Ruben Jurriën is a fashion designer dedicated to making the fashion industry a more inclusive and fun world. Graduating Cum Laude in 2022 from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, he has always been inspired by clothing and loves to play with it. As a child, he was allowed to experiment freely with his clothes and dress himself in whatever he could find. He thinks it’s such a shame that as people mature, they learn to fit into structures, which tempers the playful. The older we get, the more strongly the boundary between masculine and feminine is defined. In his designs he wants to break that curse: introduce fun into our functional society by blurring the lines between what we think fashion should be. Because of his large body size, he always felt excluded by the fashion industry. By making his garments either one size fits all or adaptable to different sizes, he can’t exclude anyone who wants to wear a Ruben Jurriën design. His designs are flamboyant yet functional, making them accessible to anyone who wants to participate in the wonderful world of fashion. Contributing to the desire to be extra, but still be able to carry your phone with you. Sometimes he sees his work as portable protest signs, designed for the “Rebel in Progress”: people who want to break free from society’s dress code, but don’t yet have the confidence to go completely against the grain. The collection title “Pak van mijn Hart!” (a Dutch expression for great relief) is a direct link to tailoring, which is a big inspiration for me as a designer. Suits in general and what a suit says, how it comes across and what it does to you. It is also a visualisation of relief. This collection can make the fashion industry a more inclusive and happy world, a world where your body or how you look is no longer an issue. If we can dress like the clothes in my collection without any worries, it would be a great relief.