spot. magazine
DESCRIPTION
Spot. Magazine is an AMFI student graduation project, created by: Femke Verheuvel, Jessica Put & Lisa Goudsmit.TRANSCRIPT
issue 01 €155607348471
2
3
4
lights off, spot onWhat is the reason we all wear black? Why do we buy red lipstick in times of crisis? Does ice-cream taste golden?
Welcome to the world of spot. We capture the many colours of fashion, design and art and look at the shades around us from a new perspective. As the world seems to be a grey place right now, spot. puts a spotlight on colours to brighten up our lives. Let us all glow in the dark!
We at spot. see colours as magic: they create illusions, influence emotions, play with shapes and build entire new worlds. We personally feel that there is no better example of this magic than the colour use in fashion. Then again: magic colours are all around us. Like painter Hans Hofmann said: “The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of colour.”
Colours are also symbolic and multi-interpretable: they can be experienced in many ways, depending on the viewer, circumstances and surroundings. How much this experience and view on colours can differ per person can be read in the many interviews in this magazine.
spot. celebrates the colourful work of designers and artists in fashion shoots throughout the magazine. Different creative professionals are put on the spot in interviews to let them shine their light on colour use in the world today. We love the way all those perceptions inspire to colorize the world, your world!
spot. radiates positivity into the world. We show the colours in the world in a different light: stop feeling blue, look at the world from a spot. perspective, put on those rose tinted glasses and colorize your life!
spot. you later!
Lisa Goudsmit, Jessica Put, Femke Verheuvel
. Lights off, spot on Welcome to the world of SPOT.
. My technicolour dreamcoatAbout the different ways to ‘see’ and experience colours
. Plastic playgroundFollow our lead, indulge into a multicoloured dollhouse
. Grey butterflies Joline Jolink and her secret source of inspiration
. Pink glassesShattered glass reflecting a colourful light on the world
. Catch the rainbowSurrealistic images match abstract meanings of colours
. Toolbox of colours Suzan Kuppens knows all about expensive, cheap and cold designs
. A spotless generationYoung designers show perfect examples of subtle colour use
. BlueThe beautiful shade of feeling alone
. The shade of the decadeHow come the world is such a blue place right now?
. Lipstick remedyMakeup artists Ellis Faas gets fame with natural tinted makeup
. Pretty impressiveThe tints of impressionistic art inspire impressive fashion
. Sinful redOn the different meanings and powers of colours and hair paste
. Borders of uglinessMichiel Schuurman developed his own neon primary colours
. Glow in the darkWhen the world goes black, different colours shine their light
. Never endingA spiral of a colourful inspirations turns and turns and turns
. Enfant ColoréThe colourful rockstar of the Dutch fashion scene
. Colour detoxHow bleach and cut & paste create innovative colourless art
. Makeup your mindChantal Peters explains how the right shade of blush can save lives
. Metal Decay The transient character of metallics creates new shiny shades
. Eye wonderDon’t shut your eyes: dare yourself to see the world from a new
perspective!
. Colophon
Ora
nge warmth glowing your w
ay
How do we see colours? Are they objective or rather a subjective experience influenced by our personal perceptions and associations? I talked about the phenomenon ‘colour’ with three individuals who ‘see’ them in a different manner: synesthesia expert Cretien van Campen, aura reader René Spijkerman and blind writer and comedian Vincent Bijlo.
Most of us believe that colours can only be seen. But some people can actually feel, taste and hear them. I talked about the neurological condition colour synesthesia with psychologist and synesthesia expert Cretien van Campen and sisters Elza and Evelijn Bommeljé.
“It all starts at the time of birth”, Cretien explains. “As babies we experience everything in energy fields. But as adults we divide these various impulses into
what are known as the five senses: sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing. This could be culturally determined since the Western World does not believe in energy fields. Everything we experience needs to therefore fit into one of these five senses. But there is also a neurological explanation: the five brain sections that are our senses are interconnected at birth. During development most of these connections are pruned but for some people these connections are still intact.
Synesthesia is an unusual neurological cooperation of the senses: the stimulation of one sense leads to an experience in another sense. People with this condition may for instance perceive letters or numbers as being coloured, feel music, hear shapes or taste colours. There are around sixty different kinds of synesthesia reported, based on the fact that there are at least twenty senses. The Western idea that there are only five senses is too narrow
a technicolour dreamcoatRed is A. White is perfectio
n. S
omething ta
sty
is g
o ld
and restricted: everything that can be perceived or experienced is a sense.” When asked about how people with synesthesia experience the world, Cretien further explains: “In the past synesthesia was dismissed as a LSD drugs trip, but there are definitely differences. During a drugs trip all senses are temporarily used at the same time: a chaos in the mind is created. Synesthesia on the other hand is not chaotic: it is a consistent condition in which the same colours are always connected to the same impulses. Even though every person can have different experiences, one person will for instance always link blue to a specific taste. Somebody else will connect that same taste to red. But recent neurological tests have shown similarities between synesthesia experiences: four out of ten people with synesthesia connect the letter A to the colour red. Most of these people also connected the letter K to the same colour they linked to the number 7, probably because they have the same angular shape.”
Cretien says that many people are unaware of their synesthesia. “Probably one out of twenty people has a form of synesthesia, but not everyone is open to experiencing the condition. It also depends on how much one is exposed to stimuli. Artists are more aware of their synesthesia because they are visually trained and therefor their senses are more developed. Most people with synesthesia don’t even know they are different from others, they think that everybody experiences music as colours for example. It is not until somebody says ‘that music sounds very green’ and is looked at weird by others, that they realize that they are different.”
“Research on forms of synesthesia has been going on for ages”, Cretien says. “Greek philosophers like Pythagoras were already doing tests on the connection between hearing and sight. During the
Renaissance and Baroque periods experiments were done with the sound and pitch of colours. In 1880 psychological research on synesthesia began; neurological research only started a century later. Research is currently underway to determine whether synesthesia is genetic.”
This seems to be the case with Elza Bommeljé who only discovered her synesthesia five years ago. She says that both her and her sister experience numbers and letters in colour. “Days of the week and months all have a different vague colour”, she says. “The number three is orange to me, but my sister considers it to be brownish yellow. It is very hard to explain what kind of colours we see exactly: they are like mixed pastels, never bright colours.” Evelijn, Elza’s sister, connects specific colours to the shape of the character. “Both the number 1 and letter ‘i’, who have the same shape, are seen in vague white. The number ‘9’ and letter ‘g’ are both a pinkish purple. When it comes to words, letters all have a different colour.” Evelijn says her own name doesn’t ‘suit’ her when it comes to colours, because she has dark hair and eyes. In her head her name should be something like ‘Patricia’, a ‘dark name’ instead of Evelijn that is light green and yellow. There seems to be no logical explanation as to which colours the sisters associate to certain characters, but one thing is for sure: they both see them for real.
We all radiate colours, depending on our mood. Most people can’t see them, but others do. Meet René Spijkerman: biologist and aura reader.
