One of the designers to be showcased over the course of the week is Ilja Visser. Had the pleasure of interviewing her about 19 months ago or so, when i was finishing up my post grad at London College of Fashion.
Below is the interview:
Ilja Visser working
Sophisticated Lady
With unbridled enthusiasm, Ilja Visser pops out from behind the menu, flashes a big smile at the waiter ready to jot down her order, and ask in a silky voice, “What’s good”? Epitomizing the very woman she designs for, the 28-year-old designer is confident, unapologetically feminine, and tough: she is today’s sophisticated girl.
From the age of four, this fashion design graduate of the prestigious Fashion Institute Arnhem (FIA) in the Netherlands has “never wanted to do anything else.” Graduating with accolades in 2001, she interned for Donna Karen and Chilean designer Maria Cornjeo Zero in New York, before heading to Milan, to soak up the renowned fashion scene. Back in The Netherlands, while she could have settled at a number of well-known design houses, she opted for the more challenging route and launched her label Ilja Visser Couture in 2005.
Since presenting her first collection, the autumn/winter 2006 line themed Valizz at the 2005 Amsterdam fashion week, the designer, dressed today in jeans and a grey cable-knit sweater explains: “everything has been going the way I wanted it”.
The collection, which included silk blouses in crimson red and sky blue, fitted light cotton pants and the spectacular satin waist-nipped dress, was inspired by the joys of traveling and it-girls of the 70’s, from Charlie’s Angels to Bo Derek.
Received positively by industry and peers alike, it landed her a spot, alongside fellow Dutch designers Daryl van Wouw, Percy Irausquin, Emily Hermans and Edwin Oudshoorn on the Promise Programme. An initiative of several top Dutch fashion insiders, the programme funds the shows of talented new designers.
Fast-forward a year and many sleepless nights later, and fashion insiders are not the only ones taking notice of Ilja’s talent. She now has high-end Amsterdam boutiques such as SPRMRKT jumping at the opportunity to stock her label, not to mention the flock of trendy Dutch celebrities donning her creations.
“It’s such a hard job, not creatively but financially,” she says about starting and managing her own line, but “that’s what I like about it… I like to make the impossible come true and to be honest, working for a boss or brand would put me to sleep.”
Ilja never has to worry about nodding off now: she just wrapped up her third collection which she showcased at the 5th edition of Amsterdam fashion week, and recently added a prêt-a-porter line Ready to Fish to her label. With a penchant for feminine fabrics such as satin and silk because “they feel like cream on the body”, Ilja describes her line as “audacious, designs for today’s sophisticated girl”. A sophisticated girl, she adds, is “someone who has a story inside not just only in her clothes, she is someone who is aware of her femininity, someone who is confident and feels comfortable in clothing and doesn’t just follow fashion trends”.
Influenced especially by designers Olivier Theyskens and Elsa Schiaparelli, she also a firm believer that “sophistication is in subtlety; … in the simple and small things.” And it is in the simple things in life, from a lovely conversation with a friend to a funny magazine quote that she draws inspiration.
The designer also has quite a thing for fishes. For Valizz, for example, she sent models onto the runway with fish pendants, knots tied around their necks and fin-like accessories. “With each collection of course, I will introduce a different theme, but a fish concept will always be the red thread through all the collections”. This fascination is to do with her last name, which, translated into English means fisherman, but also, as she explains: “I like fashion where there is a sense of humour; it doesn’t have to be all serious all the time.”
In between her busy schedule, Ilja is also involved with many charitable organizations “I think it’s very good if you can do something for charity… we all should do that”.
In 2005, together with designer and good friend Daryl van Wouw, she designed a collection of 15 sporty dresses, T-shirts and pants for Dutch Puppy, a non profit organization which advocates for the protection of dogs in and outside Holland. For breast cancer awareness organization, Pink Ribbon, she joined fellow up-and-coming Dutch designers including Edwin Oudshoorn and Emily Hermans in creating attires for Barbie. Ilja’s creation- a beautiful satin dress with one seam- and that of the other designers were then auctioned off with proceeds going to the charity.
Speaking of her fellow Dutch designers and the burgeoning fashion scene, Ilja is nothing but positive: “I think we are going way up now, it’s getting better and better. Also there are the different platforms now where you can show… the whole fashion scene is coming alive”.
While she recognizes the role Victor & Rolf have played: “I think they (fashion industry) finally saw that it’s possible, you know for Dutch designers to do something big like that,” she is also adamant that there has always been talented designers in the Netherlands.
“I know that Dutch designers are very wanted, I know many designers who graduated from Fashion Institute in Arhnem that work for very big brands.” For the future, Ilja wouldn’t mind being in Viktor &Rolf’s shoes and at the rate she is going it wouldn’t be surprising if she becomes the next big fish.
For more information: www.iljavisser.com. The Ilja Visser Group was established in the beginning of 2009 to house her three labels "Ilja", "Ready to Fish" and "Valizz"
The designer’s creations are available at
SPRMRKT in Amsterdam (+31 (0)20 33056 01
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