TEAM ROTTERDAM
The third power team is Team Rotterdam! Consisting of Bobbine Berden, Juris Efernis, Kalkidan Hoex, Lisanne Janssen, Lena Winterink and coach Esther Muñoz Grootveld (State of Fashion).
Rotterdam is the second biggest city of the Netherlands and considers itself as the country’s only ‘real’ metropole; with its skyscrapers, cultural highlights and bustling port activity on the one hand, and metropolitan challenges, such as poverty, segregation and polarization, on the other hand. Like any other international metropole, the city is incredibly rich in diversity and hosts more than 173 nationalities. Yet, there is a huge divide between inhabitants with different backgrounds, education and incomes. Team Rotterdam will investigate the role fashion design can play in increasing contact and social cohesion in the areas where diversity is high.
LENA WINTERINK
Lena Winterink recently graduated cum laude from the Design Academy Eindhoven. Working with disciplines like textile design and photography she develops concepts into physical representations of current topics. She is fascinated by how unique and simultaneously identical humans are and focuses on elements that otherwise stay unnoticed. Winterink’s work often results in a contemporary approach that inspires people to reflect differently upon their daily habits and environment.
KALKIDAN HOEX
Kalkidan Hoex is the initiator of TheNEWtribe; a jewelry brand that is rooted in the representation of black culture. The brand explores the meaning of identity by referencing to goods that carry symbolical meaning, like comic books and independent illustrations. Hoex’s jewelry makes a statement that speaks to its audience, pushes educational boundaries, empowers and represents.
BOBBINE BERDEN
Bobbine Berden is a ‘visual narrative designer’ and is interested in the value systems of the fashion industry and the relationship between consumers and garments. She translates consumers' behaviour into visuals, audio or text, thereby illustrating - in a playful way - the world from different perspectives. Besides studying current value systems, Bobbine also pays close attention to the concept of ‘revaluation’. She challenges the contemporary fashion system to start designing in new ways; in which time, quality, purity and sustainability are at the centre.
JURIS EFNERIS
Juris Efernis recently graduated - cum laude and with honors! - from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. His creative practice encompasses multimedia art, conceptual fashion design and collaboration in order to influence society, our planet and the quality of human life for the better. To Juris being creative isn’t just a career or a hobby, it’s a life force; something that is truly essential and can make an amazing impact.
LISANNE JANSSEN
As a multidisciplinary creative and educator, Lisanne Janssen is intrigued by the way individuals consider and make connections. Especially, how humans experience their place, impact and agency within space, time and its interconnections. In her practice, Lisanne therefore pays close attention to human’s engagement with material, form and function and the role traditional craftsmanship can play as opposed to current production models.
ESTHER MUÑOZ GROOTVELD
Esther Muñoz Grootveld is a project manager, program maker and strategic consultant in the field of fashion, design, architecture and art. To Muñoz Grootveld the cultural domain is a ‘safe space’ where valuable ideas that help to create a better world can blossom. Currently, she is the Head of Program at State of Fashion as well as the Program Manager of De Wasserij. Last, but definitely not least, she is the coach of team Rotterdam.