The room I am in when talking to René has an orange floor, white walls and grey closets. When asked how I experience the colours in the room, these are the ones I mention. But René sees the room
as being green: the green of pasture land and of freshly mowed grass. Green symbolically represents discoveries and new experiences: taking steps and moving forward. When he starts the aura reading he says “the room is turning Easter yellow and orange: bright colours representing enthusiasm.” They correspond to my aura shaped as a multi-coloured glittery coat. All those colours together mean that I am so enthusiastic that I want to do to many things at the same time.
René is a biologist who developed an interest in auras after years of scientific studies that had nothing to do with emotions. He wanted to change the way he observed people and the world around him and he decided to take a two year part time aura reading course. It was there he learned to follow his instinct and intuition.
The fact that colours can be experienced in many different ways definitely comes across when talking to René. He experiences colours as energy fields, just as those with synesthesia. By using his intuition he translates a feeling into a coloured image: “Colours are in this case a symbol for somebody’s state of mind. Like all symbols they are multi-interpretable: one colour can have different meanings depending on the aura reader. The one who analyzes the colours does that from his own point of view. What also plays a part is the connection between the aura reader and his objective: when they know each other well this affects the reading and makes the interpretation of the colours more difficult. Different aura readers can also see different colours with the same person. These colours may also differ per day, depending on the state of mind of the person getting a reading. Most of the time colours have the same meaning for different aura readers: white is connected to perfection, orange is warmth and dark colours are negativity or past energy.”
Some say that only few are born with the gift to see auras, but René has another opinion: “as a child we are all sensitive to feeling energy fields, but we are taught to neglect our intuition.” So like with synesthesia, it is all about being open to experiencing
more than most people do, understanding particular impulses from the environment and giving a specific meaning to different colours. Spijkerman explains: “aura reading is somewhat objective, because most of the time different aura readers will pick up the same colours when reading somebody. Auras are on the other hand subjective because the reader may connect different emotions and characteristics to the colours he sees and can also term other colours.”
Aura reading may sound hard to grasp but the colours René saw around me definitely made sense to me. I will wear my technicolour dreamcoat with pride.
Some people connect colours to other sensory impulses, others see symbolic colours connected to emotions. Now imagine not ever having seen colours in your life. What do colours mean to somebody born without sight? Writer and comedian Vincent Bijlo was born blind. When people ask him if it is black he sees he replies: “no, I don’t see anything. If I would see black, I would see something: black. But I don’t see a thing.”
He continues to explain the way he experiences the world: “everything in the world exists because of contrasts. Without ugliness beauty wouldn’t exist. Without red there is no green and black can only exist because of white. When you don’t see and experience those contrasts nothing exists. I don’t know what I am missing, because I’ve never seen anything.”
Ever since he was little Vincent noticed how people call objects different names, so he assumed colours are subjective. He also believes colours have certain powers and that they can influence the atmosphere.
Because even though he doesn’t experience physical colours, Vincent says he can ‘feel’ colours. “Colours determine a state of mind and influence emotions. I can feel the atmosphere colours create. When I walk into a white room, even when it’s empty, I sense that room being light and white. I am certain I experience colours, even though I can’t see them. I am very sensitive to moods and have a very strong intuition that I always try to follow.” He adds: “I have an indirect sensitivity as opposed to most people who are directly stimulated by different impulses.”
Vincent believes that people should not underestimate the importance of colour in our surroundings. “I don’t understand why offices are still grey only because it’s a ‘safe’ pick, when that colour only causes headaches. Bright harsh colours should be chosen in areas where people want to relax and calm down. Seeing these loud colours costs energy so it has a calming effect.” The walls in his own studio are decorated with wallpaper that was made especially for him: a poem he has written for his father in Braille. The colour of the Braille signs is one that makes Vincent feel comfortable: a greenish blue.
Even though Vincent has never seen them, he does have certain associations with colours. “Old-fashioned middle-class people are brown, their homes are small and dark just like their minds. The modern man on the other hand is bright, light and colourful. The freer somebody is, the lighter the colours are that surround him. The colours that represent people are like the inside of their minds.”
To Vincent the colour green means freshly mowed grass and trees but also cars since they pass the green light of the traffic light. His associations with colours seem to be heavily influenced by language
and sayings. “Yellow is associated with egg yolks, but also with yellow rice, Easter and birds. The sun on the other hand is blue: the same colour as the sky it’s in but also the colour of the sea in which the sunlight reflects. Blue in general represents light and warmth. Black is excitement and tension but also black magic.” When asked about the connection between tastes and colours Vincent says that “something sweet and small is silver and something very tasty is gold.”
Vincent doesn’t see colours in his dreams either: he experiences life when he sleeps as he does when he’s awake. He hears, feels and smells but can’t see: “I do visualize certain objects and situations during my dreams, but I also do that during the day when I meditate. When I concentrate I can picture my surroundings. I also do this to not loose grip on the world. As a blind person you can feel deserted, like being on a island without surroundings.” It is difficult for Vincent to draw or to explain what it is he visualizes, but when he is on stage during a show he tries to make the audience feel a little bit the way he does. By giving shows in the dark he wants people to move their focus and concentrate on what they hear and feel. But how a blind person experiences the world, seeing people can probably never understand.
It is hard to picture how another person experiences life around them in general and colours in particular. As it turns out, sight really is subjective. And in the end all we have is our own imagination to understand how the world is seen by others…
Colour is in the eye of t
he behold er...
.
14
She opens her eyes with great curiosity like
seeing the colours in the world
for the very first time.
15
dres
s ●
h &
m
16dr
ess
● h
& m
17
jack
et a
nd s
hoes
● z
ara
● l
eggi
ng ●
ang
ela
link
18dr
ess
and
neck
lace
● f
emke
ver
heuv
el
19
20to
p, n
eckl
ace,
pan
ty a
nd s
hort
● h
& m
● s
hoes
● v
ivie
nne
wes
twoo
d
21
neck
lace
●
ange
la li
nk
22
23
shor
t and
sw
eate
r ●
h &
m
● p
rint
and
nec
klac
e ●
ang
ela
link
photography ● mark janssen
model ● baukje ● ragazza model management
hair & make up ● liz teeling
concept & styling ● angela link ● femke verheuvel
25
grey butterfliesJoline Jolink is a fashion designer who translates her interests in art and strong female personalities into wearable feminine collections. During the past few years collection of hers have for example been inspired by ‘The Man with a Blue Quilted Sleeve’, a painting by Titian and the butterfly drawings of Maria Sibylla Merian.
How do you colour the world?I use colour in my clothing: in the outfits I wear myself but also in my work, designing new collections. My personal and professional colour use have a clear overlap. The colours I use are sometimes subtle but can also be neon bright, depending on my source of inspiration.
“Good classic trousers will always be black or dark
blue”
What do you notice in the colour use in fashion today?
The sky is the limit: everybody is experimenting and combining colours. Colourful trendy fashion is approachable for everybody because of affordable fast fashion chains; people rather buy a colourf dress for a low price than a bright coloured expensive coat.
When it comes to fashion at a higher price people rather buy an item in a timeless classic colour that will always stay in fashion.
What do you want to accomplish with your designs?
