The United Collection

It’s not for sale, but ‘ The United Collection ’ is a creative statement against the rising tensions.

Amsterdam’s top

Amsterdam’s top creative entities, to make a sartorial stance against global polarisation with ‘The United Collection’. A small but meaningful showcase of garments exploring what happens when the flags of conflicting nations are deconstructed and then reconstructed into fashion statements.

‘The United Collection’ is launched today (April 17 2018) with an event, a website, an online video and an outdoor campaign – and the garments themselves will be publicly exhibited in Amsterdam.

focuses on three very different conflicts: Brexit is observed through the eyes of Dutch designer Anne Oomen; Romanian artist Andrea Endresz looks at the volatile relationship between the Ukraine and Russia; and finally Irene Heldens, also a Dutch national, interprets one of Africa’s many wars, the conflict between Eritrea and Djibouti. All designers are a part of Amsterdam fashion collective Young Designers United.

Each designer chose a topic for their dress

based on their own affinity with the subject. Therefore, the final garments are not only literally created from the flags of the opposing nations, but also metaphorically infused with the history of these conflicts. The materials were used for their symbolic significance, such as; gold thread to unite Eritrea and Djibouti; a red satin corset; rope to represent the suppression of the UK’s younger generation in the wake of Brexit; and hints of folk-designs shared between Russian and Ukrainian history.