For ten years now visual artist Alljan Moehamad and designer Deyrinio Fraenk — the duo behind beloved local brand Atelier Reservé — have been advancing circular craftsmanship, one meticulously reworked garment at a time. Working with deadstock materials and repurposed fabrics, the self-styled Reservé boys have articulated a distinctive language of reconstruction around the idea that wear, imperfections and past lives only add to an item’s innate value, an ethos that has made Atelier Reservé a mainstay of Amsterdam Fashion Week for five years running. Staying true to their upcycling philosophy that centres one-of-one pieces, on Thursday September 3rd the designers celebrated a decade of Atelier Reservé with Breaking the Loop.
The collection positions itself as a study of shared values, whereby unique pieces and the materials from which they are forged move freely between lifestyles, identities and generations. Familiar wardrobe archetypes refuse to stay put: workwear jackets are severed into abbreviated crops, button-up flannels migrate from torso to waist, while expanses of denim are pieced, folded and widened into floor skimming trousers and sets. Materially, denim provides the collection’s connective tissue, spanning pale, almost bleached blues and dense indigos, which are either left pristine or caked with a silver coating; utilitarian khaki, heavily waxed burgundy, and a chalky pink, followed by a singular pop of black accented road sign orange. Frayed hems, exposed edges and uneven washes undermine the resolve of slicker technical fabrics, while the fluid, lived-in silhouettes cut through all the accumulated texture. Original waistbands, pockets, cuffs and seams remain conspicuously intact throughout, allowing the former lives of repurposed garments to command renewed attention and appreciation, rather than disappearing into their new construction. The result is not so much a transformation of the discarded into the coveted, but rather an enduring conviction that the two can— and should—coexist.
Continuing a rich history of conscious collaboration, this time the label has partnered with professional haircare brand Fuente, finding common ground in a shared emphasis on craftsmanship and thoughtful creation. Rather than imposing a uniform runway look, natural textures mingled with trailing locs, exaggerated braids and flashes of artificial silver, allowing the individuality of each model to shape the finished look. Much like the looks they accompanied, the hairstyles became another successful exercise in working with, rather than against, the particularities of the material.
Image by Olivia Witmond