Giovanni Hardjodikromo is 21 years old, comes from The Hague in The Netherlands and is currently studying fashion design at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam: we met him after his graduation from Jean School in Amsterdam, opened since 2012. His graduation project features Berto’s fabrics and we are proud that we could support him in reaching this goal.
As part of an ongoing collaboration with the school and its students, we decided to ask some questions to the young designer and share his inspirations and the result of his work.
1. Can you recall the exact moment when you decided to become a fashion designer?
As far as I can remember I decided to become a fashion designer at the end of the first year on the Jean School in Amsterdam. The moment when I begun at the Jean School I hardly know a thing about fashion. During the education a whole new world opened for me. And at that point I was convinced that creative fashion is my true passion and what I want to do for the rest of my life.
2. When and why did you decided to attend the Jean School?
Before Jean School I was attending secondary school. And at that point skinny/tapered jeans became fashionable. But the problem was not every store sold them. So i decided to taper them myself with the sewing machine of my grandmother. A year later I saw on the television a news about the Jean School. I was immediately in love with the education, because I already was doing my own thing behind the sewing machine.
3. Creative process: do you work instinctively or planning each single small step? Where do your ideas come from?
My creative process is mostly instinctive, but of course with a bit of planning otherwise I could lose track quickly during the process. I am very inspired by futuristic things, old ancient tribes, the nature, and small things that inhabit my surroundings. I like to be a bit random and experimental in my work, a bit of a reflection of myself.
4. Which Berto’s fabrics have you been working with for your project/collection? Can you tell more about it and describe it for us?
The task for my final exam at Jean School was to create a collection for an existing company. I have picked Carhartt WIP to do my collection on, because of the rugged American workwear style mixed up with European street fashion. For my final collection I have created two pieces with fabrics that I received from Berto. For the jacket I have been using Berto Nevada pxt 11, 10 oz. white fabric. And for the 5 pocket denim I have been using Berto Bio eco 11,5 oz. denim. After I made the jeans I have sent it to Tonello garment finishing lab to do a Bio-treating on the jeans. The concept is called ''Summertime madness'' and I was inspired by the street-style of downtown LA .The sub-concept of my collection was to treat and make the collection of biological fabrics and finishings. So I came up with a little collaboration with the beautiful fabrics from Berto and one of the best garment treatment machines of Tonello.
5. What’s your plans for the future?
My plan for the future is to finish my education at the Willem de Kooning academy. During my education I hope to broaden my vision concerned on fashion and art. And after that I don't have a specific plan or something. I go wherever the wind takes me. For now I like to focus on school. But of course working for a big brand abroad or something like that would be a great experience. But nothing has been decided, yet.
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photo credit: Nigello Miguel