I want to dress women with busy lives: they combine a career with their household, social life and passion. I admire them and they inspire me to design versatile garments. In my designs you will look representative but also feel comfortable to move freely between work and private life.
How do you combine this style with your choice in colours: do versatile garments mean they always have neutral colours or can they
also be bright neon?Both, as long as the proportions are right. To be honest, good classic trousers will always be black or dark blue. As long as the base is right the experiment can take place in the choice of colour in accessories, lipstick, shoes or jackets with loud prints for the brave ones.
In what way do colours inspire your designs? I am inspired by the fabrics I buy each season in Paris: the material, structure and handle, but of course also the colour of the fabric. Most of the time the ‘wrong side’ of the fabric has another shade than the right side. I am often tempted by that to make a design
Text by Lisa Goudsmit and photography by Marc Deurloo
www.jolinejolink.com
that has a certain twist of drape that shows both sides of the fabric.
“As if the inside of a butterfly is like a little
secret”
You use a lot of black but also horizontal stripes in your design: do you take notice of the optical
effect some colours in clothing have? Coloured horizontal stripes create a playful and optical effect which keeps the garment interesting to look at but don’t always flatter the body, so I also use black in my collection because of the slimming effect. A good Little Black Dress will make every woman noticeable!
Your last collection was inspired by butterflies. You opted to let your designs be based on the greyish inside instead of the colourful outside
of the wings : why?My collection was inspired by the drawings of Maria Sibylla Merian in which butterflies, caterpillars, chrysalides and plants had subtle colours. I found the fact that the colours of the wings of a butterfly were so much more subtle and mat when the wings are closed very interesting. As if the inside of a butterfly is like a little secret. That is also how I used the silk
fabric in my collection: with the shiny side on the inside of the garment, on the skin of the woman wearing it: a secret surprise for her.
What is the story behind the collection you are working on now?
Like every collection, this one is also based on a strong woman from the past. Autumn 2010 is inspired by artist Georgia O’Keeffe: an intriguing strong personality. Her blown up painting of flowers were the starting point of this collection. Her ‘Dark Iris’ series determined the colour use of the garments: dark red, prune, grey, dark blue and black.
Do colour trends influence your designs or do you only follow your own instincts?
The colours I use are a result of my inspiration sources and material and have nothing to do with trend predictions. I follow my own feeling and combine according to my own, mostly classic, taste.
by nancy jones
the girl who thought in black and white
grey she couldn’t see
woke up one day to find the world
had many shades to be
the boy with rose tinted glasses
thought life was only bless
when his glasses fell of his face
he found the world a mess
she found his glasses on the street
didn’t hesitate to put them on
she saw the world in pretty pink
the black and white were gone
when he saw her on the street
madly hit them on her face
rose glass shattered, flew everywhere
reflecting light, making the world a colourful place
pink glasses
by lisa goudsmit
When you look closer, the neighbours´ grass is not
alw
ays
gree
ne
r
catch the rainbow
Every ray a different tint, every colour a
new meaning. Grasp them before
they dissolve.
photography ● femke verheuvel
concept & styling ● femke verheuvel ●
jessica put ● lisa goudsmit
cATcH THE RAINBOW
32ho
ed ●
eug
enie
van
oir
scho
t
33
34br
ooch
● t
erhi
tolv
anen
● g
aler
ie lo
uise
sm
it
35
36su
ngla
sses
● s
tyli
sts
own
Green shades of positivity
37
38ne
ckla
ce ●
h &
m
39
40ea
ring
s ●
pat
rici
a th
omaz
o
41
a toolboxof coloursWe meet her at her house next to a canal in Rotterdam. Bright coloured children’s bikes are hanging on the wall at the entrance. Her office is white and light; she is dressed in black and white. Suzan Koppens, owner of design company Colour by SAM, gives colour advice to architectural, interior and product designers.
You graduated as a fashion designer, but did not end up making clothing: why not?
I never intended to design clothing, but I am very interested in material, shape and of course colours: all these elements are part of fashion but also all other forms of designs. Both the fashion industry and the branch I work in are fast and dynamic, I like that. I don’t design something for eternity, I want to create something that is very ‘now’ and therefore temporary. Fashion still inspires me, it opens my eyes. Take Marni for example. Her combinations, prints and colour use inspire me in my own work.
What does colour mean to you?Colour is my tool, my way to express myself. In my work I add colours to architectural, interior and product design: the last step in the design process. In my assignments I take the design into account and respect the existing shape. My work has to blend in with the environment and complement the design. I create an identity by using colours, emphasizing
particular elements and accentuating the shape and function of the object. In my work colours communicate a feeling: they provoke emotions and have a psychological and physical impact. I designed the colour scheme for a school once and decided to make the meeting room yellow: a lively bright colour that has an energetic effect. I was very surprised when the schoolteachers decided to use the room for detention. A bad decision because yellow makes the students restless. My choice was based on the function of the area and when that changed my colour advice didn’t make sense anymore.
“I ‘compose’ a colour that has the right ‘sound’; almost like making
music”
So function is of importance in your work, but how else do you decide what colour to use?
By analyzing different media I visualize where the ‘weight’ is on in the colour palette in the world: on cold, warm, bluish or pinkish colours for example. I am also conscious of existing colour norms. For example I would probably not use Ikea-blue on luxurious cosmetic products. Colours have particular feelings they bring across: some look cheap, others
Text by Lisa Goudsmit
www.colourbysam.com
expensive, safe or risky. Those feelings have to match a particular design. I am also aware that
cultures influence colour experience: I use different colours for the Scandinavian market than for the Chinese market. The eventual colour choice is made by looking at the entire context: the function and shape of the object, the people who use it and the environment it is in. With lightness, saturation and hue I ‘compose’ a colour that has the right ‘sound’; almost like making music.
What inspires you?Modern and classic art: they are not influenced by commercial burden, they are 100% expressive. All areas in which I work are a source of inspiration. Cars are also inspirational: the ultimate lifestyle products. Their colours are very revealing of their underlying marketing purpose. My power of observation is tuned for colour use. Anything that catches my eye can be an inspiration.
How would you say the colours you see around you right now match the current time spirit?
I think until recently we were using combinations with a lot contrast. Hard unfriendly colours like black, white, grey with high saturated hues. Nowadays people seem to long for warmer, softer more feminine colours. In these ‘dark’ times people need positivity and kindness around them, so they match their colours to this feeling.
“People just want their blow dryer to be black”
What do you think about trends in colour use?Colours are very sensitive to trends. What is going on in the world is reflected in the associations we have with colours. Since colour choices follow the spirit of the times, the colour palette in design is always changing. Although some things seem to keep coming back, they are always a bit different. Like last week, when I spotted cream and beige Fiats: just like in the 1970s but a slightly different hue. I am aware of trends, but don’t always follow them: I don’t want to be limited or restricted. I am always exploring the boundaries of colour and material use, but I also want to create accessible designs that consumers can understand. Sometimes the market is just not ready for something too innovative: people just want their blow dryer to be black.
Let us all paint the town red
45
These young fashion and textile designers all have
their own sources of inspiration and special ways of
translating them into colours. About how black is not
always as black as it seems, why coffee and milk inspire
great fashion and the beauty of imperfection.
