RVDK Wardrobe Nº7

PARIS — Ronald Van Der Kemp gave a proper send off to the Spring / Summer 2018 Haute Couture season on its final day with an electrifying collection, his seventh. The celebrated Dutch designer’s RVDK label is officially a guest member of the week and as such presented a collection that is affectionately known as demi couture, which occupies a region between Haute Couture and Prêt-à-Porter. The heightened craft and unapologetic artistry to this collection felt like a jolt of life on what has otherwise been an unusually dreary week (of weather) in the French capital. The one-off looks of this latest collection are unlikely to be traced to any one mood board, but rather come from a designer at peace with himself in his native Amsterdam, safely distant from Paris. To be sure, Van Der Kemp is up to something different. “Brands make too much noise, people are waiting for the opposite, the whisper, not the scream,” he said recently speaking with Tim Blanks of Business of Fashion. This morning he did not scream, but his clothes sure did sing. On the runway, Estella Brons closed the show and was joined by Anna Cleveland, Tessa Bruinsma, Blanca Padilla, and Oumie Jammeh. Credits include: Client, Ronald Van Der Kemp; Collection, Wardrobe Nº7 Spring / Summer 2018; Hair, Damien Boissinot; Makeup, Sil Bruinsma; Manicure, Jessica Scholten; Production, Napoleon Events; Music, Michel Gaubert; Casting, Alexandra Sandberg; Video, Damien Neva at Next Management.