PROJECT X

This project kept sisters Dorrith de Roode and Marlous de Roode busy during the summer of 2019. Not knowing how to find a job during the summer in the fashion industry, Dorrith started to feel a little desperate since the companies she works for now and then, took a long summer break. Then suddenly at the end of July she received a message from one of the fashion brands she adores and worked for, once before.

She had to read the message 5 times because she could not believe what job she got offered.

'We have an order for the dancers’ costumes of the new Madonna tour, but all the ateliers are closed. Do you have time and would you like to make them?'

Having seen almost all the Madonna tours and being a fan of especially her live performances with the best dancers and the most beautiful costumes ever seen, this sounded like a dream come true and a big honour!

So the journey began and the dresses were accompanied by masks. Sister Marlous who studied 3D design was not long after asked to have a look at the masks and we convinced the company that the masks were in good hands, if they were made by us as well.

We started to sketch, draw patterns, collect materials, make samples, drape, pleat, sew and gather, and in the meantime we were having an awful lot of fun knowing our work would be worn on stage with Madonna!

But the fun did not last long... after two weeks of working hard and giving the best of our best... we got a message that the job was cancelled and that Madonna’s atelier in New York decided to make everything themselves. Why? The time was tikking and it was too difficult and time consuming to send the samples from New York to Europe and the other way round.

Of course we were very disappointed. We threw our work in the corner of our studio and we did not feel like doing anything anymore.

But after a few weeks, we looked at our creations again and we felt actually that we had to finish them anyway. The design process was so much fun and we just love to sew and design.

We were working with cheap sample cotton and making gasmasks for the song Future. During one of the feedback messages we got to know Madonna liked the idea that the masks started to look like animals. So we decided to develope this idea for a collection of six masks, that look like animals, we first started with the zodiac signs, but then we turned them into other animals as well; from top to bottom here on the right: Aries, Elephant, Horse, Lion, Rooster, and Turkey.

PHOTOGRAPHY: LES SOEURS ROUGES

This collection from autumn winter 2017-2018 is questioning the beauty of a city and a silent protest. The Hague is a beautiful city near the sea, with lots of parks and forests. In the middle of the city you can find the Peace Palace build in our favourite art nouveau decade, 1913. The many ambassadies are bringing their own cultures and languages, what makes the city a very international place to live in. But our question is, The Hague is also called the city of Peace and Justice, but where is the creativity and art? And how peaceful are we as a country and how much justice can be found here? In this collection the sisters picture themselves in prints in the silk scarfs as tinkerbells painting the Peace Palace, spreading love, peace and art. They added slogans like 'Home is where the Art is' and  'We all bleed the same colour - rouge' to the concept.

PHOTOGRAPHY: MAARTEN FLESKENS

MODEL: DANIQUE

HAIR: YOLLY TEN KOPPEL

MAKE-UP: CONNIE MAN FOR MAC COSMETICS

LE PARC PERDU

Souvenirs of a lost zoo. In 1863 , the Hague Zoo was founded, the source of inspiration for the Le Parc Perdu collection. The Royal Zoological-Botanical Garden, as the zoo was actually called, opened with a large main building in Art Nouveau style, a number of greenhouses and some poultry and quadrupeds. Not much later the zoo grew into a park comparable to Artis in Amsterdam. After the second world war, the site was largely fallow and the animals had moved to other gardens, but it remained popularly known as "the Zoo". In 1968, the main building, also known as the Moorish Palace and used for theater plays, conferences, exhibitions, dinners and gymnastic games, was the very last of the buildings is the zoo to be demolished. LES SOEURS ROUGES brings history back to life and has designed a collection of 'souvenirs' for the lost Hague Zoo. Think of silk scarves with animal illustrations, leather bags and accessories in exotic shapes in a contemporary Art Nouveau style.

Click the youtube link below to see this collection presented at the Amsterdam Fashion Week.

PHOTOGRAPHY: MAARTEN FLESKENS
MODEL: JEANNE
HAIR: YOLLY TEN KOPPEL
MAKE-UP: CONNIE MAN FOR MAC COSMETICS

OLDER WORK

'Warrior' 2012

'Candy' 2013

'Lethargie' 2013

'Les habits neufs du poète' 2013

'Chocolate' 2009

'Rouge' 2009

PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL DANKER & FRANCISCO REINA