Dutch
fashion has often been labeled as being highly conceptual. Niels
Klavers definitely contributed to that image when he made his memorable
entry in the fashion world back in ‘98. We remember his window display
at Colette with this bizare jacket featuring multiple sleeves. That was
right after snatching up the Grand Prix in Hyères.
Astrid van Engelen was called to his assistence when all of a sudden
the whole world wanted a piece of his surreal tailoring. Astrid and
Niels turned out to be two of an exceptional kind finding inspiration
in abstract themes like a ball of paper or the wind. Their couture
creations turned out to be highly collectible for fashion afficionados
around the globe and the art world jumped to the occasion to add
fashion to their vocabulary.
Since Niels Klavers had so quickly established a name in the fashion
world it took the designer couple some time to officially add Van
Engelen to the label. Astrid van Engelen entered The Rietveld Academy
for the Arts in Amsterdam in the same year as when Niels Klavers
graduated there. Niels in the mean time started working on his label
and enrolled in the ArtEZ masterprogramme at the Fashion Institute
Arnhem. As a team Klavers and Van Engelen built a promising brand for
several years until in 2003, they decided to stall the label for a
while and rethink their steps. Niels Klavers and Astrid van Engelen
took on teaching positions at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam
and the Design Academy in Eindhoven, working for various commercial
labels and other free lance projects in between.
Four years later, and four years richer in experience, Niels and
Astrid found themselves right back where they always wanted to be;
re-launching their label Klavers van Engelen
with a preview during the Arnhem Fashion Biennale in the summer of
2007. Two months later Niels Klavers and Astrid van Engelen won the
Mercedes- Benz Dutch Fashion Award, which was held for the first time
in Amsterdam. The international jury headed by Maria Luisa Poumaillou
voted unanimously for the Klavers van Engelen come-back collection. It
took a while since that initial win in Hyères but finally the name
Klavers van Engelen is making a whole lot of sense.
