When you graduated from university, did you have that moment when you said, 'Now what?' For many students the gap between what they learned in school and what they needed to do to get a nice job, was confusing and at times overwhelming, particularly for those who studied anything remotely creative. In 2007, Lichting was founded to bridge the gap between students with the fashion industry. Each year they pick the best graduates from the 7 Dutch fashion academies and hosts a fashion show with people in the industry in attendance and an award of €10,000 and a trip to New York Fashion Week to help G-Star Raw with their denim couture show. Among the panel of judges were Susanna Lau (from Dazed Digital and Style Bubble), Garance Dore, Wendy Dagworthy.

This year 14 designers were selected for the show, and each of them was completely unique from each other. The collections ranged from grungy to eloquent, inspirations ranged from financial crises, to royalty, to window crystals. There were a few designers who really stood out, but most of them had that one piece that made your mind sparkle a little bit. The winner, Ann Boogaerts created a collection inspired on the young Fabiola, a Belgian queen from the 1950's. The dress were crisp, dramatic and boldly colored, with an exaggerated, yet elegant silhouette. Of course we love our queens... so how could she not win?

by Jennine of The Coveted

Most of us have a one or two, or twenty pairs of jeans in our closet. A fixture in modern life, in the past thirty years designer denim has become a fashion institution. Which is why I found it so fascinating that G-Star's headquarters in Amsterdam employed several hundred people to launch their collections and create a world of denim. They gave me the grand tour, staring in the canteen ( a girl's gotta eat!) and then showed the meeting rooms where they map out their campaigns which are often quite complex. Last year's NYFW show had pianist and Benicio Del Torro reciting poetry during the catwalk show. I also got to see the Atelier, which was my favorite part, as I've never seen what 'denim couture' looks like.. and it's not your $25 jeans. I really loved seeing up close and personal the level of quality and care that goes into the denim couture. Since we're only a month and half away from NYFW, I got to see the collection in the works... and all I can say, it's going to be a nice show. Lastly, they showed me the PR room where stylists come to pull items for photo shoots. There I found a lovely wool jacket with denim 'fur' which is frayed denim that looks like fur... really quite an exciting feat for those of us who don't like fur because of the animals, and don't like fake fur because of the synthetic fibers. Here I'm trying on a tuxedo dress, which I found to be quite lovely I liked the narrow shoulders and the low waist. All in all, after the HQ visit, I can truly say that I won't ever look at a pair of jeans quite the same.

by Jennine of The Coveted