections in a spectacular Lichting 2013 catwalk show as part of Amsterdam Fashion Week. Lichting is one of the most highly principled fashion events in the Netherlands and is visited by journalists, bloggers, stylists, CEOs and design managers on the lookout for talent.
Lichting also crosses boundaries with a panel of renowned international fashion insiders that together with Dutch fashion professionals decide the recipient of the G-Star RAW Talent Award.
Henriëtte Tilan*s was up against some fierce competition but convinced the jury and the audience with her original and wonderful collection called ‘Let the Dust Settle' which was characterized by outspoken textile experiments and prints.
This year's international jury - Alexander Fury (fashion editor The Independent), Stefan Siegel (founder and director of Not Just a Label), Maarten van der Horst (designer) and Robb Young (fashion consultant and journalist) - was not only impressed by Tilan*s' vision on fashion, but praised all 13 students for their high level of creativity and unique points of view.
chting 2013 can best be described as an anarchic rebellion against dull fashion. Injected with positive energy, the different graduates presented bold silhouettes, bright colors, fun and innovative materials, beautiful handicrafts and outspoken stories.
Together the designers presented a critical vision of the world today, underscored with a love for individuality and distaste for ma**-market collections.
Maartje van Hooij (Willem de Kooning Academy) made a strong statement with a yellow human ‘accessory' and pushed visual boundaries with her sculptural elements to create a fresh take on image-obsessed society.
Duran Lantink (Gerrit Rietveld Academy) responded to the current world with a dark point of view and referred with a totally black collection to: ‘All our big egos going at each other's throats in our ongoing craving for more, more and more'.
Frustrated by her own generation that she describes as dull, lazy and paralyzed, Anne van den Boogaard (AMFI-Amsterdam Fashion Institute) created a cheerful revolution by exploring boundaries of ugliness and kitsch.
Proving that social responsibility and fashion can co-exist, Niki Milioni (Gerrit Rietveld Academy) presented pieces designed for Afghani refugees.
Anna Kathryn Gregor (Academy of Fine Art) used deformed body shapes and bright colours to expose the human need for affection and protection.
Three graduates showed their vision on menswear with strikingly different collections. Dewi Bekker (Royal Academy of Art) chose the playful approach and translated cla**ic menswear into fun silhouettes.
The surrealistic mood of his collection was strengthened by the use of surprising materials like tape, cork and plastic beads.
In contrast, Jazz Kuipers (AMFI-Amsterdam Fashion Institute) presented a hyper masculine collection in reaction to what he sees as feminine trends in men's fashion. Kuipers based his designs around the clichéd male archetype of broad shoulders and a muscled torso.
The approach of Katrien Baaij (Willem de Kooning Academy) was much more nostalgic and her ‘Dinky Boys' presented a new truth in a world where truth is lost.
Wenda Harmsen (Utrecht School of the Arts) also looked back and combined conservative British checks with playful plastics in a boldly shaped women's collection.
Anbasja Blanken (Utrecht School of the Arts) and Loekie Mulder (Royal Academy of Art) focused on a contemporary interpretation of strong women. Mulder translated the stories of mythological goddesses into outspoken silhouettes.
Blanken based her collection on the symbolic and spiritual value of mystical enlightenment, combining sculptural and fluid shapes for the modern ‘enlightened' woman.
Last, but not least Anneleen Bertels (ArtEZ, Institute of the Arts) presented an innovative collection titled ‘Who is the Dream Machine?' Fascinated by the interaction between handicrafts and textiles - and how they together influence the shape of clothing - Bertels showed a new kind of nonchalance that is both raw and fragile.
About Lichting
Lichting was founded in 2007 to bridge the gap between starting fashion designers on the one side and the talent-hungry market on the other.
The idea was simple: the best students from the Dutch fashion academies show their graduation collections to the fashion industry. Lichting is initiated by HTNK Fashion Recruitment & Consultancy, Amsterdam Fashion Week and The New Institute, in collaboration with G-Star RAW.
G-Star - dedicated to innovation - is very aware that the expansion of the Dutch fashion industry and the importance of Amsterdam as a progressive fashion capital depends on a continuous stream of upcoming talent. That's why G-Star supports the promotion of young talent with the G-Star RAW Talent Award that includes a €10,000 prize.