Warmenhoven & Venderbos
Encyclopedia
Warmenhoven & Venderbos is a Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
based clothing label
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
founded in 1996 by Sascha Warmenhoven and Babette Venderbos.
Origins
The Netherlands based label is the brainchild of Sascha Warmenhoven and Babette Venderbos. The two met while studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in RotterdamRotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
and connected through their mutual appreciation for fashion design and art. During their studies, the two individually pursued art and fashion in their own ways. A native from The Netherlands but born in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Sascha Warmenhoven went on to work for major sportswear
Sportswear
Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons....
labels after graduation. During his studies, he managed to garner internships with Walter Van Beirendonck
Walter Van Beirendonck
Walter Van Beirendonck is a Belgian fashion designer. He graduated in 1980 from the Royal Arts Academy in Antwerp. Together with Dirk Van Saene, Dries van Noten, Ann Demeulemeester, Marina Yee and Dirk Bikkembergs they became known as the Antwerp Six.Since 1983, he issues his own collections...
and Dirk Van Saene. Babette Venderbos, also a Native from The Netherlands interned with So by Alexander van Slobbe and worked for Maison Martin Margiela
Martin Margiela
Martin Margiela is a Belgian fashion designer. He studied at Antwerp's Royal Academy of Fine Arts along with the legendary avantgarde fashion collective the Antwerp Six. Many still consider him to be the "7th" member of the collective.- Life and work:After graduation in 1980 he worked as a...
as a showroom assistant. After they maintained their relationship throughout their studies, they decided to work together and launched their first collection in 1996. From their creative visions sprouted individualistically abstract pieces of autonomic conceptual fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
and later on a pret-a-porter collection.
Warmenhoven and Venderbos started their collections that mainly consisted of haute couture pieces. It was not until 2001 that they decided to create a pret-a-porter collection targeted on the Asian market. In 2008 they launched a ready to wear collection for the European market. Even though they have been working together since 1996, they didn't make their name official until 2000.
Style
The brand designs conceptual fashion pieces that are futuristically minimal. Their clothing caters to the self-confidence of a woman by invoking edgy femininity through avant-gardeAvant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
artistry. With an elegant reverence, their designs cut against the mainstream of fashion. Their experimental creativity produces pieces that have all the elements of a haute couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
, pret-a-porter and fine piece of art. Their mixture of textures shows with their valiant use of sheer materials contrasted with other common textiles. Black and white remains consistent with many of their collections. The sleekness of the basic colors is finely exaggerated with mild use of vibrant greens, blues and reds. Their sophisticated, fashion-forward European aesthetic shines through as they use a variety of techniques and layers in their clothing. Mixes of flattering cuts, slanted seams, innovative use of fasteners as well as the manipulated gathering and draping fabrics adhere to the autonomous paradigms of the design duo.
Each piece in the brand's collections is an individual development on its own emulating a strong amount of character. Their stylistically detailed collections are released twice a year: one for autumn/winter and another for spring/summer. Maintaining their positions as dedicated artists, their passion for art is not only shown through their designs, but in the way that they are presented. The brand showcases images of their clothing in unique ways. Some of the pieces are exhibited in abstract form, paralleling the designers' philosophies on fashion, art and body. To add even more to their love for high art, the two are often associated with artistic installation pieces, photography, drawings and costuming.