Lieselot: We were very inspired by this photography book by
Max Natkiel, who photographed during and after Paradiso concerts in the beginning of the ‘80s. Within those walls, people were so expressive with their outfits, and the venue provided that opportunity and safety. We thought about how important self-expression is to so many people, and that’s something we cannot really do right now (except for with a small group of friends). It was also a form of protest.
We wanted to do our show at Paradiso because it seemed logical, but then we got confronted with coronavirus. At first we wanted to do a photo exhibition with street photographer
Maarten van der Kamp, but due to Covid-19 we couldn’t have so many people on set.
In the end, we shot one model on the streets of Amsterdam and exhibited those photos. And since we had Paradiso to ourselves, we decided to also do a presentation with a concert by
The Klittens, an all-women punk band. We went from not doing a fashion show to doing a fashion show – all within the possibilities of the pandemic. We let go of this idea of a closed-off concept, instead doing a lighter presentation to really inspire people.