On 11 November 2010 thirty fashion addicts worldwide stopped buying clothes for one year. The ‘fashion addicts’ are a mix of fashion students and fashion professionals and a lot of them are linked to AMFI. No surprise the Free Fashion Challenge was a graduation project from Fashion & Branding student Laura de Jong, who will be in charge of this project until at least November 2012. For a whole year every three weeks the fashion addicts will share their experiences on the website, based on assignments.
Felicity Brown, illustrated by Ernestine Koelman, AMFI lecturer
Over the last few decades fashion has become more and more about consumption. Fashion became fast fashion and clothes have become disposable. To make fashion more sustainable and long term oriented, fashion needs to change. With the Free Fashion Challenge we want to find out what the meaning of consumption is within the definition of fashion. We think fashion is more than shopping. Don’t get us wrong, we are no fashion haters. We love fashion but we think it is not necessarily about buying stuff. Fashion should be about creativity, adornment, joy, quality and good design.
Colours of last season together with the radiant palette for spring 2011
Fashion is about time, about being ahead of your time. Wearing ‘the right outfit’ shows that you understand fashion, that you understand what is hot and what is not. For assignment 7 the Free Fashion participants translated a trend for Spring 2011 to the ‘old’ items they already had. Does old really mean outdated?
The project has built up quite a fan base and quite some press: The Free Fashion Challenge has been featured in newspapers, websites and magazines all over the world. You can read more on the project and follow the adventures of the fashion addicts on www.freefashionchallenge.com.
Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/freefashionchallenge or follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/FreeFashion
If you dare to, you can also join the Free Fashion Challenge: www.freefashionchallenge.com/join
Text: Frank Jurgen Wijlens (Fashion & Branding department)
Jil Sander trends found in Nannet Van der Kleijn's old wardrobe
