Opening Amsterdam Fashion Week, Dutch designer Elza Wandler took her audience on a unique, mesmerising audio-guided journey in the suburbs of Amsterdam. What first seemed to be an abandoned gas station along the highway turned out to be a laboratory for the new capsule collection of FALL21 and PS22 Wandler designs, illuminated in fluorescent apple green lights and hazy fog. With red lit headphones, Amsterdam’s emerging fashion scene experienced a show in a whole new dimension. SLEEK spoke to Wandler about the inspiration for the show, the “goosebump feeling” it aims to create and what’s next on the horizon.
"Without light, there is no colour!" installation. Photographed by Pim Top
Tell us more about this special project.
Elza Wandler: Danie Bles, who is the owner of Amsterdam Fashion Week, reached out for the past two or three years and wanted to do something together with Wandler for the next fashion week. I was always kind of in doubt of it, as I was not sure if a fashion show is something that goes with a brand that mainly does accessories. But after this year with the pandemic, it felt like we were in need of building something creatively that wasn’t just about the product, but more about building an experience. Even though Wandler is about the design, architectural shapes and the feminine side of it, it’s also about the colour. I was talking to my team and we decided that we really wanted to do something that resonates with it. So we came up with the sentence ‘Without light there is no colour,’ light is positive and the future. That became the concept of the show, basically based on the past year, but also looking into the future.
Apple green is the leading colour in the installation. Why did you choose it?
EW: Since we used the apple green leather for the first Hortensia bag four years ago, we chose to use this colour again. We decided to make something with it in a more conceptual way by creating a special apple green Wandler world.
Tell us more about the location where the installation took place.
EW: The installation took place in a park and then in a gas station in the suburbs of Amsterdam. It’s an upcoming area but not many people are living there yet. We were passing by it and we were searching for a location that feels relevant but also cool, abstract and art-approached. And this gas station matched perfectly.
Top and bottom: "Without light, there is no colour!" installation. Photographed by Pim Top
Since the elements of light and audio were so relevant in this show, who did you creatively partner up with?
EW: We had the idea to make the gas station silver and abstract, but I was still looking for a light artist who could strengthen the idea of light and darkness. So I thought of Nikki Hock. He usually makes beautiful light installations. And then we had of course the soundscape. We wanted to have music and sounds outside, but this was not possible because of the financial aspect, so we decided to use these silent disco headphones.
As it has been such a funny year for everybody, we thought it could be interesting to have the experience of sort of a rave. As that is the feeling we are all missing, this goosebump feeling.
Elza Wandler. Photography by Walter Pierre.
Can you imagine working on more art projects in your future?
EW: We have already done some artist collaborations, for example with Berlin-based artist Julio Rondo. He made three artworks for Wandler based on our collection colours and the model posed in front of them. So we were always following our passion, and art is a passion that’s very natural for us. I would never call us artists, but I think for us as a fashion brand, we should be connecting with artists and then strengthen each other.