On the 11th of October 2019 in Vancouver, Canada, emerging Dutch fashion designer Myrthe van der Leden presented her graduate collection at VFW Vancouver Fashion Week for the S/S 2020 Season. Myrthe van der Leden, who graduated with Honours from the Amsterdam Fashion Academy in the Bachelor’s degree Fashion with Textiles Design in 2019, was the only Dutch fashion designer who has been offered a sponsorship to attend VFW. The sponsorship was offered by Jamal Abdourahman, founder of Vancouver Fashion Week.
The collection TOPE is inspired by the North Korean culture and visually represented trough a Western point of view. “For my collection and my dissertation, I took inspiration from the North Koreas lifestyle: researching this country has proved very interesting and enriching. Furthermore, the visual inspiration for the collection derives from South Korean rapper G-Dragon, specifically from his music video Coup d’état. I used fabrics like fake leather and thick wool felt to resemble the feel of the dictatorship and to make a modern version of the ‘military chic’ look”, says Myrthe van der Leden.
Vancouver Fashion Week
Vancouver Fashion Week is one of the fastest growing fashion weeks in the world, and since 2001, it has acted as a stepping-stone for emerging designers to launch their creations into the fashion industry in hopes of one day appearing on the stages of London, Paris, Milan, and New York. Vancouver Fashion Week represented an important stepping stone for renowned Dutch fashion designer Pauline van Dongen in 2011.
“Vancouver Fashion Week was my first big fashion week. Meeting and speaking with so many designers, models and people from the show was a real learning experience, as well as the obstacles and issues I faced right before the show. I’m very pleased with the results and I want to thank all people who made possible that everything at the show went flawless”, says Myrthe van der Leden.
