Do you know Dutch fashion for real?

By Zhao Zihan

“There are many opportunities， because a lot of really interested visitors came to the booth. I think the people who came dont know what to expect from Dutch designers and Dutch fashion. They have the feeling and now they can see it. And I think it is really good， because now they can see what we make.” Jan Boelo Drenth， owner and designer of a Dutch fashion brand JANBOELO， said to the reporter during China International Fashion Fair 2016 （Spring） in Shanghai this March.

Different from the populous fashion from Italy， French， and Korea， Dutch fashion has given less impression to Chinese consumers. Jan stated that “You can almost directly see the way very well whether it runs from Italy or Scandinavia， but the Dutch designing is very hard to recognize. Its so broad with interests. For example， some designer may be overwhelming with colors， like blue， then he or she would make everything go with it. Its bluish.”

According to Jan， It is really popular in Holland that fashion is always combined with architecture， and it is more becoming arts， architecture and fashion. “Whatever I want to do with leather， I also want to do with sculptures from architecture， like architectural forms to make body get more volume. It is also like architecture， because when you form a building， you make the outlines for the building， and it is the same with garment that you make an outline for that. The inside is on your own design as well， for that is the detailing how you fill it in. Where are the windows of building， where are the zippers in garment. Thats I think really important in fashion that in Dutch， design is really forming together. Architecture is also studied on shoe brand. ” Jan showcased the journalist a coat which is of special printing. And according to him， “I really want to do something with arts as well as with fashion. The prints are designed by hand. With all the forms of the prints， I want to give the architectural form that you can get more 3D feeling about the garment that you like. The consumers can be attracted by its deeper connotation， getting the intention from when you work in the garment.”

Dutch fashion is quite different from other regions. That is the designers who are pushing the boundaries in innovation. They are looking further than what they want to know， i.e. they want to develop things that have never been done before. He illustrated that he worked a lot with leather factories， and they also do leather for shoes， and sometimes he would choose the leather originally for shoes to make garments， which is considered to be crazy. “Oh， no. Its impossible. It is for shoes， not for garment.” “Why not use something in a different way？ He said that a lot of Dutch designers look for other ways to use material， and they are capable of looking things at another way. There is no such conclusion as this leather is for shoes and that is for garments. Leather is leather， and wool is wool. In this way， the Dutch designers are pushing the boundaries out of what they know. However， French fashion is all about techniques， feminine， and chic. Likely fashion in Italy focuses on techniques and materials. And I guess they use materials where they are used for， but in Holland， it is more about looking what materials more can do.

Jan believes that it is because of the creative industry in Holland. “We have a lot of schools， having all the creative things under one roof， in which you can do everything creative such as fashion designing， illustrations， and wool design. Dutch people are open-minded and would like to invite other people get to inside to talk with each other. You can talk with those who do architecture， and then you may get the main influence of architecture in fashion， because you are inspired by architecture. Therefore， fashion designers may get inspired from other industrial sectors such as architecture. However， to my mind， there is art school or fashion school in France.”

The products are targeted at independent women， who know what they want and how to get they want， as well as self-confident women for those who are confident， and mysterious women.“When somebody entered a room， and you dont know exactly， you will wonder who she is without noticing that she has entered the room. You cannot stop catching your eye on her， because she is so interesting. And you want to know more about her.”

People look different from others by wear can get him or her an own identity. “I think trans-fashion is not trans any more. Its only about showing who you really are， and thats important. Thats also inspirational， because you can get inspired by each other. For the first time I have been in China， I have no idea about what is to expect. But it is great to see that Chinese people also have different styles， and I was really inspired this week when we had one hour to go shopping and another to look around. I just got a coffee outside and sat on the bend and look at the people. I was inspired look to so many beautiful people walking in Shanghai， because there are so many styles that set up boundaries to show who they are.”