A collaboration with the Amsterdam Museum and a wide range of fashion designers
From Saturday 18 September 2021, De Nieuwe Kerk will be the country’s largest fashion house for more than six months: MAISON AMSTERDAM. City, fashion, freedom. The exhibition presents over 150 creations, historical and contemporary, that tell stories of Amsterdam as a fashion capital with its own, entirely unique signature. MAISON AMSTERDAM seeks out what is typically ‘Amsterdam’ about the fashion of this creative city. It is the first large-scale fashion exhibition that has the city of Amsterdam at its core.
Strolling through the city
In the exhibition you take a stroll through the city and through periods in time. Beginning on Dam Square, where De Nieuwe Kerk is located. And onwards, past places such as the Zeedijk, the Vondelpark and the Eastern Ports, each associated with their own specific fashion themes. You dive into the nightlife of the roaring twenties and the heyday of the famous ’80s and ‘90s nightclubs RoXY and iT. You visit historic department stores, fashion shows and festivals, such as the Hartjesdagen and Keti Koti. What effect does freedom, but also unfreedom, have on fashion?
Haute couture meets youth culture
Iconic haute couture and innovative designs take their place alongside revolutionary trends such as the mini skirt and the punk jacket. These are styles that were born from youth culture, such as the hippies on Dam Square, graffiti and the punk movement that left a visible trail through the city. The emphasis is on individual garments, each telling its own story through the eyes of the designer, or the wearer. Jeans, for example, purchased at the first jeans shop on the Warmoesstraat, or the iconic Rainbow Dress.
Collection | Designers from then and now
MAISON AMSTERDAM presents historic masterpieces from the fashion collection of collaboration partner, the Amsterdam Museum, as well as a wide variety of contemporary designs. On display are creations by famous twentieth century couturiers such as Dick Holthaus, Edgar Vos, Frank Govers, Frans Molenaar and Max Heymans, and also internationally renowned designers of today, such as Bas Kosters, Iris van Herpen, Jan Taminiau, Viktor & Rolf. The new generation if featured prominently with designers like Amber Jae Slooten, Karim Adduchi, Ninamounah, Bonne Suits, Patta and Daily Paper. Furthermore, Amsterdam is hightighted as Denim City: the hotspot of famous denim labels such as G-Star. MAISON AMSTERDAM is open from Saturday 18 September 2021 until Sunday 3 April 2022.