Till Death Do Us Part

For many women the happiest day of their lives is when they get married to their soul mate. The worst day of their life is when they lose their soulmate and loved one they spent their whole life with. The tension between the happiest day and the worst day of their life inspired this design.

It’s a wedding dress that’s also meant to be worn on the day your soul mate passes away. The wear and tear in the fabric symbolizes a full life lived together. Most women keep their wedding dress their whole lives and never wear it again. This wedding dress, that I designed, can be worn to celebrate the life you had together. From a beautiful beginning to a beautiful end. Till death do us part,…

Culture knotted together

Being born and raised in a culturally diverse country contributes to my growing curiosity in cultural expression. The many different ethnic types of attire express a lot of heritage and cultural references to their place of origin. The Sari’s (Indian), Pangi’s(African), Chi Pao’s (Chinese) and Sarongs (Indonesian) are worn on different festive occasions in Suriname.

While working on a fashion project I tried to incorporate many elements of my home country, Suriname, in one garment. I tried to incorporate many fabrics from different cultural origins represented in the melting pot that Suriname is. While designing the garment I made sure the fabrics came together in a knot that symbolizes the strength cultural diversity and unity creates.

The Floating Mill

Amsterdam’s tourism industry has been booming over the past decade. According to the Service Research and Statistics Bureau, the Netherlands version of the Census Bureau, Amsterdam has been receiving more than 3.66 million international visitors annually. 

While strolling through the streets of Amsterdam regularly, where I was living at the time, I noticed that the large groups of Asian tourist are hard to miss. Everywhere you go in Amsterdam you will find large groups of Asian tourists strolling along the streets, taking pictures of the local architecture and trying the local cuisine.

I have always been interested in Asian culture, and the Asian tourists in Amsterdam were smitten with Dutch culture. I wanted to create something for the Asian tourist in Amsterdam that would feel familiar but at the same time present them with the many elements of Dutch culture. 

One of the first things I came across, while researching Asian tourists in Amsterdam, is that more often than not they couldn’t comprehend the fact that the majority of Amsterdam was below sea level. Somehow they didn’t feel save. In order to create a space that Asian tourists would feel safe in Amsterdam I would have to create something that would be safe on water. That is just what I did.

I created a floating tourism experience. Influenced esthetically by Asian Architecture and combined with Dutch elements. A place where Asian tourists could enjoy Dutch cuisine in a restaurant that serves typical Dutch delicatessens. At that same floating venue they can buy typical Dutch souvenirs like porcelain figurines made in Delft, a small Dutch city known for its Porcelain. That same venue would also allow them to watch and purchase documentaries about Dutch culture.

And for obvious reasons I called it, The Mill.