A SPOTLESS GENERATION
photography ● gidi van maarseveen
model ● merel ● anka models
hair & make up ● margharitha van den berg-frans
concept & styling ● femke verheuvel ● jessica put
text ● lisa goudsmit
46
Marina Krunic graduated in 2009 from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute with her bright yellow collection ‘Black is not as black as it seems’ inspired by her own dark past.
“Colours dictate the entire feel of a collection, they set a mood and represent feelings: they are often the starting point of my designs. I tend to use a lot of dark colours in my designs but with my graduation collection I wanted to surprise myself by using bright colours.
I was certain that I didn’t want to use black this time, so I picked fluorescent yellow; a colour that is mostly
used in streetwear. I wanted to show how it can also be used in a stylish, feminine way. Even though the subject of the collection is very negative, the bright yellow gives it hope, light, positivity and strength.
I design from a certain feeling and often connect the clothing to my own past and memories. In my collections I pick colours that match those feelings. This collection, called ‘Black is not as black as it seems’, is about the meaning of ‘black’ and how people experience that colour. It is also about my own ‘black’ past and the fact that even though a situation can be hopeless and negative, there is always light in the darkness.”
bright light
48
Looking for beautiful imperfection, Angela Link graduated as a textile designer from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute in 2010.
“Inspired by mythical half human/half animal creatures and Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting, the fabrics of this collection depict the contrast between imperfection and pure beauty. Perfection is not a possibility, imperfection is the norm. Repulsiveness, perfection and beauty are keywords; fabrics are beautiful at first sight, but when looked at carefully their unusual beauty is disturbing.
Excessive materials have a wide colour range: from black and white to beige, nude tints, metallic and purple accents. Unusual exciting colour combinations stylishly put together create a coherent look.
Natural harsh materials are combined with softer ones like hair, leather and fur but also with plastics, iron and rubber to create a sensual, tough but also disturbing look.
The current unrealistic beauty ideal stimulated me to research the opposite. The fabrics are a critical response to that homogeneous narrow beauty ideal and at the same time celebrate the ambiguity and dualism of that ideal. The ambiguous experience of the fabrics stimulates to rethink our own identity. The contrasting colours and materials create a world full of facts, fiction and fantasies.”
unusual beauty
50
In 2009 fashion designer Hilde Eijgenraam graduated from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute with ‘1000 ML’ collection: the size of her source of inspiration.
“With the inspiration for this collection being different kinds of coffee, outfits have names like Medium Vanilla Frozen and Small Cappuccino. The concept wasn’t originally based on coffee: I started out experimenting with silver duct tape which I used to divide my garments into colour blocks.
I soon realised that the colours reminded me of kinds of coffee and linked each colour to another kind. Green would for instance be a frozen coffee,
because to me green is a ‘cold’ colour. A pinkish jacket reminded me of a Chai Latte; the lace in the outfit looked like the herbs in Chai. Another soft green jacket was a Medium Vanilla Frozen: the soft green looks sweet like vanilla. The purple stocking I use with one outfit look like the flavoured syrups at the bottom of a drink: intense and sweet.
These associations are intuitive and based on my personal feelings- they may not make sense to others. The stockings completed my collection, they make the outfits work and truly look like they are build up out of different coloured layers - just like the different kinds of 1000 ML coffee.”
small cappuccino
52
Lucia Pazira ‘celebrated ugliness’ when she graduated as a textile designer from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute in 2009.
“I experience my emotions as colours: I can feel green or purple. I play with these colours in my work, mixing and matching different emotions: if harmony is a rule I want to break it. I am looking for misbalance, the ‘celebration of ugliness’ as I call it. But I also work with natural colours that represent calmness and silence.
My collections are a combination of happy accidents. I experiment without holding on to trends. I rather be inspired by poems than by fashion trends: there is more colour, shape and inspiration in text.In this particular collection I used different shades of grey, white, metallics, blue and natural colours. By playing with light yet warm colours in the same tint I tried to strengthen the idea of space.
The natural tones represent feminine romance and softness, while the black and metallics represent ‘the unknown’ and the blue calmness. The interaction between these different colours is a sequence of transitions that is like ‘walking the thin line between things we will left behind or things we will take to the future’.”
happyaccidents
54
Kirsten Kuipers graduated from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute in 2009 with her denim collection ‘Transience’.
“I am intrigued by 17th century Vanitas paintings: still lives with skulls, extinguished flames and withered flowers. They depict the Christian idea of ‘Momento Mori’ (‘remember: you must die’) and symbolize mortality. The painters wanted to show that life is temporarily and that you should enjoy it while it last.
The paintings inspired me to create a collection based on the beauty of imperfection and the fact that objects can be destroyed but remain beautiful. The Japanese idea of Wabi Sabi fitted my collection
as well: accepting ephemerality, appreciating the moment and the beauty in imperfection. Wabi Sabi can be seen in the a-symmetric tops in my collection.
I translated the theme of ephemerality into the decolouring and bleaching of fabrics. Worn out denim and vague flower prints are reminiscent of the transient character of perfection and beauty. When bleaching denim you destroy the outer indigo layer and eventually get to the core of the fibre.
With this collection I wanted to get to the core of my design aesthetics and fascinations: enjoying the moment and the beauty in imperfection. The result was a tough denim collection for women.”
fading away
by kim toohey
if
I
feel
blue
and
you
do
too
then
why
can’t
I
feel
blue
with
you
?
blue
by lisa goudsmit
Colours are so much more than only the eye can see: they have deceptive powers and influence our appearance and state of mind. And the may turn out to look very different than how we perceive them at first sight.
While talking to creative professionals, fashion designers and psychologists I heard so many different perceptions on the colours we see around us, that I started to doubt everything I was seeing. I didn’t trust my own eyes anymore. I was always so sure that the sky is blue and clouds are white, but now when I look carefully I see turquoise, sea blue, green, white and many shades of grey. Life became my very own Lisa-in-The-Sky-with-Diamonds-experience, without ever having to take LSD!
And not only did I turn out to have kaleidoscope eyes, the outfit I am subconsciously wearing also has a scary resemblance to my multicoloured view on the world. Although my classy fashion instinct, which I like to believe I have, prefers to wear a Little Black Dress, my mind would apparently prefers a bright coloured coat. During an aura reading it turned out that I am constantly wearing this hideous technicoloured dreamcoat that. Even though the colours in this coat are symbolic, that coat doesn’t sound pretty. Good thing most people can only see the cute black dress I am wearing.
Speaking of black: can the world get any blacker than it is right now? Like a magic trick, black will make you disappear. No it will not make you look so slim that you’ll vanish; it is not black magic. It does however have an unnoticeable effect and make you blur into the crowd. But did you know that black doesn’t even
look good on most people? Henry Ford and I used to have the same motto in life: “Any colour, as long as it’s black”, but not any more. Fashion magazines have been brainwashing us for decades that we can all look like Audrey Hepburn wearing a LBD, but science is proving them wrong. Black apparently absorbs light, actually adding volume to our body - not the effect I was hoping for!
