Monique van Heist

Certain characteristics like Monique van Heist’s down to earth and humoristic attitude, her masculine or unisex design approach and weariness for everything too fashion makes the label ‘moniquevanheist’ all the more attractive for a certain in-the-know audience. Even the most banal events involving our daily wear and tear are a serious inspiration for Monique van Heist, and together with the fun astray alter ego’s she explores for every collection, it comes as no surprise that her collections are most of all highly wearable. Like an academic she examines her classic wardrobe fits and cuts to perfection, inventing clever and funny details, as well as smart accessories and bags. The result is a mature label that leans heavily on the most glamour-starved dress culture of the masses, just to stand out on the most contemporary fashion brinks for it’s timeless design quality.

Since Monique started her label in 2004, she’s gathered a loyal following of fans, selling in 6 stores spread over Holland and Belgium. For 2009 she’s planning a collection of moniquevanheist classics to challenge the fashion system’s short attention span.

Academy of Dutch Fashion Design

To gain an indirect, objective and independent vote the Dutch Fashion Foundation has invited a select group of national decision makers and key-players with a cultural and economical background into the Academy of Dutch Fashion Design. The members of the Academy have all individually listed their top ten of most promising Dutch fashion designers, with a result of 28 designers. Looking at the ranking in which they were chosen and the criteria set up for this award, a selection was formed of 10 designers.

Members of the Academy of Dutch Fashion Design: Amsterdam International Fashion Week - Arnhem Fashion Biënnale - Dutch Fashion Foundation - Fonds voor Beeldende Kunst Vormgeving en Bouwkunst - HTNK - Intres – Klavers van Engelen - Modefabriek - MODINT – Monique van Heist - Prins Bernard Foundation - World Fashion Centre

International pre-jury From an international point of view the precommittee members of the jury Marc Gysemans (Gysemans Clothing Industry, Belgium), Valentina Maggi (headhunter luxury brands; director of Design Practice at Floriane de Saint-Pierre & Associés, Paris), and Diane Pernet (talentscout and journalist A Shaded View on Fashion, Paris) then choose the 5 finalists for the Mercedes-Benz Dutch Fashion Awards 2009. These designers will be presented to the full international jury on November 6th.

Regulations

Each fashion designer to participate in the Mercedes-Benz Dutch Fashion Awards is selected by the criteria that he/she: 

- is graduated from an (inter)national fashion academy, 
- has the Dutch nationality, 
- has its own registered enterprise, 
- has developed at least five collections under his/her own label, 
- has distinguished talent, a unique style and knows
to present this convincingly, 
- has already taken strategic steps to imbed in the international fashion field.