Discover the master students at SHOW2017! Don’t forget you can also take a closer look at each master’s collection in detail at EXPO2017!

Name: Rushemy Botter
Age:
Origin: The Netherlands

Tell us more about your collection!
I have a diary that I always keep with me and since I spent my downtime after last year’s show in the Carribean, it dawned on me pretty quickly that I wanted my Master’s collection to be an ode to Curaçao, where my family is from. I am always inspired by its people. Whether I am at home or traveling, I can often pick out of the crowd who’s from Curaçao or the Dominican Republic. They just dress differently. I specifically wanted to focus on the cultural clash they experience. A lot of young people come to Europe for what they think and hope will be a better life, but adapting or fitting in is very difficult and oftentimes they end up in trouble. In The Netherlands, for instance, it’s fairly easy to take out financial loans, so they get into debt and fall into this pattern of not being able to keep up with society. Clothing and appearance become sort of an armour to look like you’re better-off than you actually are. That way of dressing, putting on expensive outfits when you actually don’t have much, is what intrigued me.

Name: Sander Bos
Age: 22
Origin: Belgium

Tell us more about your collection!
I named this collection “DAMES” which means “ladies” in Dutch. The word is derived from ‘domestication’ and my overall theme is the domestication of women. The collection accentuates clothing being used to camouflage identity and personality.

Name: Sofie Nieuwborg
Age: 23
Origin: Belgium

Tell us more about your collection!
The title of my collection came to life throughout the creative process and by posting things on Instagram. I was always using the hashtag #mastering and I think that my collection is really about doing my Master’s in a school I attended for five years, a school that formed me as an adult. This is the last year of studying and, for me, the last year of being in a protected and hypothetical environment where I got to work out my ideas in a very free way. Something that’s also very important in my collection is the concept of time: things that change and things that stay the same. I tried to translate that into pieces of clothing. I’ve translated the concept of “constants” into sportswear, because sportswear for me is designed to do everything in. It fits well, it’s sturdy and you can go anywhere in it because it’s practical and durable. And on the other hand, I’ve made garments that feature dried flowers in between layers of tulle. These pieces are anything but practical or durable. Every time you wear them, they will wilt a little. The juxtaposition between the forever and the ever changing was an important kind of tension that I’ve tried to go for this year. Hyperfragile and hyperpractical.

♥ to Dominique Nzeyimana & Knotoryus.com for the interviews.