Arnhem Fashion Biennial

In 2011 a collaboration began between Elisa van Joolen and Ruby Hoette who have a common interest in reshaping ideas around clothing, time and space. Their recent research evolved around the idea of the raising and dropping of hemlines being a metaphor for the fluctuations and complexity in the current fashion system. The silent ‘hemline’ film explores this by documenting people on the streets of New York City from the waist down. It features a pink dress that is standing motionless on street corners. The dress functions as a constant against which to measure different hemlines as they pass by.

The ‘hemline’ film was presented in the exhibition ‘Duologue’ at the Arnhem Fashion Biennial in the Netherlands in July 2011. ‘Duologue’, an exhibition curated by fashion consultant Carlo Wijnands, questions the power design has in the world of mass consumption. In a series of installations, works by young designers enter into dialogue with everyday products.

The Arnhem Fashion Biennial 2011 included exhibitions, presentations, workshops and lectures focused around three locations in the city of Arnhem: the epicentre, or main exhibition space; the city centre; and the Museum for Modern Art Arnhem. Each focused on a different trait of fashion’s wondrous persona. Hosted in an old industrial plant, the main exhibition focused on fashion’s aura through the vision of international designers such as Prada, Maison Martin Margiela, Rodarte, A.F. Vandevorst and Damir Doma.

concept and art directors:  Elisa van Joolen and Ruby Hoette
editor: Sunanda Sachatrakul