For our new concept INSIDE X BANK
we ask Dutch designers five questions.
This time it is famed hairstylist and upcoming
designer Ward Stegerhoek's turn.
WARDEMENTS is a new collection by famed hairstylist Ward Stegerhoek, launched officially for Spring 2018,
which infuses his popular humour into each piece and can be worn by both women and men.
Ward has styled hair for Vogue cover stories internationally for the past 35 years
and works with all of the current top models, as well as 20 plus years of fashion shows globally.
The “Cash Me Outside” couture custom hoodie he wore on shoots attracted attention
from models who wanted one of their own, becoming the “super model hoodie of the moment”
and inspiring him to create WARDEMENTS as a full collection. Styles include couture hoodies emblazoned
with logos or slogans inspired by Ward’s favorite Memes, couture dresses, drop-crotch sweatpants,
sparkly leggings, oversize sequin hoodies, oversize tees with slashes and cut-outs,
hefty leather bombers decorated with patches and is able to create custom pieces by special order.
Who is your favorite X BANK designer, and why? (besides yourself of course)
I really like the little lamp that looks like a dandelion (Dandle Light by Studio Drift). It looks fragile and you get the feeling that you can blow it apart. It is minimalistic and very poetic. I don’t know why, but it touches me. Maybe because it shows both strengths and weaknesses.
What does it mean for you as a designer to have your collection at X BANK?
That means a lot to me, because in the Netherlands there is actually no better representation than X BANK. It is also cool to hang between all those other designers. I like the people of the store, it is centrally located, and in terms of stores it is very international.
What is in your opinion typical for Dutch art, fashion and design?
We are slightly less filtered than other countries. In other countries I often get the idea that if a clothing collection is made it is first scanned by a marketing department, and then 15 pieces will fall off. After that there is almost nothing left of the collection. This negates the integrity of the designer. Here we more often get the opportunity to express ourselves more naively and childishly.
What made you decide to go from hairstylist to fashion designer?
Funny enough this wasn’t a conscious choice. Also I’m still a hairstylist! The first hoodie I made contained the text: 'Look like Barbie, Smoke like Marley’. Back then I jokingly put the name 'Wardements' on the back, because everyone in the fashion industry was wearing Vetements.
Whenever I wore my ‘WARDEMENTS’ hoodie, people asked me if they could get one as well. I decided to give away 15 hoodies which people shared on instagram, as a result I received a lot more requests. By the time we received more than 200 requests we still thought the enthusiasm will drop after a while. On the contrary, the requests increased after that. I think people like my collection because it has not been through a marketing process at all. It is an unfiltered collection, just straightforward.
In the future I would like to expand the collection, because there is no way back now. The requests are still coming in, and we will certainly continue, but at our own pace. Especially the hoodies we want to expand, since that is a kind of a billboard where you can put everything. I am very happy with all the help I receive. Fortunately, there are plenty of people who join Wardements spontaneously in order to get the brand to the right fashion curators. Actually, I do not know how to sell clothes, I've never done this before.
X BANK is the one of the few stores in the Netherlands that has WARDEMENTS, and you celebrated a collection launch here, why X BANK?
Located in a beautiful building and at a very central place, X BANK is almost like a design museum. From X BANK itself, I received a lot of warmth and positive energy. Only one day in advance I decided to throw a small party to celebrate that Wardements was coming to X BANK.
X BANK is the store of the future. So many different designers are pushed, not just the commercial brands, but also the emerging brands. For me as a small designer it’s a huge help. All the represented designers are so different and still everything blends perfect in the store. It's cool that something like Bas Koster’s brand or my brand pops out like that. It gives the store a lot of contrast and dimension.
Even when you are not buying anything, you still get an experience coming to X BANK. It has the potential to become the ‘Dutch Colette’.
