Amsterdam Preview: Seduction of Fashion

Amsterdam’s cultural identity is one of complex introspection: legalised vice casts a shadow over any significant cultural contribution as if Rembrandt’s grittily honest self-portraits symbolised an everlasting quest for identity between lowbrow and highbrow. This introspection lives on in the stream of urban art and fashion arising from the city’s subculture: the sweet aesthetics of the lowbrow movement are an outlet for revealing darker depths. And in September Streetlab, a poppish utopia of street culture, fashion, design and clubbing, takes place at the margin of the very highbrow Design Month. The festival brings together more than 150 movers and shakers of the fashion and design world, in the brand new Blijmer ArenA station (the area has an up-and-coming Caribbean food and music market, Kwakoe, every summer weekend).

It must be a challenge to rebel as a young fashion designer when vice is such an integral part of the city landscape so it makes complete sense for the emerging fashion scene to instrumentalise cheesy neon signs, sex shows and coffee shops as part of this year’s Fashion Week. January saw the launch of the year long Redlight Amsterdam project: fashion consultancy HTNK made the controversial purchase of a number of brothels at the hub of the Red Light District, transforming neon-lit working-girl booths into showrooms for Amsterdam’s talented young designers. This is an interesting move because previous collections have been almost too prudish but now Amsterdam designers are going head to head with the sex of the city. It could easily look like sensationalist propaganda and graceless PR but on closer inspection this exemplifies artists reconnecting to their city. “Blinded by the Lights”, the previous collection by label …and beyond, professed to catch the instant when utopia disappears and reality bites when the lights go on. Maybe 2008 is a landmark moment in Amsterdam’s subculture.

Kate Bloomfield