MAISON the FAUX wins Cultuurfonds Mode Stipendium

Festive award ceremony

The award ceremony was festively celebrated in the Hermitage Amsterdam on Wednesday 22 June and could also be followed online via a live stream on the website of the Dutch Fashion Foundation. The Cultuurfonds Mode Stipendium for exceptionally talented and advanced Dutch fashion designers was established in 2011 by a private patron of the Prince Bernhard Cultuurfonds. Prize winners Joris Suk and Tessa de Boer were interviewed by American video blogger and fashion critic Bliss Foster and gave a presentation that took the audience into the universe of MAISON the FAUX. Fashion designer Claes Iversen (also ArtEZ alumnus), the recipient of the 10th Cultuurfonds Mode Stipendium, presented the challenge trophy.

Making bigger dreams happen

"This recognition means a lot to us, the appreciation and confidence that the donation gives us has moved us deeply. We feel more than honored to receive the award and to be in the Hall of Fame of the Cultuurfonds Fashion Stipendium. It gives us the opportunity and space to develop further, to realize big dreams and to set our ambitions even sharper", Joris Suk and Tessa de Boer say about receiving the Cultuurfonds Fashion Stipendium.

Jury report

“The work of MAISON the FAUX has been a radical proposal for inclusivity from day one. It is radically democratic and lovingly anarchic and generous. It is contemporary design, provocative in the sense that MAISON the FAUX refuses to offer a self-perpetuating aesthetic with associated commercial value of exclusivity. Instead, everyone can shine in the foreground.” Angelique Westerhof, director of the Dutch Fashion Foundation, read from the jury report. “We not only celebrate the recipient of the Cultuurfonds Mode Stipendium, but also how important creativity is, how important the training of creatives is, and we celebrate that we all believe in the power of innovation,” she said in her speech.

“Committed, inclusive and groundbreaking! With Maison the Faux as the 11th winner of the Cultuurfonds Mode Stipendium, we are ushering in a new dynamic decade in which we embrace fashion as a mind-expanding art form where there is room for everyone.”

Cathelijne Broers further added: “The Netherlands needs creative and independent minds. And the fashion sector to investors who, in addition to the glamour, also keep the craft alive. The world will be a better place for this and the Cultuurfonds is committed to this, thanks to the generous annual contribution of our anonymous patron.”

MAISON the FAUX

Maison the Faux consists of Tessa de Boer and Joris Suk, who got to know each other during their Fashion Design studies in Arnhem. In the nine years after graduating in 2013, they grew from fashion designers – who put on unorthodox shows and dressed stars such as Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Nikkie Tutorials – to performance artists (in 2021 the duo won the largest stage prize in the Netherlands: the Gieskes-Strijbis Podiumprijs) and set designers. Their clients include the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, Kunsthal Rotterdam, the Fashion Museum in Hasselt and the Schauspielhaus in Frankfurt.

Joris Suk has been a teacher at Fashion Design for three years and before that he worked as a teacher at Product Design for three years. Joris will be succeeded by Nemo Cheminee.

These alumni have invented themselves. Joris and Tessa have been looking for something that suits them, but which clearly also has a place for it. That is obviously taken up.

Previous winners

MAISON the FAUX joins an impressive line of award winners. Mostly ArtEZ alumni, including Ilja Visser (2011), Francisco van Benthum (2012), Truus en Riet Spijkers, Jan Taminiau (2014), Youasme Measyou (2015), Iris van Herpen (2016), Bas Kosters (2018), and Claes Iversen (2021).