So out with the black dress, in with the red one! To all women in the world: LRD is the new LBD. Red naturally draws attention: our eyes are programmed to focus on red. So if your want to be noticed, red is the way to go. In the Dark Ages red was seen as the colour of sin: it was the colour of the devil, so red-haired women were the first ‘witches’ to be burned. Me and my sinful hair colour would have never survived that time. Times have fortunately changed and I am now able to draw attention without being burned at the stake!
Our mood, mind, senses and lives are influenced by colours on so many levels. Sometimes our whole being is depicted by the colours we radiate on a conscious and subconscious level - in the colour of our clothing, hair and dreamcoats. I would almost have to agree with Clementine in the amazing movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind who said “I apply my personality in a paste”. Maybe I should also express the way I feel in my hair colour. Only she is a nut case that changes the colour of her hair from Revolutionary Green to Agent Orange and Yellow Fever in one month and I have been keeping mine a sinful radiant red for years already. And my mind is not spotless, SPOT. magazine is my mind.
lipstickremedyEllis Faas is an internationally respected makeup artists who works with photographers like Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier and Terry Richardson. She also owns her own makeup line.
What does colour mean to you?To me colour is part of life. And like other pleasant and unpleasant things in life, colour can influence one’s mood in a positive and negative way. It’s like with food: when a meal has an unattractive colour it will also be less tasty.
“I make fun of the beauty ideals I see around me”
During your photography studies you used makeup as a way to make yourself
unrecognisable: do you still see makeup as a tool for complete transformation?
During that time I used makeup as a mask to hide myself because I was very shy, but that is not the case anymore. Today I use makeup to play with beauty excesses: I make fun of the beauty ideals I see around me like mascara advertisements that keep promising longer eyelashes. I twist that and create eyelashes that are three feet long, that long
that they don’t even fit in the camera shot. Besides playing with all I see going on around me and translating that into my makeup design, I also just follow my instincts and create what I feel at that moment, not thinking about the philosophy behind it.
Every colour you use in your own makeup line is extracted from the human body. Why did you decide to use natural colours instead of bright
colours like most brands?I actually started out by just putting all my favourite colours and combinations together to create the colour pallet. When I took a step back and analyzed my choices I realized that all of those shades were based of colours in the human body. And that actually made sense to me because people use makeup to highlight the beautiful features in their faces and to camouflage the less appealing parts. And what better way to do that than with a colour that can already be found in the natural body?
You also create extravagant colourful faces that don’t look ‘natural’: do you also use your own
makeup line for these creations?Not for the texture itself: long red glycerine eyelashes can’t be created with my products but the colour and pigment resemble my own makeup. Those kind of images should be seen as creative inspiration rather than makeup-instructions. I don’t like giving rules like
Text by Lisa Goudsmit
www. ellisfaas.com
‘this is how one should use makeup’.
What else inspires your colour use, besides the human body?
Everything I see around me. Colours can surprise: pallets in nature or a flashy red bus riding through a grey city. I also love painters like Francis Bacon.
A classic law states that in times of financial crisis women wear more red lipstick: do you
have an explanations for this?I don’t know if it’s necessarily red makeup that sells well, but I think that in financially challenging times women want to buy something new that is noticeable. Lipstick is perfect in this situation: not too expensive, a lot of colours to choose from and the outside world will notice the new splash of colour right away.
What kind of colour trends do you notice today and which do you predict for the future?
I don’t know, I don’t follow trends. I follow my own heart and see trends as something that only outsiders notice. I don´t let trends guide me.
Do you notice many differences between the colour use in makeup of Dutch women and
women in the rest of the World?Most Dutch women could be a bit more adventurous in their daily lives, but if they don’t feel comfortable
doing that they shouldn’t. In Southern countries women dare to put more coloured makeup on themselves than Dutch women do.
What kind of colour trends do you notice today and which do you predict for the future?
I don’t know, I don’t follow trends. I follow my own heart and see trends as something that only outsiders notice. I don´t let trends guide me.
“colours can surprise: a flashy red bus riding
through a grey city”
In the past you already simulated skin diseases with makeup for the medical industry, did
makeup for music videos, fashion shows and photo shoots: what do you love to most? And
what’s next?My favourite thing about my job is working together within a team in which everybody respects each other, can do their own thing, but still create an amazing coherent image. For the near future I am occupied with my own makeup line, because I have many more ideas I want to execute.
62bl
ouse
● m
arin
a de
wild
e
pretty impressive
She strokes her hair
out of her face.
The brush strokes
blind her
with their beauty.
The paintings make
an overwheliming
impression on her.
Indulging her into
their colourful landscape.
64bl
ouse
● i
zabe
lla s
kow
rons
ka
65
66dr
ess
● i
zabe
lla s
kow
rons
ka
68ja
cket
● s
epeh
r m
aghs
oudi
69
70su
it ●
den
ise
aart
sen
71
photography ● paul bakker ● unit
model ● tessa ● max models
hair & make up ● ed tijsen for face stockholm ● angelique hoorn agency
concept & styling ● femke verheuvel ● jessica put ● lisa goudsmit
painting 1 ● vincent van gogh ● ‘olive trees with the alpilles’
painting 2 ● claude monet ● ‘garden at giverny’
painting 3 ● claude monet ● ‘water lillies and japanese bridge’
painting 4 ● vincent van gogh ● ‘starry night over the rhone’
painting 5 ● paul signac ● ‘le palais des papes avignon’
painting 6 ● claude monet ● ‘la scogliera di aval etretat’
top
and
pant
s ●
kir
sten
kui
pers
I have a blue house with a blue window. blue is the colour of all that I wear. blue are the streets and all the trees are too. blue are the people here that walk around, blue are the words I say and what I think. blue are the feelings that live inside me. (eiffel 65, blue)
Accoring to Pantone the early 1970s were bright pink, the late 1980s and early 1990s punk black and the third millennium started out cerulean blue. Every period in time has colours that represent the general state of mind. Those colours are sometimes symbolic for the situation in the world, but can also be the ones which have the effect people yearn for. The latter seems to be the case right now.
When researching creative expressions like fashion, film and art one colour caught my attention: blue. It was the colour of Alexander McQueen’s futuristic underwater world collection that dominated the fashion magazines, red carpets and music video’s this year. It was also the colour of the record breaking movie Avatar that has the same science fiction feel as McQueen’s collection. Since we all have great hope for the future, these futuristic metallic shades of blue fit our time perfectly.
The number one fashion muze of our days seems to be Alice, the girl who gets lost in Wonderland. Guess what the colour of her dress is? Of course: blue. She was dressed in blue in Walt Disney’s version of Lewis Carroll’s story, that dates back to 1865, in 1951. When Tim Burton pictured her in 2010, many things changed but the colour of her dress didn’t. No matter when, the blue in Alice’s dress always represents her naivety, curiosity and excitement for life. To me blue is the colour of the sky, of endless possibilities. It is also the colour of clarity: the one
thing we all long for in these uncertain times. When Henri Matisse wanted to simplify the art scene in the beginning of the 20th century, he chose blue as his main colour. His movement, called Fauvism, preferred clarity and strong colours over Realism and Impressionism. His Blue Nudes series are world famous: perfect examples of the possibility to create playful, interesting compositions with only one colour. A century later that approach is still popular, for example with street artists like Piet Parra who creates images similar to Matisse’s.
