Fil-Dutch designer shines at Amsterdam Fashion Week
07/20/2011
AMSTERDAM - Jonathan Christopher Hofwegen still needs to write his thesis, but the 24-year old Fil-Dutch designer is already busy attending major fashion shows.
He recently showed his new collection at the Amsterdam International Fashion Week, shortly after being selected by Marc Jacobs himself for the final 5 of the Designer for Tomorrow at the Berlin Fashion Week.
His collection called Personatus gives a unique approach to men’s fashion – pieces which shows prints when under different light or tops that has a scarf on it. He takes inspiration from his everyday life to make his creations and uses insects as starting point to create the forms. He also said that through insects, he wants to show the darker side of mankind.
“My main goal for this collection is to break the boundaries between male and female dressing because mens wear is so strict and so bound. I just want to break that boundaries and be more open on what men can wear,” said Hofwegen.
Influenced by Mom
Hofwegen, who moved to Holland with his mother and stepfather when he was 6, said that his mother Dorothy had a great influence on his interest in fashion even at a very young age. He recalled how he was fascinated by his mom’s show collection and got inspired at how she dressed up.
“I was always thinking about what to do and what to wear,” he said.
This interest took him to Willem de Koning academy for his bachelor’s degree and an internship with Dutch fashion designer Francisco van Benthum. While still fulfilling his bachelor’s degree, he made the collection Deconstructable Gender which was nominated for the academy’s Drempelprijs for design in 2009.
He was then selected by the Artez Fashion Masters, a fashion school in Arnhem where he now belongs to the Generation 12, a group of five international students, carefully selected from hundreds of applicants every year. His group showed their collection at the main stage of this year’s Amsterdam International Fashion Week.
For her part, Mrs. Hofwegen can only be proud of what her son has achieved and the bright future that is waiting for him. She said that the advices that she passed to Jonathan also came from her own mother.
“Kasi ang sabi ng nanay ko kahit mahirap ka, basta maayos ka sa sarili mo, mayaman tayo sa buong puso natin. Kailangan ay maayos ka sa sarili at presentable ka, kahit wala kang pera, kahit hindi ka mayaman, ok ka,” she beamed after watching her son’s show.
Using Filipino fabrics
Hofwegen is proud to use Filipino fabrics from banana and piña for his collections. One of his pieces was made using pineapple fabric which according to him is everybody’s favorite. It was actually stolen before his show so he had another one made. He is also fond of using banana fabric.
“When my mom wanted to get married, she bought me this shirt from banana leaves fabrics and I am so in love with the fabric. It has its own feel to it. It’s not quite silk but it’s not linen, it has totally different look and it has a totally different way of how it falls to the body so I become really interested with that,” he said.
Aside from banana and pineapple fabric, Hofwegen also wants to use other hand woven fabrics from the Philippines.
“I like [to] get in touch with [the] locals and make like really nice fabrics which you can show what the Philippines is capable of.”
For his next collection, Hofwegen already plans to use Filipino fabrics. He believes that Filipino fabrics can have its place in the fashion industry when developed and exposed to the world.
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