From a Sewing Needle to a Laser Cutter, a New Approach to Fashion

Who or what inspired you to go into your field?

When I was 16 I moved to Amsterdam, because there was no high school in my town, and that’s when I became aware of fashion, both because it was around me and because I was at an age when you become aware of how you can express yourself and your identity through clothes. When I was 18 I went to Arnhem to go to the art academy. At the academy, I learned a lot about fashion technique, but the way it was taught and talked about was very traditional, and I felt quite disconnected from it. It wasn’t until after that I had my world opened up and started seeing fashion in the context of a lot of other disciplines: biology, architecture, art.

Where do you find sources of creativity?

I am most inspired by people in other fields. The choreographers Benjamin Millepied and Sasha Waltz taught me to look at the body in a different way; to look at the space around the body as much as the body itself and how we can effect both. Philip Beesley, the architect and sculptor, is someone I worked with for six years, and his creative process and philosophy were very influential. And for me, CERN, where I have been a few times, is one of the most special places on this planet. Thousands of scientists working together! It’s not that I am going there to make a dress out of the Large Hadron Collider. It doesn’t work like that. I go there to ask questions and find out what I don’t know.

Source: The New York Times

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Keywords:

Sewing needle • Laser cutting • Amsterdam • Mytown • Express Yourself (Madonna song) • Arnhem • Biology • Architecture • Art • Creativity • Benjamin Millepied • Sasha Waltz • Space • Architecture • Sculpture • Creativity • Philosophy • CERN • Large Hadron Collider •