By Jeanne Tan / 04-12-2008

Good news! We've just heard that the year-long fashion initiative Red Light Fashion Amsterdam (RLFA) which was supposed to draw to an end in January, will be continued in a limited capacity for a few more months. One of the participants, CODE Gallery Store, acted as the shop for the RLFA designers. We catch up with store manager Wanto van Renen to find out the fashion highlights of the year and what's in store for 2009.

Everyone's asking what's going to happen with the CODE Gallery Store in 2009!
The RLFA project is supposed to end in January, but some of the designers and the CODE gallery store will continue the project for another 6 months. So we will be here for a bit longer!

Second most important question. What's some of the new stock in the store at the moment?
...AND BEYOND has items from their Spectacle collection: leggings, tube tops, silk shawls and shirts. All of the items have a 3D digital print and come with 3D glasses. Ignoor has some new limited editions of her leather wrist bags and beautiful leather wallets. Conny Groenewegen has some knitted dresses, a leather coat and shawls. Bas Kosters has limited edition organic t-shirts with a print of his own artwork.

This is the first year of the store. How did it go so far?
Well it was a good opportunity to test if a CODE brand extension in the form of a Gallery Store has any potential. According to how people reacted, I dare say that it has a lot of potential. The vision of CODE magazine was recognized in the store, since we sell and present new and fresh unknown labels and designers instead of following fashion trends. Most people were surprised to see so many quality items from designers and labels they've never heard of.

Do you get a lot of international visitors to the store? What is their reaction to Dutch fashion?
We actually do have frequent foreign visitors. Most of them have never seen the work of Dutch designers and are impressed. They always like what they see in our store!

Highlight of the year?
The opening of the Amsterdam International Fashion Week at CODE Gallery Store. We had live music, nice drinks, interesting and inspiring people and VERY bad weather.

Best selling items?
We sold a lot of T-shirts from ...And Beyond and Bas Kosters and the wrist bags from Ignoor. Also items from EnD, Mada van Gaans and Jeroen van Tuyl.

What are the future plans for the Gallery Store?
We'd like to organize more interesting 'get together moments' like exhibitions and inspiration sessions. We're thinking themed dinner evenings, lectures, interesting conversations and booze. When the RLFA project ends, so does the CODE Gallery Store. If we had the means to invest in a permanent store we would probably do it and do it well! Amsterdam is ready and waiting for a permanent CODE Gallery Store.

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