- ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Arnhem
- SUMMARY
Participants
“Both Anneleen Bertels and Henriette Tilanus represent what the department Fashion Design BA of ArtEZ Institute of the Arts Arnhem stands for: highly talented fashion designers excelling in conceptual approach, individualism, craftsmanship, professionalism and determination.”
At the beginning of April 2011 we received a message from MODINT that the jury had unanimously awarded the Grand Seigneur 2011 to ArtEZ Fashion Design Arnhem. We never imagined that this prestigious ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ could also be presented to an educational institution. This award brought us into the company of renowned and hardly run-of-the-mill designers, stylists, illustrators, photographers, publicists and companies. To mention a few: Inez van Lamsweerde/Vinoodh Matadin, Lidewij Edelkoort, Arnold van Geuns and Clemens Rameckers (Ravage), Marjan Wigger, Piet Paris, and Viktor & Rolf. A nice incidental detail is that the last seven people mentioned are all originally ‘Arnhemmers’.
Receiving the Grand Seigneur award really felt like recognition and appreciation from the fashion industry in the Netherlands for what is by now a continuous 60 years of fashion design education at the highest possible level: dating from the moment in 1953 that Elly Lamaker founded the department that she subsequently led for more than 30 years with complete dedication, followed by Gisela Prager who was in charge for almost 20 years from 1984 onwards, Alexander van Slobbe and Sayone Daan from 2004 to 2006, and by myself since 2006.
The various subject teachers were – and are – just as responsible throughout the years for that distinctive ‘Arnhem fashion DNA’. Many of these teachers were also educated at the department and know better than anyone what ‘Arnhem’ represents: the specific creative climate, the fashion talent, the experiment, the process, the conceptual approach, the professionalism, the determination: all stored somewhere in that Arnhem DNA as if it were genetically determined.
The Fashion Design department also owes its position to the students. Passionate would-be designers selected on the basis of their talent, determination and ambition. They ensure that the essence of the course has been preserved for generations. Because in spite of the fact that the department constantly reflects on current trends and developments inside and outside the field, it has always been the aim to retain that authentic Arnhem signature. It means we can show what we stand for now, just as we always have.
The department has become the source and birthplace of an Arnhem consortium: ArtEZ Fashion Masters, the Arnhem Fashion Biennale, the Professorship Fashion Design, Arnhem Coming Soon, the Arnhem Fashion Incubator and all the other initiatives, platforms and organizations combined, which have allowed Arnhem to create a distinctive profile as ‘fashion city’.
Matthijs Boelee
Course director ArtEZ Fashion Design Arnhem
“Lichting offers an excellent platform for young recently graduated fashion designers to show their collections to a broader public and—in spite of the element of a contest– an opportunity for Dutch fashion academies to profile themselves.”
Matthijs Boelee
Course director Fashion Design, ArtEZ Institute of the Arts
Address
Onderlangs 9
6812 CE Arnhem
The Netherlands