It’s not just me who notices all the blue in the world right now : the colour experts at AkzoNobel also declared blue the colour of 2010 in their Colour Futures brochure: “The Colour of the Year is an airy and optimistic blue that symbolizes infinite horizons, new beginnings, renewed energy and a positive dynamic.” According to the colour experts, blue combats mental strain and stress, physical tiredness and feelings of exhaustion, is re-energising and encourages fresh starts. In short: a great after-global-recession-colour.
Pantone choose turquoise as Colour of the Year 2010. This bluish shade, typical for the Cote d’Azur, represents sea, relaxation and holiday. This ultimate summer colour also embodies exactly what all of us stressed out individuals need: to lay in the warm water of the turquoise Mediterranean with a multicoloured cocktail in our hand. Santé, je t’aime turquoise! It is also striking that 4 out of the 10 Colours of the Year this decade, according to Pantone, were shades of blue. Apparently the 2000s are just very blue.
The more I think about, the more sense it makes: blue, in many different variations, is the perfect 2010 colour. It fits exactly in this zeitgeist: in these unstable hectic times people long for clarity, relaxation, freshness and a bright future. Blue is a coloured ray of light in darkness: I don’t mind feeling blue!
borders of ugliness“Meet me at the coloured tower”, he says. Michiel Schuurman is a graphic designer, known for his experimental colour use and co-designing the Colour-In Dress. His workspace is located in an old garage in Amsterdam: a white building that households a group of creative masterminds.
You made the print of the Colour-In Dress, designed by Berber Soepboer. What is the story
behind that design?Berber designs fashion that can be worn in many ways: consumers can paint the Colour-In-Dress themselves. I designed the print of the fabric: small outlines of different kinds of circles. Even though I am interested in designing fabrics and prints, I would not like to work in the fashion industry or most of the other creative industries. They are too fast and commercial for me, it kills creativity.
“I consider working with primary colours a Dutch
disease”
How do you use colour in your work?I used to only work in black and white, partly because I was limited by budgets. Recently I started to use colours, but I still think in black and white when it comes to my designs. There is a difference between working with black and white or colours though: I used to only work and play with outlines, but now that I work with colours I use colour blocks to create shapes and letters.
How do colours define your designs?Working with colours means working with contrasts for me. It is all about the difference, borders and overlay between colour blocks. This way colour dictates the shape as well. CMYK printing doesn’t create the result I want it to have: you can’t print very bright colours this way so I started silk-screening. This technique also dictates my colour use: the restrictions and possibilities inspire me. Right now I am in my fluor-period: I developed my own kind of CMYK system with neon pink, blue and yellow. I consider working with primary colours a `Dutch disease´ so I developed my own ‘primary colours’. By silk-screening them I can create every colour I want. To me colour is a concept. I sometimes work with a specific colour or colour group as starting point. I had a period once in which the comic book ‘The Watchmen’ inspired me: I find the colour use in
Text by Lisa Goudsmit
www. michielschuurman.nl
there ugly but cool at the same time. At that time I adjusted my entire colour palette to that comic book.
What else inspires you?Nature and the natural process of growing inspires me. I am also interested in science and physics: the golden ratio and Fibonacci numbers are fascinating. All my designs are based on colour sections, they inspire me as well: what happens when these sections come together? I am more interested in the contrast than in the colours themselves.
“Why does red mean danger and green safety?”
What is a typical Michiel Schuurman-design?
My graphic designs tend to create entire images. An example is the poster with red and blue groups of letters on a black background. It appears as if the red groups pop out of the poster and the blue ones move backwards: an optical illusion that happens because our eyes are used to focussing on red items like flowers whereas blue is associated with the sky and a background. I play with the way people look at colours.In another poster red, blue and green sections create letters on a grey background. The
grey values in these colours are exactly the same as that in the background. The result: if you take a black and white picture of the poster the red, blue and green letters disappear. This is the ultimate way of working with contrasts.
What is it you want to accomplish with your designs?
I want to seek the borders of ugliness. I want people to look at things differently and break through the barriers of colour associations. Why does red mean danger and green safety? I don’t want these associations to limit me. I also don’t understand why people have ‘favourite colours’. Or why they only buy red, blue, silver or black cars. That fascinates me, just like the fact that men and women are attracted to different colours. I know that if I want my designs to appeal to both men and women, they have to be red or blue.
78
79
When the light is out,
unexpected colours occur.
She shines in the night like a
multicoloured firefly.
80
81
82
83
84a
85a
86
87
88
photography ● mathieu van ek
model ● emily ● fresh model management
hair & make up ● amber schiphorst
concept & styling ● femke verheuvel ● jessica put ● lisa goudsmit
photo 1 ● dress ● shi yan wu
photo 2 ● outfit ● denise aartsen
photo 3 ● top ● denise aartsen
photo 4 ● outfit ● ellis biemans
photo 5 ● top ● denise aartsen
photo 6 ● dress ● sanne haselager
photo 7 ● blouse and necklace ● lotte van keulen
photo 8 ● dress ● shi yan wu
89
by femke verheuvel
never ending
by lisa goudsmit
Images: left bas kosters by marc deurloo, right ‘living too hard’ (autumn / winter 2010 /2011)
“I want to make grown ups forget about all this misery in the world by giving them colourful,
glittery disco outfits”
When thinking about colourful Dutch fashion, one name immediately comes to mind: Bas Kosters. Even though he is often described as the ‘enfant terrible’ of the local fashion scene, a better way to depict Bas would be the most colourful child in the Dutch fashion class: meet ‘enfant coloré’ Bas.
In the grey, not very inspiring, building that is the World Fashion Centre in Amsterdam, the home of Bas Kosters Studio is an colourful paradise. Here the creative mastermind is surrounded by his self-made dolls, Japanese toys, flowers, his previous fashion collections, colourful paintings, Barbie’s, the entire cast of Sesame Street and vintage 1950’s pantyhose packages. All together they create an explosion of colours and inspiration. Bas himself is wearing a dark blue outfit and a small pink bow in his bleached hair. Chipped turquoise nailpolish decorates his nails. He is, as he states himself, in a ‘not so colourful’ period. What inspires this designer to create fantastic, colourful and whimsical fashion, dolls and illustrations?
Bas, I can see here what kind of objects are your source of inspiration,
but what else inspires you?“People in general inspire me, but the way they dress in particular. Social developments also influence me. My Freedom Collection (2009) was based on the fact that we lose our freedom: with my designs I wanted to give people their freedom back. The collection consisted of two parts. The first part was about the joy, fantasy and freedom we experience in our childhood, the second part was directly inspired by the credit crunch that started when I made this collection.
I want to make grown ups forget about all this misery in the world by giving them colourful, glittery disco outfits and music to dance to. My vision throughout the entire collection was based on how we deal with the restrictions of our freedom. Like peacocks, we wear all these amazing colours on the inside yet choose to hide them. I dare people to show their colours.
