On Thursday, 1 September, Dutch womenswear label FRANCON hosted their first show in collaboration with the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen during the Amsterdam Fashion Week 2022. Aptly titled VANTAGE POINT, their debut drew upon the outstanding venue and highlighted the interaction of attire and architecture at the brand’s core.
Established in 2021 by the creative director May Kaan and architect Kees Kaan, FRANCON is a new womenswear label from Rotterdam whose aesthetic represents a modern, iterative approach to dressing inspired by architectural thinking. An emphasis on setting instead of the season is key in their design exploration.
“We view fashion through context and interaction with its surroundings. Each design is defined by a lifestyle, behaviour or culture of a place or occasion.” says the label’s co-founder May Kaan. Having served as an ambassador of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen for over five years, she immediately recognised Rotterdam’s new cultural landmark as a perfect setting for her label’s debut. The world’s first publicly accessible art storage facility, Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, makes a museum’s entire collection public while providing behind-the-scenes glimpses of how a museum works. The Depot also boasts its own fashion collection of modern and historical pieces by world-renowned designers, some of which are exhibited in the atrium display cases.
With its far-reaching views and different perspectives, the Depot offers a perfect vantage point to showcase the cross-pollination between disciplines at the core of FRANCON’s thinking. The presentation featured a curated selection of pieces from the brand’s latest Lake House, Tower and Cabin editions. During the show, musical theatre performer Annelinde Bruijs provided live show commentary.
Credits:
Performance: Annelinde Bruijs
Choreography: Diek Pothoven
Photography: Peter Stigter, Willem Kantine
Hair: Francis Schroembregs + team Coty/Wella
Make-up: Hannah Benneth + team MAC Cosmetics
Light: JUR Light
Models: Ayla Gilde, Dana Feijen, Imani Gefferie, Isha Wiechers, Jildou Bouwhuis, Karima el Filali, Kyara
Joella van Thol, Silvia Arenas, Sonja Hulsman, Soraya Verhoeven, Sylvia van der Klooster, Rongjin
Zhang, Yente Reitsma
Production team: Valentina Bencic, Daniël Bouw, Sharon Cohen, Alice Colombo, Thomas Hagemeijer,
Kim Harmsen, Wieteke van der Heijden, Jeroen van der Hulst, May Kaan, Kees Kaan, Lars Minnes, Fira
Rietveld, Hrvoje Smidihe
