Hasta La Ideas

Dutch jewellery designer Bibi Van der Velden opened Amsterdam International Fashion Week with her show titled “Afrozonian Affluences.” Van der Velden created with her show an exotic and Utopian world where ancient natural materials where taken out of their context to create futuristic new designs. Ostrich eggs, taxidermy tropical birds, tiny shells, mammoth teeth and an abundance of colourful feathers- mostly treasures discovered on the designer’s extensive journeys to Africa, were transformed into pieces of wearable art. With this collection, Van der Velden used nature’s own beauty to return to her core being, looking for a respectful balance between nature and design. With her show, Bibi van der Velden gave the audience a combination of theatre, music, art, fashion and sculpture that blended in perfectly with one inspirational experience-challenging the audience to rethink their definition of what jewellery really is.