AMFI at Graduate Fashion Week

Fashion design / Events

Last week saw AMFI - Amsterdam Fashion Institute – take its graduate collections to London for Graduate Fashion Week.

By Katie Dominy /asdf 20-06-2012

Graduate Fashion Week (GFW) ran Sunday 10 June to Wednesday 13 June 2012 showcasing the work of graduates from around 40 universities, including a selection of international courses such as AMFI, Esmod Berlin and Istituto Marangoni.

Design.nl spoke to Leslie Holden, Head of Departments Fashion & Design and Fashion & Management at AMFI about this year's talents and showing in both London and Amsterdam.

The traditional AMFI end of year show entitled Transit is June 29 this year and GFW is earlier, why is it so important for you to show in London?

“GFW is a wonderful opportunity for AMFI to showcase our students on an international platform. GFW is unique and has ambitions to grow its international membership. I believe that this is the way to go and this also reflects the industry today.

“This is the fifth year we have shown here. And we have seen our applications from British students growing steadily in this time. Our fees are 1700 euros a year, so as you can imagine this has created a lot of enquiries from prospective UK students.” (who will be paying up to £9000 UK sterling a year). “We are also in the process of developing an international fashion masters programme with a British university.”

Can you tell us about a few of the collections?

“Two particularly strong students this year are Yvonne Kwok and Tess van Zalinge.” Both these students presented their work on the catwalk at GFW as part of the International show.

Littl Mary by Yvonne Kwok is a collection mixing structured pieces with the lightweight and floaty. A traditional western corset in opulent red and gold textures is transformed into a military-style cropped jacket, while aqua sheer fabrics are concertinaed for decorative sleeve details. Colours range from dusky pinks and sands to pale aqua and rose, with highlights of old gold.

Tess van Zalinge's collection has a soft 70s feel to it with with long lightweight skirts printed with lace patterns, fused with 80s pastel floral stretch lace and body defining silhouettes. Art Deco geometric prints on stretch for lingerie-inspired pieces - all in a colour palette of lilac, lemon, pinks and turquoise, accented with black and mocha tones.

Tell us about the Transit show this June?

“Transit this year is celebrating AMFI's 20th anniversary, so we are inviting our alumni to celebrate, many of whom are the movers and shakers of Dutch fashion today. As well as the graduating students, we will also be showcasing the work of our minor graduates in digital body sculpture. In this minor we work in association with Lectra, pushing the boundaries of their 3D virtual prototyping software.”

Transit takes place June 29 at the World Fashion Centre, Amsterdam and will present more than 125 graduates from the three pathways of Branding, Management and Design.

Main image: Yvonne Kwok
Other images: 1.-4. Yvonne Kwok 5.-6. Tess van Zalinge 7. Save the date AMFI
Catwalk images- copyright © 2012 Christopher Moore Limited