Camiel Fortgens wins Fashion Stipend 2024

Designer Camiel Fortgens has won the Fashion Stipend ('Mode Stipendium') 2024 incentive prize of the Dutch Culture Fund (Cultuurfonds). The news was announced at the award ceremony on Tuesday evening. The Dutch designer received the prize at the cultural house ‘De Nieuwe Liefde’ in Amsterdam.

Fortgens has not only received the title of winner, he also took home a sum of 50,000 euros. This will give him the opportunity to further develop himself artistically and professionally. Camiel Fortgens is the thirteenth recipient of the award.

Fortgens' fashion brand came into being in 2014, after he graduated from the bachelor's degree 'Design, Identity' at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. By not studying fashion, he was not tainted by fashion rules which ultimately have to form a ‘perfect design’. He can start from scratch and create clothes in his own way. Thus, for him, a garment only comes into being while making it.

Sometimes he cuts a sleeve too short or sews a crooked seam. It can be seen as a mistake, but also as an imperfection and that is precisely Fortgens' signature - why does everything have to be so perfect? His designs have already conquered a large part of Japan, where Fortgens is praised for his originality, but he also gained popularity in the US, Asia and Korea. In the Netherlands, the eponymous label has two outlets as well as its own shop adjacent to the studio in Broedplaats LTS, in Amsterdam.

About the Netherlands' Culture Fund Fashion Stipend

The Cultuurfonds Mode Stipendium was set up in 2011 by an anonymous patron at the Culture Fund. Formerly the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund, the name changed in 2023. The incentive prize for exceptionally talented and advanced Dutch fashion designers comprises a financial contribution of 50,000 euros and a challenge trophy designed by Ted van Noten. The Prince Bernhard Culture Fund has selected the Dutch Fashion Foundation as its partner for the implementation of the Cultuurfonds Mode Stipend.

Previous winners of the Mode Stipendium include Claes Iversen, Jan Taminiau, Maison the Faux, Erik Frenken, Bas Kosters, Ronald van der Kemp, Iris van Herpen and Mohamed Benchellal.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.NL, translated with the help of an AI-tool and edited by Veerle Versteeg.