About

Amsterdam Fashion Week (AFW) is the leading fashion platform in the Benelux, taking place every September to showcase the best of fashion through shows, presentations, and events. Rooted in Amsterdam’s spirit of creativity, inclusivity, and sustainability, AFW celebrates both emerging talent and established names, positioning the city as a distinctive fashion capital.

From streetwear brands to couture houses represented in Paris, where Dutch designers are prominently represented in the Fédération de la Haute Couture calendar, AFW highlights the international impact of Dutch creativity. As a platform, AFW stands for pioneering approaches to upcycling and textile innovation. With a strong focus on nurturing talent, AFW amplifies the voices shaping fashion’s future while connecting them to a global audience.

By connecting past, present, and future, AFW brings heritage and innovation together. Established designers and new talent inspire each other, because without the past there is no future. This dialogue fuels new visions and strengthens Amsterdam’s role as a hub for creativity and innovation.

Vision
To shape a future where fashion is inclusive, responsible, and constantly evolving. AFW believes in giving space to emerging voices, promoting circular design, and building strong connections between creativity and commerce. More than a fashion event, it is a cultural movement that unites people and sparks new ideas.

Mission
Amsterdam Fashion Week provides a platform where empowering new voices, advancing sustainability, and fostering meaningful collaborations are central, connecting creatives, designers, industry leaders, and audiences in Amsterdam and beyond.

Cultural relevance
AFW celebrates the dialogue between past, present, and future, recognising that heritage and innovation are inseparable. It provides a stage where diverse and inclusive voices shape the narrative of fashion today, while amplifying the perspectives that will define tomorrow. By connecting established houses with new talent, AFW creates a continuous cycle of inspiration, exchange, and renewal.

Sustainable commitment
Sustainability lies at the heart of AFW’s DNA. From upcycling to denim innovation, AFW drives real progress by motivating designers and partners to meet measurable standards. AFW has signed with Copenhagen Fashion Week (CPHFW) to implement their Sustainability Requirements framework. This edition marks the pilot phase, where participating brands are reviewed against CPHFW’s Minimum Standards, preparing them for the full roll-out in September 2026. With the CPHFW framework in place, AFW pushes the industry towards systemic, lasting change.

Innovative connections
AFW bridges creativity and business, connecting local talent with international leaders. By staging shows in impactful locations and experimenting with collaborative formats, it creates spaces where innovation thrives, new opportunities emerge, and creativity meets commerce.

AFW collaborates with an Advisory Board of leading industry professionals who provide valuable insights and guidance on programming and overall vision. Their expertise ensures that AFW continues to innovate and evolve as a platform that reflects the dynamic and ever-changing fashion landscape.

AFW Advisory Board 2025

Gert Jonkers
Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of Fantastic Man (launched 2005) and Butt Magazine (launched 2001), Jonkers has helped redefine masculinity in fashion through intelligent, long-form editorial profiles and sophisticated visuals, earning accolades such as the D&AD Award for magazine design. Fantastic Man expanded its reach with a daily website in 2009 and later introduced The Gentlewoman in 2010.

Ida Pettersson
Swedish native Ida Pettersson is founder of GoodEggs, a full-service global brand strategy and creative agency launched in 2025. With over two decades of experience in luxury fashion, she has held senior roles at Harvey Nichols and Net-a-Porter, and served as Buying Director at Browns Fashion. Pettersson champions emerging talent, participating in panels for the British Fashion Council, Fashion East, Graduate Fashion Week, Alpha, the Swedish Fashion Council, and CPHFW New Talent. She also serves on boards including Filippa K, Stine Goya, and Louis Abel.

Borre Akkersdijk
Founder and Creative Director of BYBORRE, a textile innovation studio based in Amsterdam, Borre Akkersdijk launched BYBORRE in 2010 to highlight the potential of fabric innovation through digital tools and sustainable practices. His work, including collaborations with Nike and Louis Vuitton, earned him Young Designer of the Year at the Dutch Design Awards in 2012, where he later returned as main judge. Akkersdijk continues to champion circularity, open-source models, and systemic change in textiles with his new brand, Patience, set to launch during AFW 2025.

Stefanos Constantinou
Vice President of Brand Partnerships and General Manager at Highsnobiety, Stefanos Constantinou leads the brand’s Amsterdam expansion, global partnerships, and commercial strategy. Born in Cyprus, he started his career in media at 16, later joining Hypebeast in Hong Kong and setting up VICE Media Group’s European commercial hub. He has also served as Jury President at the Dutch Creativity Awards and the Lovie Awards.

Amsterdam Fashion Week was founded in 2004 to position Amsterdam as an internationally oriented fashion destination. Since then, it has grown into a central platform for Dutch fashion, with creativity, sustainability, and innovation at its core.

In 2017, Dutch stylist and entrepreneur Danie Bles acquired AFW from Telegraaf Media Groep. Under her leadership, the event moved from its January and July editions to a single September showcase, shifting the focus from simply aligning with the international fashion calendar to championing brands, designers, and artists with compelling narratives to tell. Bles introduced a more dynamic approach that prioritised storytelling, sustainability, and innovation, transforming AFW into a platform where creativity meets purpose and meaningful connections are made.

Today, AFW continues to evolve with The HUB at its heart. The HUB is an open-to-public space where new creators present their brand, and where fashion meets culture through talks, music, community, and art. It embodies AFW’s mission to connect past, present, and future, and to reinforce Amsterdam’s role as a hub for global fashion innovation.