Your ‘Dans Les Rues D’Amsterdam’ collection (2006) was inspired by homeless people: how do these, to me, grey unhappy
people make you create colourful happy fashion?
I was living at the Red Light District in Amsterdam and the homeless people there intrigued me; the way they live in the beauty of their own reality. They are actually really creative in the way they dress: wrapping ropes around their legs and wearing plastic bags around their feet. They literally carry their own house: they wear all they own. This inspired me to create a coat with a hood and gloves attached to it. Another piece in the ‘Dans Les Rues’ collection was a pants with stool and urine stains: homeless style.
Your graduation collection in 2001 from the AKI Academy of Fine Arts Enschede
was called ‘Containerkoninginnen’ (Dumpster Queens): so besides homeless
people, garbage inspires you as well?This collection was actually about exploring boarders: I wanted to get a multi-layered fashion message across. The name was derived from the fact that I used unusual materials like tape and paint from Do-It-Yourself stores. The collection was based around straight, rectangle dresses made from square pieces of cloth with two holes that created the armpits: a result from the fact that I was a bad sewer at the
enfant coloré
Images: left and bottom right ‘freedom collection’, top right and middle ‘living too hard’ (autumn / winter 2010 /2011)
“I make what I like myself and I just really love colours”
time. The colourful prints were inspired by graffiti from toilet walls. Years later the model of this straight dresses was actually the inspiration for the ‘monster-dress’ in the Freedom Collection. I like getting inspiration from my own old collections to get a recognisable body of work. .
Your collection and the way you present them are a total experience: what part do
colours play in this experience?I make what I like myself and I just really love colours. I don’t choose them based on their meaning, symbolic value or effect they have: I am not trying to get a message across with the colours I use. It’s not that I connect pink and red to collections about love. The colours are however sometimes a reaction on what I see happening around me, like my colourful response to how people act in a credit crunch in the Freedom Collection. I don’t follow colour trends: I don’t care about what trend watcher say. I just follow my own intuition and heart.
How do you choose the specific colours you use?
I extract them from my sources of inspiration. For example: one time I used the colour of my mother’s favourite Barbie outfit, a red velvet rope, for a dress. Most of the time I put all my different inspiration sources together and then choose the colours I want to use. Colourful dolls and prints from the 1950s, 60s and 70s inspire me a lot. I like opulent colours and use a lot of red, pink and turquoise.
Would you ever make a not-colourful collection?
Actually, my newest prêt à porter collection ‘Living Too Hard’ (Autumn/ Winter 2010 /2011) is inspired by rock stars: their self destructive character, drugs overdoses and rock and roll lifestyle. The result was a mostly black collection with some splashes of colour. After years of dressing very colourful, I was in a ‘dark’ period lately and wore a lot of black. This was reflected in ‘Living Too Hard’. Right now I am starting to go back to my colourful self.
What else do you have in store?In the past I used to make haute couture and T-shirt collections in my own speed, not following the set up seasons of the fashion industry. But with my prêt à porter collections I am now choosing to follow these seasons: my next collection is on it’s way. I would also like to collaborate with other designers and label, for instance with Jean Jacques de Castelbajac: I would love to be their head designer.I like being situated in Holland, the working climate is very good, but I would also love to go to Paris more often. And I am now going to be sold in the two hottest stores in Tokyo: Japan is ready for me! “
Text by Lisa Goudsmit
Adding colour to the world is a great thing,but extracting colours from visual images is an art on it’s own. We invite you to take a look at these two artists who take colour
‘detoxing’ very seriously.
Joris Jansen (1980, Amsterdam) sees photography as a tool to express his own ideas by showing (parts of) reality. He wants to show what might be invisible to others at first sight, or things that are not even really present: ideas, thoughts and patterns. These images are sketches of an generic city:
compilations of pictures of other cities.
Curtis Mann (Dayton, Ohio, 1979) uses household bleach to manipulate images he finds at photo sharing websites. In his ‘Modifications’ series he uses pictures of landscapes of war and violence in places like Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel and the Gaza Strip. Erasing colours and parts of the picture is in this case symbolic of the erasing of knowledge, to look at these places
without prejudgments.
colour detox
Research 2
Joris Rafael Jansen
photography
http://joris-jansen.com
Landlocked, checkpoint (unknown, israel)
80” x 30” – diptych
clear acrylic varnish on bleached color photographs
http://www.curtismann.com
Research 4
Joris Rafael Jansen
photography
http://joris-jansen.com
Wanderers, second view
(refugee camp, kenya) - 2009
90” x 56” - 63 separate 8” x 10” pieces
clear acrylic varnish on bleached color photographs
http://www.curtismann.com
METAL DEcAyDiamonds are forever, colours are not.
See what happens when metal
corrosion sets in.
top
● h
& m
● l
eggi
ng ●
dan
iella
hod
● s
hoes
● d
iese
l
METAL DEcAy
dres
s ●
ria
nne
mer
tens
outfi
t ●
ria
nne
mer
tens
top
● r
iann
e m
erte
ns
dress ● rianne mertens
photography ● michel zoeter
model ● pia ● max models
hair & make up ● margharitha van den berg-frans
concept & styling ● femke verheuvel ●
jessica put ● lisa goudsmit
eye wonder
The little piece of lace cloth floats through the air, approaching the voluptuous grey clouds with an undeniable grace. Until it gets stuck in a tree and tears apart into small squares of lace, hitting the floor like artificial snow. At the same time, a fat brown pigeon decorates her silk lavender dress with warm greyish white splatters.
Siri doesn’t even notice it: her eyes are closed and her mind wonders off to a world where all is well. The petit girl in the lavender dress and a pineapple-hat on her heartshaped head is upset. She feels lost while the wind that stole her scarf is now also blowing away her warm tears from her face. It doesn’t make a difference; her cheeks remains red and wet as heavy darkblue raindrops slowly run down her head, drowning her face in a pool of misery and rain.
Locked in her own world, the girl doesn’t pay attention on what’s going on around her. She doesn’t see the elderly couple, holding hands as if they only fell in love yesterday. She doesn’t see the trees growing on both sides of the avenue, creating a lovely bow for her to walk under. She doesn’t see the wet pavement glistering in the weak autumn sun, looking like a mirror underneath her black and white polka-dotted tango shoes. If only she could open her eyes and see the beauty of everyday life. With her eyelashes glued to her freckled rosebum cheeks, her eyes closed like little envelopes hiding a secret note inside, she rushes down the avenue chasing her own shadow. Only she seems to know what it is she is running towards…
Ever since she was born, Siri dances through life not noticing her surroundings. Her imaginary mind landscape is like a labyrinth, and she doesn’t want to find her way out. She had always preferred to indulge in her own fantasy world: the place she called home in her daydreams, was so much better than the ‘real world’. In her imagination she would go to school swimming through a lake filled with giant chocolate-dipped strawberries, right after eating her banana flavouredbroccoli oatmeal. She spend her mornings dancing the cha-cha-cha with frogs dressed in the cutest little floral dresses.
