Zoe Karssen FW21: order now

Splashes of paint as a literal translation of 'being an artwork brand'

Zoe Karssen is an artwork based brand for women who want to shine, during the day ánd during the night. Zoe Karssen is tough, rebellious and sexy. But also energetic, unique and distinctive. Now more than ever: the FW21 collection is the first collection designed entirely by fashion designer Erik Frenken. Frenken was inspired by artist friends: "I wanted to keep it close to myself and I wanted the real arts & crafts feeling in it. I succeeded." The result is an all-encompassing 'street to chic' collection in which paint splashes literally and figuratively play the leading role.

Inspiration

"When designing this collection, I started out in my own surroundings. I wanted to keep it personal, stay close to myself. I asked artist friends to help me think. I wanted something with paint... paint splotches and splashes. That studio atmosphere, the arts & crafts feeling, that's what I wanted. We started experimenting together and we came up with all kinds of cool techniques. Scanning paint drops, enlarging them and having them printed or embroidered on the fabric, spray-can effects, screen printing, handcraft techniques, computer manipulation and so on. I wanted to show that real people have worked on the collection. Life as inspiration, Zoe Karssen as artwork brand 2.0."

Highlights

Take a look at the beautiful lookbook and you'll see: every piece from the FW21 collection is literally a piece of art. From lazy daywear to stunning diva, you can do anything. In other words, from street to chic, as Frenken describes it himself. From jumpers to cocktail dresses and from jeans to one-of-a-kind leather biker jackets. Because: every jacket has been personally crafted by an artist. A few highlights from the collection are the little black dress made of wool with a touch of glitter, brooches in the form of enlarged paint splatters with a rim of gold, the black tuxedo - super cool and super sexy - the oversized camel trench coat with embroidered paint splatters, the black leather dress with a pink jersey interior, the camel sweat suit with hoody, again with embroidered paint splatters, and so on and so on... Frenken: "All creations radiate coolness and sexyness, but they also have fun elements. That is essential for me as a designer. Like the pop-art pink inside of the leather dress, but also for example the classic off-white merino coat."

Check the lookbook and see for yourself!

Sustainable

Zoe Karssen stands for sustainability in the broadest sense of the word. Sustainable materials, sustainable processes and minimal waste. Frenken: "It's a journey where we keep looking for ways to do it better. Cleaner, more ethical, more compact. That's why we have our clothes produced in Europe and why we work with an On Demand programme. This means that we only produce on the basis of individual orders and therefore no longer have any stock. We also supply according to the 'buy now, wear now' principle: we bring out several focussed collections a year that can be worn immediately. That also applies to this collection which is available from now on."

Photography: Paul Bellaart

Read more about Zoe Karssen on the brand page: fashionunited.com/companies/zoe-karssen