For once, it is not business as usual in Amsterdam’s infamous Red Light district. Amidst the pleasure-seeking crowds, you will find some whose source of admiration is somewhat out of place. Don’t be surprised to see die-hard fashionistas looking for the next great label intermingling with the usual suspects. In an effort to give the area a new direction and a more appealing image, as well as reducing crime, the city of Amsterdam has purchased a number of brothel buildings and decided to loan a number of the windows to the creative industry over a period of one year. They commissioned HTNK, a renowned Dutch fashion recruitment & consultancy agency, to conceive the concept. HTNK, in turn, brought the Dutch Fashion Foundation on board and eventually launched the Redlight Fashion Amsterdam project.
18 young and ambitious designers and two fashion photographers were given the great opportunity to take over the small studios and turn them into working/living spaces. The large street-side windows serve as showrooms. The designers, of whom the majority are also enrolled in the Turning Talent Into Business program, share in the unique and hopefully inspiring experience, the results of which can be purchased at the CODE Gallery Store: Art & Fashion. The studios are limited to functioning as creative work/living space only, while the store serves as the common retail outlet for all participating labels (as well as hip accessories and art work). The interior of the store retains the former character of the workspace, complete with red lighting and bed.
In keeping with the rhetoric of the project, the designers recently organized a Redlight Fashion Peepshow, to give the curious audience an inside scoop into their unusual set-up. Jan Taminiau, one of the participating designers, pointed out that: “with the Redlight Fashion Peepshow art installation we want to give audience a unique peep in our design processes. The group installation is designed to showcase our seventeen different visions living side by side in the middle of the red-light district.”
Links:
www.redlightfashionamsterdam.nl
www.codegallerystore.com
