Soepboer & Stooker- A fashion brand, a collaboration between designer Berber Soepboer and Anne Stooker. It’s not only about fashion but also involves different media like installation, photography but mainly based on textile and clothing.
I went to the store for a little interview with Anne Stooker, she told me it was her dream to have her own concept store. She was born in 1984, she first did a foundation course in Fashion academy ARTENIS in Rotterdam, then she came to the Rietveld to continue her Bachelor programme of fashion. She met Berber Soepboer who was one grade higher than her during the study in the Rietveld . Here is some pieces from her in her graduation collection during 2006.
she describes, ‘in her designs, she gets concepts out of existing clothing to which she add subtle details by using a variety of fabrics with prints and her own designs.’
After graduation, as a freelance designer, she also participated styling for a Hip Hop band The Fringe and on September, 2009, she started the concept store with Berber Soepboer. What they are doing, she said, is a bit different than the other brands, they don’t design collections for every season, every piece they designed is connected to the rest of one big collection. It’s like if from one a trunk a lot of branches grow.
Berber Soepboer, finished her bachelor programme of fashion in 2007, she declares: “I design items of clothing that are characterized through the different ways in which they can be worn. The wearer can make choices in how he or she wants to wear the garment and is thus co-designer of the garment. In this way I want to create a greater awareness of personal identity, sustainability is a recurring theme in this.” There’s some of her works which explains her concepts very well.
‘The dresses of the collection are extremely complex, with a series of wires that allow changing the shape of the dress.’
I remember this piece which hung on the wall in the store, one is not colored was put next to another one Which was colored, with pens next to it.
This few pieces below are some of the recent pieces in their big collection.
When I talked with Anne, she told me this piece is inspired by the city of Gorkum and the history behind. “Inspired by Countess Jacoba van Beieren a remarkable historical person from this region. Elements from her life such as traditional dress, Dutch ship trade and waterways are reflected in the designs. Present and Past + Identity and Perception were visualized in designs in which shapes and prints of the past get a new form and function in the present. This has resulted in garments which can be worn in different ways where there is an interaction between the individual pieces by means of encounters and connections.
The designs for the two silk scarves find their origin in folds; for storing clothes in cupboards and chests, it was necessary to fold in the old days. The folds are visible on the print but the actual scarf isn’t folded, also the VOC painting is folded and then printed.” – Berber Soepboer
