Anneloes van Osselaer

...it's not all Spuk & Grusel

Anneloes van Osselaer is a Dutch fashion designer based in Amsterdam. She recently graduated with distinction in BA Fashion Design from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, and won the Lichting 2008/G-STAR RAW Talent Award during Amsterdam International Fashion Week. Anneloes’ degree collection entitled ‘SPUK & GRUSEL’ was inspired by spirituality, finding it a very mysterious, airy-fairy, dark and even creepy thing. She translated it into her men’s collection by using the shapes and meanings of a spook and a bat as a source of inspiration, although in a very playful way. Our society is aimed at the external, and that is why we more and more often long for the opposite, to go back inside our head, our body or our own little world, cutting ourselves off from reality. The pieces in this collection are, one by one, very body-covering and form some sort of "shell" in which you can come to yourself, in your own tiny world. The collection has a young, humoristic and not-yet-grown up character and is aimed at boys between 16 and 22 years.

Nothing inspires me like…
Silly little things! I can get inspiration from every little thing. When I design a collection, I usually don’t really have a concept or so, I rather take a very simple thing like some kind of animal or creature as a source of inspiration. Furthermore, I love old-fashioned garments or garments which are not popular, like a traditional sleeping suit, and use them as a source of inspiration.

I hope…
That one day I will have my own label and show my collections in Tokyo! I think my designs fit the youth culture in Japan and I can’t wait for the moment I will hopefully sell my collections there.

Cultural influences...
Of Japan fascinate me a lot. I love several Japanese animations because of their funny creatures or characters, which inspire me so much.

I got where I am…
And I hope to get much further!

Fashion can sometimes...
Be a good excuse for me to hide from daily bothers and major world problems. There are so many things to worry about in this world and sometimes I think I am happy I "only" work in fashion and it’s not my job to squeeze my brains to try and find solutions for world issues.

Money makes…
Life sometimes a lot easier. I hate worries about money and they can really eat away at my creativity.

Did you know…
I don’t like animals though strangely enough they do inspire me in my designs…!

Faith in…
The future.

Cake makes me…
Super happy! I love cakes so much and if I have got some time, I even bake some myself. My absolute favourite is toffee brownie.

My dreams are…
Hopefully soon to become true!

NYC is…
Amazing! I have just been to New York with the company G-STAR as part of the prize I won during the Lichting 2008. I had a great time there, it is such an exciting city and there are so many things to do and to see…hopefully I will go back soon.

My goal…
Is to have my own profitable label and show my collections during Tokyo Fashion Week.

I tried to live...
Without chocolate but I didn’t succeed.

My biggest regret...
Has been bleaching my hair till it was totally dead…I wanted my hair to have different kinds of grey shades and so I had to bleach it first…well, that turned out to be a total disaster I will never forget.

Incompetence...
Is not a word in my dictionary…

ANNELOES VAN OSSELAER ON NJAL