Tess van Zalinge: The Archive Show

During Amsterdam Fashion Week, the fashion crowd travels west to Brightfiber Textiles, where discarded clothing is recycled into new textiles on an industrial scale. Compressed bales of clothing and textiles, wrapped in clear plastic and cinched with wide straps, double as benches for a packed audience. Van Zalinge opens the show by explaining that creative direction for the anniversary is in the hands of Evy Cornelie, Dirkje Lemmink and Simone van Ommen, who each reinterpret a decade of her work.

Looks from Tess van Zalinge’s tenth-anniversary archive show, reinterpreted by Evy Cornelie, Dirkje Lemmink and Simone van Ommen

Regency lines, ballet and courtly corsetry meet sportswear and echoes of Y2K. The tension between restraint and freedom is physical: rigid boning shapes the torso, while fabric swells into pouf skirts or trails behind in sheer layers. Exposed hoops frame the hips, while lace-up shin guards introduce a sporting element. Chunky fisherman boots offset satin ballet flats. Across all three interpretations, Van Zalinge’s design language is instantly recognisable.

Photos by author