The official magazine for Amsterdam International Fashion Week features a really candid interview with The New York Times critic Cathy Horyn, who, by the way, is not here covering the shows. Perhaps the interview was an attempt to let her know that the fashion week here exists. The first question in the Q&A asks her what her impression of Dutch fashion is. Cathy’s answer: “I really do not have any impression of it. Viktor and Rolf — that is about it, but i do not think of them as Dutch. Maybe more when they started out, but they got absorbed into the world of Paris fashion quickly, like a lot of people do.” 
Lady Gaga meets Mad Max (scary!) at Karssenberg/Greidanus
I’ve only been here for two days but have seen a wide variety of work. Some collections had really pretty moments (Jan Taminiau’s shield-like dresses, which had just shown in Paris for couture days earlier) and some had pretty bad ones (”I feel like I’m at a shopping mall fashion show,” one New York journalist whispered in my ear tonight.) With so many cities having launched their own fashion weeks in the last five to ten years, it can be difficult knowing what to pay attention to and what to take seriously. A few (Stockholm, Berlin and Copenhagen) are beginning to distinguish themselves from the others with impressive homegrown talent and a tightly knit industry to support it. Amsterdam hasn’t gotten there quite yet.
While talking to the director of programming of Amsterdam’s Fashion Week, she admitted that the city doesn’t have a fashion council of designers that nurtures emerging talent and mentors them on how to grow their business. Based on the wide range of skill levels I’ve seen over the last two days and how few designers here are actually selling their work in stores, it looks like they could really use one. With solid funding, a full roster of sponsors (Volvo, Redken, Maybelline, the list goes on), and slick venues, the city seemingly has the potential to attract more international attention. And in this day of the Internet, it shouldn’t be very hard.
Clean lines and clinical whites at Elsien Gringhuis
