One To Watch from Fashionclash Festival Maastricht 2016. It´s graduation season and one of my favourite graduation womenswear collections comes this year from Domino Vugts. Like each year the students from the Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts and Design presented their final collection to the international press and fashion lovers. Read below my interview with the young designer!
Name: Domino Vugts / Age: 25 / Hometown: Weert /Menswear or Womenswear: Womenswear
Hello. Welcome to KALTBLUT. Why have you decided to participate at FASHIONCLASH Festival?
DV: I’m a student of the MAFAD academy. And this year MAFAD and Fashionclash worked together. Therefore, we had our graduation show at the amazing Fashionclash Festival. It has been a great experience and it has given me the opportunity to meet interesting people from the industry.
Can you tell us something about the collection you presented at the FASHIONCLASH Festival 2016? What was your inspiration?
DV: I wanted to make a women’s collection with elements and inspiration from Formula 1. I think Formula 1 is a very cool, powerful and high speed sport, but also a field which is still very dominated by men. Currently there are no female drivers in the Formula 1 racing teams. I found this shocking. I believed that women where fully empowered to work in every field they want so it made me sad to see the opposite. In this racing sport men are seen as winners and heroes whereas women are seen as sensual objects. I believe this has to change! Women are not mere decoration, women are individuals with vision, focus and strength.
I focused on the strong clean lines that you see in the racing circuits. It’s always a combination between curved and straight lines. A racing car exists out of several elements and layers and I wanted to use this idea of different layers in different colors and different material; hard and soft, smooth and rough, glossy and mat.
My collection reflects what I think women could be, if they dare. I playfully want to challenge women to step out of their comfort zone and dare to be the heroines and winners I know they are.
What kind of material did you use for the collection?
DV: I used sporty materials such as mesh, jerseys, lycra, velcro and elastic in combination with more luxurious fabrics; silk, skai, leather, mohair and coated fabric.
What challenges did you face during the design process?
DV: I worked a lot with leather for this collection. I laser cut forms out of leather, but I also made a skirt and a biker jacket out of it. I have not worked with leather before, so I came to the conclusion that it needs a whole different approach and process. But now I know how to work with this beautiful material.
How would you describe yourself and your work?
DV: Women who are powerful and dare to be different inspire me. I’m always searching for a way to design powerful women’s clothes without using to many masculine shapes or silhouettes. Women don’t need a men’s suit to show their power. We don’t need to cover, we can show it to the world. But even today this takes courage and I think women do need more boldness and bravery in the way they represent themselves. I playfully want to challenge women to step out of their comfort zone and dare to be the heroines and winners I know they are.
Tell us about your journey that led you to this point.
DV: When I was little, my grandmother taught me how to sew my own stuffed dolls every time I visited my grandparents. A few years later, I made new clothes out of my old ones and bags out of, for example, playing cards. Of course this was not on a professional level but with a lot of joy and creativity! I learned the basics of the fashion industry (sewing, pattern making, technical drawings etc.) during my 4 year study at Summa College (Eindhoven, the Netherlands). After graduation, I started at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Maastricht. I learned a lot more about conceptual thinking there and I developed my own signature style. I had a great time during my academy years, my teachers really pushed me to the limit!!
What would you say this is the biggest influence to your design process?
DV: Women!! They don’t even know how powerful they are. I admire women who feel and behave the same way men do, while at the same time acting super feminine, but then with guts AND a winning mentality.
If you had not become a fashion designer, what would you do instead?
DV: I would start my own flower shop. It has always been my back up dream.
Who’s your dream client?
DV: Even though this may sound cliché, I have always been a huge fan of Beyoncé. She definitely is my dream client.
What was the first item you have ever designed? And who was the lucky one to get it?
DV: Clothes for my own made stuffed pig.
What can we expect from you in near future?
DV: I would like to work for a company in the fashion industry first. This will give me the opportunity to learn more about the fashion industry. It will also expand and develop my skills. Ultimately, my dream is to start my own label and to contribute to the empowerment of women.
Where can we buy your fashion?
DV: My graduation collection exists out of unique pieces but I also have a little collection of screen printed tops; available in size XS and S. For more information please contact me: domivugts@hotmail.com. Soon there will be more information on my website: www.dominojuno.com.
You presented one of our favourite graduation collections this year. Tell us something about your time at MAFAD. How important is a school for a young designer?
DV: My time at MAFAD was really good for my individual growth. I learned a lot about conceptual thinking, but the most important thing is that I really got to know myself and my ideas about fashion. The teachers really pushed me to the limit. MAFAD has a small but strong and talented team of teachers. In the graduation class of 2016 we were with a small group of students, therefore we got a lot of individual attention from our teachers. Because there are different departments within MAFAD (such as jewellery and product design), there were lots of opportunities for co-operation between the different departments. In short, I learned a lot during my time at MAFAD and I think that such an education is a very valuable experience for a young designer!
Interview by Marcel Schlutt
Photos by Team Peter Stigter
fashionclash.nl
Mafad.nl
