I love you, Rietveld!

Interview with shoe designer Amber Ambrose Aurèle in light of her special photoshoot at the Rietveld Schröderhuis (collection Centraal Museum) Utrecht, The Netherlands – UNESCO World Heritage.

Amber Ambrose Aurèle
I graduated from MA Shoe Design at ArtEZ in Arnhem and MA Art History at the University of Amsterdam in 2012. Followed by internships at Iris van Herpen and United Nude in China. I showed my first collection ‘Amber Ambrose Aurèle’ as an independent designer at Amsterdam Fashion Week 2014. As a designer I want to tell stories that astonish people, make them look differently at the world and at the same time make them think about the concept my work beholds. My design process is both a conceptual and an artistic expression. Furthermore my work is always a mix: about the position of women, contrasts, sustainability, with innovative technological techniques and handicraft. In my work, the shoe is not approached as a shoe but more as a sculpture. This sets off both the dialogue between art and fashion and the relationship between the shoe and the human body.

This relationship between fashion and art is always present in my work in different ways. Sometimes it is literally because I am inspired by an art movement; for example the Dutch art movement De Stijl, but it can also be in the concept; by being inspired by writers like Shakespeare with Ophelia or by collaborating with a visual artist.

What is your relationship between fashion and art?
My dad Marie Verstegen is a visual artist, so from my early childhood there was always art around me and I learned to appreciate this enormously, whether it was a painting, sculpture, architecture or photography. It has always been about craftsmanship, workmanship and aesthetics. When I went to art school in 2004, I was in a split. I didn’t want to go to the Autonomous Art department, but I thought I was too young for fashion and the fashion world did not appeal to me. So I chose the propaedeutic year at the ABK Maastricht and the year after that I studied Theater & Film- Art Direction at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie; combined with extra curricular in fashion. Here I learned how to think conceptually and how to combine that with working autonomously within a certain framework. Because my projects often involved shoes, I chose to specialize in shoe design at ArtEZ in Arnhem, followed by the technical education at the Dutch Health Academy in Utrecht. This is where my basis of art, fashion and craftsmanship comes from. I still use the concept thinking at the start of a collection and I also use the art direction when I plan a photoshoot or catwalk. It is this relationship between fashion and art that continues to inspire me, whether it is the concept or the execution.

What fascinates you about ‘de Stijl’?
For my graduation from the University of Amsterdam in 2018 I wrote my thesis on the relationship between fashion and art. When fashion is no longer just a piece of clothing or an object of everyday use but can actually be seen as art. What I find very inspiring about the works made by the members of de Stijl is that now, 100 years later, they are still relevant and up-to-date. How they apply art and design in everyday life, I find this exceptionally interesting. De Stijl art movement, to me, is that they are working on abstracting reality more and more, they want to bring everything back to essentials: lines, planes and colours. Balance and harmony is important, this is a reaction to society and the chaos in Europe after the First World War. I like the way they process this into a powerful visuals. Gerrit Rietveld has always inspired me, during my BA degree at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie his work, his architecture was present. Every day I was surrounded by his ideas about architecture. I think this has influenced me subconsciously.

What inspired the collection ‘Van Hollandse Bodem’ (‘From Dutch Soil’)?
For my graduation from the University of Amsterdam in 2018 I wrote my thesis on the relationship between fashion and art. When fashion is no longer just a piece of clothing or an object of everyday use but can actually be seen as art. What I find very inspiring about the works made by the members of de Stijl is that now, 100 years later, they are still relevant and up-to-date. How they apply art and design in everyday life, I find this exceptionally interesting. De Stijl art movement, to me, is that they are working on abstracting reality more and more, they want to bring everything back to essentials: lines, planes and colours. Balance and harmony is important, this is a reaction to society and the chaos in Europe after the First World War. I like the way they process this into a powerful visuals.

What inspired the collection ‘Van Hollandse Bodem’ (‘From Dutch Soil’)?
2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the first edition of ‘De Stijl magazine’, published by Theo van Doesburg, Bart van der Leck and Piet Mondriaan. After 100 years of rich history De Stijl is still a major influence on our lives. We can still recognize typical De Stijl landmarks for sculpting, architecture and applied sciences everywhere around us. Piet Mondrian’s quest for abstraction and the use of the primary colours has inspired many artist and architects worldwide. I was inspired by reducing shape and colour to its essence in a shoe design. Just as with De Stijl this consists of black horizontal and vertical lines and squares in the primary colours red, yellow and blue and the non-colours black and white that overall bring forth a certain calmness.

This was the first time that I created this very graphic work, inspired by the masterpieces of Piet Mondriaan and Gerrit Rietveld and brings homage to the Dutch art movement De Stijl. Eventually, these designs were the start of getting in touch with fashion designer Judith van Vliet, we started working together and created a collection inspired by the Netherlands ‘Van Hollandse Bodem’.

We tried to work with local materials as much as possible, but we also took our inspiration from the Dutch symbols, such as De Stijl art movement, the North Sea and the tulip fields. We worked with different materials, like recycled denim made by Enschede Textiel Stad, but also linen and wool. For the shoes I worked with naturally tanned fish leather, all materials with the least possible impact on the environment. De Stijl it’s primary colours and clear lines and the simplification of concepts, was leading for this collection. I have used this in my shoe designs and looked for a balance between wearable shoes and showpieces. We also added colours to the primary colour pallet to give it our twist.

A photoshoot in the Rietveld Schröderhuis. A dream come true?
In 2019 when I was last in China, I already had the idea to photograph this collection in the Rietveld Schröderhuis, I approached Judith how she felt about this and then I contacted various authorities because the Rietveld Schröderhuis is on the UNESCO World Heritage list, you can’t just photograph at this location and things have to be arranged and permission given by the Centraal Museum, among others. That it was allowed was a dream come true! For me, this is where my two backgrounds Fashion & Art come together. It is an honour to be allowed to photograph here and to see your work in the architectural design of Gerrit Rietveld. And not only that, it’s also very special to be able to be in Truus Schröder’s house, she was the one who commissioned Rietveld for the house, but was also his (secret) lover and she stimulated his talent and was his artistic conscience. A strong and inspiring woman.

What’s Next?
At the moment I am working on various ideas and projects. I’m still exploring the relationship between fashion and art and now I’m doing a collaboration with conceptual artist Albert van der Weide. During the Covid period we had a lot of conversations and we drew together. Our sketches reacted to each other’s sketches and to our conversations, which led to several drawings and designs that we are now executing. As a designer, I want to continue to build a bridge between my love for art, fashion, the human body, cultures, the position of the woman, craftsmanship and sustainable innovative techniques and materials.

Location: Rietveld Schröderhuis (collection Centraal Museum) Utrecht, The Netherlands – UNESCO World Heritage.

Photography: Daisy Roefs
Clothing: Judith van Vliet
Shoes: Amber Ambrose Aurèle
Assistant: Benyamin Apoo
Hair & Make Up: Annemieke Tip
Models: Yuna (A&P models), Thari (Mix-Models) and Lian (Diversity Models).

See more Amber Ambrose Aurèle’s shoes at the Virtual Shoe Museum.