Amsterdam Fashion Week. In full transparency, not something that has historically been very high on our radar. Dare we say, ever?

That is not to say the Dutch do not dress. They do. Just perhaps according to a slightly different fashion calendar. Buienradar remains the city’s most influential stylist. People dress for their neighbourhood, their favourite brands, their bike ride, the likelihood of rain and whatever they are doing after.

So when Merel Daantjes’ freshly developed film from this season’s Amsterdam Fashion Week rolled into our inbox, we were caught slightly off guard.

Wait. It was actually amazing?

Spikes, satin, ruffles. New talent stepping into the light. Literally. But more importantly, Merel captured something that felt unmistakably Amsterdam. A congregation of curiosities and characters. A city shaped by contrasts, shadows, liminal spaces and the people living in and between them. Beautiful faces, strange places and clothes that all seemed to have a story to tell.

Because perhaps Amsterdam fashion has never really been about one defining look. It is people and material in constant conversation. A city fuelled by collaboration, where archives are opened, references are shared and the torch is passed between generations. Where what happens around the clothes can be just as interesting as the clothes themselves.

Merel caught the week somewhere between seats and dance floors, pleats and poles, places and faces.

And apparently, Fashion Week.

Photos by Merel Daantje