By Gabrielle Kennedy / 23-02-2012

A recent showing of films made by third year Amfi Fashion and Visual Culture students was hugely impressive.

One of the best, Peculiar Lines,  was directed by Katrien van Leeuwen - a dark, art-deco piece that’s magical narrative was fused with passion.

Van Leeuwen began her studies at ArtEZ with ambitions to graduate with a range of bags and shoes.  “But that requited four years of product design, which turned out to not really be my thing,” she says.

What Van Leeuwen wanted was to use design and fashion to tell stories and the course that best matched that was Fashion and Branding at Amsterdam’s Amfi.

“I am interested in developing concepts, building brand identities and creating visuals,” Van Leeuwen explains.

For her film, Van Leeuwen was partnered with three other students to create a new visual style for young Dutch label Bravoure, which uses the motto “Life is our stage.”

The Bravoure designers told Van Leeuwen and her team that the 20s was their main inspiration.  The students then spent hours traipsing through antique stores, old buildings, and watching films like Metropolis for ideas.  “I became fascinated by industrialization and popular 20s movie stars,” Van Leeuwen says.  “Their expressions, and allure were intriguing and I ended up recognizing the brand in it.”

Van Leeuwen came up with a story.  “That was my role as the director,” she says.  Frederique Peckelsen, the art director - the one charged with visualizing Van Leeuwen’s script – discovered an old art-deco building in the Veluwe - Radio Kootwijk - which became central to the overall look and feel of the film.

In it, a mysterious woman approaches an imposing mansion wearing nothing but a dark cape.  Inside, she reaches out to touch the various objects, angles and colours that inspire her which in turn zap her own attire into pieces from Bravoure’s latest collection.

For her graduation project, Van Leeuwen wants to take the basic principles of fashion branding and apply then to a young person’s social media experience.  “I want to reveal that people are branding themselves in ways that are not that dissimilar to how fashion companies do it,” she says.

Peculiar Lines can be seen here.
The Peculiar Lines team comprised Katrien van Leeuwen, Frederique Peckelsen, Fleur Witte and Lindsey Watson.

Exitium for Individuals was another design.nl favourite.


Images are behind the scenes stills from Peculiar Lines.

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