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Fashion exhibition Maison Amsterdam

From Saturday, September 18, 2021, De Nieuwe Kerk will be the country's largest fashion house for over six months:Maison Amsterdam. The city, the fashion, the freedom. The exhibition presents more than 150 creations, historical and contemporary, that tell stories about Amsterdam as a fashion city with a unique signature. Maison Amsterdam is looking for the Amsterdam in the fashion image of this liberal and creative city, which we cherish as the city where everything is possible. It is the first major fashion exhibition with the city of Amsterdam as its core, on display until Sunday 3 April 2022.

Strolling through the city

Fashion exhibition Maison Amsterdam

Credit:Nederlands Fotomuseum / ©Ed van der Elsken
Beethovenstraat Amsterdam, 1967

In the exhibition you take a journey; you stroll through the city and through eras. Starting on Dam Square, where De Nieuwe Kerk is located. And further, along places such as Zeedijk, Vondelpark and Oostelijke Handelskade, to which specific fashion themes are associated. You dive into the nightlife of the roaring twenties and that of the time of the RoXY and the iT. You will visit old fashion palaces, fashion shows and festivals, such as Hartjesdagen and Keti Koti. What does freedom, but also lack of freedom, do to fashion?

Haute couture meets youth styles

Fashion exhibition Maison Amsterdam

Credit:©Daily Paper, FW21 campaign

Iconic haute couture and innovative designs are placed alongside revolutionary trends, such as the mini skirt and the punk jacket. These are styles that originated from youth culture, such as the hippies on Dam Square, graffiti and the punk movement, which visibly left their mark through the city. Emphasis is placed on individual items of clothing, each of which tells its own story through the eyes of the designer, or rather the wearer. Think of jeans, bought at the first jeans store on the Warmoesstraat, or the iconic Rainbow dress. The exhibition intertwines themes such as sustainability, gender and diversity.

Collection | Designers then and now

Fashion exhibition Maison Amsterdam

Credit:©Violette Cornelius / Nederlands Fotomuseum
Fashion show by Dick Holthaus, 1961

Maison Amsterdam shows historical masterpieces from the fashion collection of collaboration partner Amsterdam Museum, in combination with a wide variety of contemporary design. On display are creations by well-known couturiers from the twentieth century, such as Dick Holthaus, Edgar Vos, Frank Govers, Frans Molenaar, Max Heymans and Fong Leng, up to and including designers of today with international fame, such as Bas Kosters, Iris van Herpen, Jan Taminiau, Viktor &Rolf. The new generation is given a prominent place with designers such as Amber Jae Slooten, Karim Adduchi, Ninamounah, Bonne Suits, Patta and Daily Paper. Amsterdam is also highlighted as Denim City, the hotspot of well-known jeans brands such as G-Star. Maison Amsterdam can be seen from Saturday September 18, 2021 to Sunday April 3, 2022.

Photo header:Evert Elzinga