If you’ve missed the Oceanista – Fashion & Sea exhibition at Het Scheepvaartmuseum (The Maritime Museum Amsterdam), here are a few snapshots of what it looked like. The exhibition closes in a few days, on April 12, so this is more of a personal look back than a recommendation to go, but if you’re quick, you still have time to see it!
Oceanista explores the connection between maritime culture and fashion. The starting point is something you probably never think about: the yellow raincoat, the Breton stripe, the fisherman’s sweater, as they all come from life at sea. And from there, the exhibition traced how those influences ended up on runways and in everyday wardrobes around the world.
The lineup of designers was impressive. Pieces by Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier, Versace, Maison Margiela, Thom Browne, and Iris van Herpen were on display. I was looking forward to see the Iris van Herpen pieces, and they were beautiful! I think they truly embodied the fashion&sea concept, with their spectacular design and colours. I also loved a hat and a pair of shoes that I would like to be able to wear sometimes (but I’m not Lady Gaga so maybe they wouldn’t fit so well at a press conference in Amsterdam – although I’m sure no one will complain, this being Amsterdam, after all).
Oceanista is based on a travelling exhibition concept from the M/S Maritime Museum in Helsingør (Denmark), and adapted for Amsterdam with pieces from the Scheepvaartmuseum’s own collection and work by local designers.
I went in not knowing what to expect, as a fashion exhibition in a maritime museum is not an obvious combination, and came away genuinely impressed. The kind of exhibition that makes you look at your own wardrobe a little differently.
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