MAFAD Graduation 2016: Maarten van Mulken

One To Watch from Fashionclash Festival Maastricht 2016. It´s graduation season and one of my favourite graduation womenswear collections comes this year from Maarten van Mulken. 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. Maarten´s collection is full of ideas and I like how maarten plays with volume. Can´t wait to see more in the future. Read below my interview with the young designer! 

A collection that sort of rebelled against overconsumption in today’s world

Name: Maarten van Mulken Age: 25 Hometown: Maastricht Menswear or Womenswear: Womenswear / Instagram / WEB

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Hello. Welcome to KALTBLUT. Why have you decided to participate at FASHIONCLASH Festival?
MvM: FASHIONCLASH Festival has already been a great stage to present your work for many years. It’s an amazing festival that is both professional and takes care of the young beginning designers. I was part of the MAFAD show at FASHIONCLASH and I’m very happy that MAFAD and FASHIONCLASH again worked together this year to organise the graduationshow at FASHIONCLASH. I’m really thankfull that I can show my work at FASHIONCLASH and hopefully it’ll be for many years to come.

Can you tell us something about the collection you presented at the FASHIONCLASH Festival 2016? What was your inspiration?
MvM: My main inspiration was to try to convince people to think about their own choices in consumption of fashion. I wanted to make my own army that rebelled against the overconsumption we’re facing today to hopefully let people think about their own consumption and maybe even chance some peoples choices in buying clothes.

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What kind of material did you used for the collection?
MvM: For my collection I used a combination of natural materials such as rich silks, cotton and wools to give a luxurious feel and I mixed that up with plastic as a material but also a woven plastic/silk fabric. There is also a sweater in my collection made out of dryer dust remains put together by vilting.

What challenges did you face during the design process?
MvM: For me the biggest challenge was to make a collection that sort of rebelled against overconsumption in today’s world, but at the same time to not neglect the love I have for couture. To combine the two as a contrast in the same collection was for me the biggest challenge.

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How would you describe your self and your work?
MvM: I would call my pieces rather a statement then a collection and a beginning of the way I want to go further in designing. To me, clothing should not be just beautiful, but it should also hold an idea that gives the audience something to think about. I guess with my collections I will always try to make a point across and therefor the collections will always be theatrical

Tell us about your journey that led you to this point.
MvM: I studied Fashion Design for a couple of years now, but it wasn’t always clear to me if I only wanted to be in fashion or combine it with different aspects in design and art. Especially after my internship at Troubleyn/Jan Fabre it was clear to me I wanted to combine different forms of arts to get my point across better. But I want to do it trough fashion instead of starting from another form of art. This led me to look at a bigger picture then only making a collection.

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What would you say this is the biggest influence to your design process?
MvM: I guess that for me it’s the people around me to let them escape and let them think about some issues I want to adress, but also the sort of frustration and at the same time fascination I have about how our society and system works. I like to focus on certain issues and point them out to the audience.

If you had not become a fashion designer, what would you do instead?
MvM: I always loved science and chemistry at school so it would be in this kind of direction.

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Who’s your dream client?
MvM: My dream client would be somebody who of course enjoys my designs, but also someone who knows where he or she stands against certain discussions in fashion and enviromental.

What was the first item you have ever designed? And who was the lucky one to get it?
MvM: The first thing I ever designed was an assigment at school where we had to make a woman outfit for a man inspired by Leigh Bowery. A friend of mine was the lucky one who had to put on high heels and walk down the run way in my outfit.

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What can we expect from you in near future?
MvM: Hopefully you will see more of me and my projects in the near future. I would like to set up something for myself, but I’m not completely done studying yet. I first want to do a few courses to broaden my skills and still do a master in fashion. After that I hope that I can do several projects and also work for different disciplines still, next to my own label.

Where can we buy your fashion?
MvM: For now I don’t have any platform where I sell my clothes but when somebody is interested they can always check out my website or contact me trough email: maartenvanmulken@gmail.com

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Tell us something about your time at MAFAD. How important is a school for a young designer?
MvM: If you want to be a designer, there are of course a lot of ways to get there and become one. But school gives something that you can not learn yourself easy. They teach you how you can become a designer that trusts on his or her own skills and ideas and guides you for several years with a lot of input and of course also doubts, that in the end make you stronger as a designer. It gives a tool that you can always use later in your professional career.

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Interview by Marcel Schlutt
Photos by Team Peter Stigter
fashionclash.nl
Mafad.nl