Every afternoon she enjoyed a private high tea party with English silver-haired princesses, drinking pink Earl Grey. In the evening she would tell about her daily adventures to Eduard and Imogen, her imaginary friends according to some. But as her grandfather told her once, they are not imaginary: “If they are real in your mind Siri, they excist. Don’tever
123
124
125
let anybody decide for you what is real and what isn’t.” She used to call her grandfather Bonpapa, because she found that name sounded like his personally: a grumpy old stubborn man who, one could tell, was once an elegant French gentleman. Unfortunately her beloved grandfather passed away last year and Siri still missed him every day. It was hard to believe that his daughter was her mother, they were nothing alike. Her mum used to tell her all the time: “Siri don’t shut your eyes when walking through life, you’ll shut out the rest of the world”. “I wonder what that would be like”, the stubborn girl used to answer.
But she had to be more careful what she was wishing for. Because this morning, Siri woke up unable to open her eyes. Her eyelashes seemed to be glued together, closing her eyes like shutters blocking a window. Whatever she tried, her sight remained blocked. Unable to change her situation but comforted by the fact that she knows her way around with her eyes closed, she started her day like any other day. She ate her banana flavoured broccoli oatmeal, slipped into her silk lavender dress and kissed her pet, a disabled ostrich, goodbye as she took of to go to school.
While swimming through the strawberry lake, she bumped into what felt like a giant talking pillow. As the pillow talked, shiny golden feathers escaped from the corners of his mouth. With the voice of her passed away grandfather, Mr. Pillow said to her: “watch out where you’re going, you foolish little girl!” “I can’t sir”, Siri answered, “my eyes are closed”.
And so a long conversation started, in which the girl desperately tried to explain to this pillow shaped reincarnation of her Bonpapa how the universe apparently turned her back on her. “you see mister”, she said tearful, “I always wondered what it would be like to be locked insight my own mind. But I never meant for this to happen.” Mr. Pillow felt bad for this young girl who really reminded him of his own granddaughter and decided to help her. “you know what you have to do?”, he said. “Run to the sun, make a bow, strike a pose, look in the magic mirror and all will be well.”
confused by the advise but determined to unlock her eyelids, Siri took off. She got out of the strawberry lake, stumbled unto the shore and ran as if her life depended on it. She forgot all about school while she tried to find her way to the sun.
And here she is now, running down the street. She doesn’t notice the elderly couple, as she loses her scarf. She doesn’t feel the pigeon poop drops that creates weird looking freckles on her shoulders. She runs so hard that she almost slips on the wet mirror-like pavement.
If her eyes were open, she would have been blinded by the sun that is splitting the clouds in half right now. She does feels the beams warming up her face, making her cheeks glow and her tears evaporate. She knows she has to go towards the sun, make a bow, strike a pose and look in the magic mirror. So she continues to run towards the source of heat. As the air gets warmer and warmer, Siri is heathing up from the inside as well. Her skin feels like it is melting of her body, like cheese running down a piece of bread during fondue. Strings of skin are falling of her back. Together with her lavender dress it creates beautiful beige with lavender freckled drops on the pavement.
When she finally feels so warm, almost like she will explode like multicoloured chinese fireworks, she decides that it’s time to make a bow. She bends her nose towards her knees and suddenly she feels that her head drops town to the floor and her legs dissolve. She is nothing but head. Then her eyes lids curl up and she can see again. Disorientated and confused she rolls herself towards what seems to be the magic mirror. As Siri looks at herself, she realizes that her feeling was right: all that’s left of her is her head. Her turquoise eyes, her rose cheek bums, her freckled forehead, her peachy lips. But something else is off: instead of two eyes there are nine eyes attached to her small heart shaped face. Is this her punishment for not listening to her mother? Is this what all those people who were telling her for years to open her eyes and live in the real world wanted?
And so after that reality check in the magic mirror Siri became Iris- the girls with nine eyes. The universe played with this girl, who all of her life wondered what it would be like to be locked into her own imagination. Who refused to see the real world. Now all she can do is use her eyes and look at her surroundings. To observe her home town, her house and see the greatness of all that is going on. No more swimming through chocolate-dipped strawberry lakes, no more cha-cha-cha dancing with frogs, no more high teas with silver-haired princesses. Well maybe only at night, when she closes her nine eyes and puts her heart shaped face to rest…
the endText by Lisa Goudsmit and illustrations by Femke Verheuvel
127
Text by Lisa Goudsmit and illustrations by Femke Verheuvel
128
ConceptLisa Goudsmit, Jessica Put, Femke Verheuvel
Art directorJessica Put
Image director / IllustratorFemke Verheuvel
Text director Lisa Goudsmit
Special thanks toDenise Aartsen, Paul Bakker, Bas @ Max Models, Baukje @ Ragazza Model Management, Margharitha van den Berg-Frans, Ellis Biemans,
Vincent Bijlo, Elza Bommeljé, Eveliljn Bommeljé, Janne Coolen,Dutch Fashion Foundation, Hilde Eijgenraam, Mathieu van Ek, Emily @
Fresh Model Management, Ellis Faas, Sanne Haselager, Martine Heinen, Joris Jansen, Mark Janssen, Joline Jolink, Nancy Jones, Cretien
van Kampen, Lotte van Keulen, Bas Kosters, Marina Krunic, Kirsten Kuipers, Suzan Kuppens, Angela Link, Charlotte Lokin, Gidi van Maar-
seveen, Sepehr Maghsoudi, Curtis Mann, Merel @ Anka Model Management, Rianne Mertens, Marieke den Ouden, Lucia Pazira, Chantal
Peters van Neijenhof, Eugenie van Oirschot, Pia @ Max Models, Amber Schiphorst, Michiel Schuurman, Izabella Skowronska, Galerie
Louise Smit, René Spijkerman, Kirsten Spuijbroek, Ed Tijssen for Face Stockholm @ Angelique Hoorn Agency, Liz Teeling, Tessa @ Max
Models, Patricia Thomazo, Lee Tolman, Terhi Tolvanen, Kim Toohey, Julia Walter, Frank Wijlens, Marina de Wilde, Shi Yan Wu, Michel Zoeter
PublisherAmsterdam Fashion Institute
Editorial addressHerengracht 292
1016 BX Amsterdam
PrintRuparo, Amsterdam
CoverPhotography (clockwise from top left): Femke Verheuvel, Mathieu van Ek, Mark Janssen, Paul Bakker @ Unit
Model (clockwise from top right): Emily @ Fresh Model Management, Baukje @ Ragazza Model Management, Tessa @ Max Models
Makeup (clockwise from top right): Amber Schiphorst, Liz Teeling, Ed Tijssen for Face Stockholm @ Angelique Hoorn Agency
Art direction cover: Femke Verheuvel
CopyrightOn all offers, tenders and agreements made by AMFI, the conditions of te Dutch law and court of
Amsterdam are applicable. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permis-
sion of the publisher. Although the highest care is taken to make the information contained in SPOT. Magazine as accurate as possible,
neither the publisher or the authors can accept any responsibility for damage, of any nature, resulting from the use of this information.
colophon
