Where Pablo is completely inspired by train travel, Rosa's fascination comes from post punk and Tara is intrigued about the human body. Amsterdam Fashion Week interviewed the finalists.
Pablo Salvador Willemars
Collection: Beste Reizigers
“In 2017, the ‘Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS)’, the company that serves as the main Dutch rail network operator, is to address passengers with the gender neutral “beste reizigers”. The source of inspiration behind the collection ‘Beste Reizigers’ is train travel. Growing up next to the railway museum in Utrecht, having vivid travel memories and hearing endless stories from their parents, grandfather and great-great-grandfathers, who are all (or have been) employed by the Dutch railway company NS, I grew up dreaming of opulent journeys with l’Orient Express. In 1968, the NS became the first Dutch state-owned company to be given a designed corporate identity. The new logo symbolises a journey from A to B, and going back home from B to A. The yellow trains colouring the Dutch landscapes. Using the codes, lines, shapes, colours and finishes created for this corporate identity in the designs, I want to evoke the mixed bag of feelings train travel can give, the comfort of going home, the excitement of traveling afar as well as waiting for the train, 5+ min waiting for the train…”
Rosa Kampinga
Collection: Untitled
“My inspiration for the collection comes from my fascination off post punk. The artists from the 80s, but most of all the contemporary movements that combine nostalgia with modern views. The sense of creating a community that originated from a shared feeling of being misunderstood. They turned this feeling around to the feeling of belonging, to something special. My collection is a love letter to post punk and its diverse community. The poetry and vulnerability that the artists dare to express. But and also the joy, passion and energy of the interaction with their audience.” – Rosa Kampinga
Tara Hollander
Collection: Skin-deep
“My whole life I have been inspired and intrigued by the anatomy of the human body. The endless elements and functions of it, and that it is all covered by skin. I feel like clothing should be connected way more to this and should show the beauty of it on the outside. I made use of this inspiration in print, but also in shape. Most of the pieces in my graduation collection are suits that embrace the whole body, because I think it is important that the clothing, without wearing it, looks like a complete body on its own and has, in that sense, almost a soul. In this way people will feel more connected to clothing and will treat it like it is part of them.” – Tara Hollander
