The Dutch duo fashion designers Niels Klavers and Astrid van Engelen, founders of Klavers van Engelen, have been known for transforming really abstract and conceptual ideas or inspirations into practical, perfectly wearable and at the same time glamorous garments on the runway. What most of the people do not know of, however, is that their side projects in collaboration with different artists or museums are also as inspiring and pleasant to simply just watch, if not more exciting.
When being asked to participate in an exhibition, K.v.E always transformed their runway clothes into a bigger installation involving movement, which in a way emphasizes the relationship between the audience and clothes and also between the clothes and (their) existing environment as Niels Klavers mentions in one of his interviews with DazedDigital.com
“…we want people to actively interact with our garments while looking at them. We want people to be able to see every part of the clothes and grasp the idea or the concept we had in mind in the atmosphere that surrounds the exhibited designs.” -Niels Klavers
This research therefore tries to explore the even more experimental aspects of K.v.E’s work in terms of how fashion can be bended and mixed with other media and ways of communication and representation (i.e. the performance “Show Me Your Second Face.”)
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