Over mere five years – a precarious tally that can at once feel like a flash and a lifetime, particularly in the fickle tides of the fashion industry – Wandler has established itself as a major hit maker that emboldens contemporary femininity beyond the conventions of a traditional luxury brand. With its dynamic approach to design and branding, Wandler’s sensibility is embodied by the label’s signature chroma key green, bold yet surprisingly mutable – and so there is quite literally never a dull moment. Take, for instance, their 2021 Amsterdam Fashion Week presentation, for which the brand has transformed an abandoned petrol station into a sound guided installation, with bags and shoes displayed like precious artefacts, immersed in green glow. Another saturated year later, Wandler celebrated their 5th year anniversary with a lavish birthday bash.
Taking Luc Besson’s cult classic Fifth Element as a starting point for the event’s vision, the evening brought together the four elements that make up the Wandler world: architectural precision, an expansive vision of a modern woman, distinct aesthetic principles, and of course vibrant colour. The guests were guided down a lit-up pathway and towards the Van Eesteren Paviljoen, wrapped festively into a puffer-like shell by artist Elsemarijn Bruys. This time, courtesy of Belvedere’s creative input, the distinctive green was offset by a piercing cool blue, constructing the attendees’ experience as that of a 90s sci-fi hero: upon entering, one had to choose between a green or a blue cocktail to decide the course of their night. Inside, dancers twisted and bent on top of platforms and platform shoes, while the 3D render of the brand’s beloved Hortensia bag spun projected across the DJ booth. The fifth element, then, is the happening itself, a shared moment illuminated: as the partygoers swayed the evening away, the loud puffer-clad pavilion succumbed gently to the clouds of blue smoke.
