The Myth of the Amsterdam Fashion Museum
Over the last year and a half, the Amsterdam Fashion Museum has been generating headlines like "Fashion Museum Finally Opened", and "Opening Party Hosted by Fashion Model Kim Feenstra". So, you'd expect the museum to actually exist, but we couldn't seem to find a single soul that had actually visited the museum, nor does it seem to have an actual address. However, we did find out that the organization behind the museum was also responsible for the disaster that was Arnhem Fashion Week. All of the shows and events that were scheduled to take place in Arnhem were oddly cancelled after designers, models, and press just decided not to show up. The main man behind both projects, Christian Houkes, wasn't available to comment on this article, most likely due to utter embarrassment.
The official website of the museum is filled with dead ends and is devoid of a street address. They claim there is a permanent collection of established Dutch designers and a space for new talent yet they fail to list any of the artists on display. Who are all those designers they're about and why can't I see this shit?
Following a phone call with the museum's curator Phia Baruch, things even got more complicated. She didn't seem prepared to answer simple questions such as, "Where is the museum located?" to which her response was that they're a "guerilla museum." She claimed the shows had been located in various places in Amsterdam including the World Fashion Center, the Fashion Hotel, and the Apollo Hotel, but when I contacted all three of them they had no idea what I was talking about. Eventually, someone from the Apollo Hotel confirmed that the museum had arranged an exhibit that consisted of ten fashionably dressed mannequins in their lobby, but that was it. Apparently, Baruch claims that the organization is now looking at new locations in Amsterdam but it all sounds pretty shady and weird.
After further research it became obvious that Christian Houkes isn't 100% legit. On the internet people call him a conman who loves using other people's money to boost his social status. He's conned a number of notable people and started 780 corporations since 1993, including Arnhem Fashion Week‚ the week of events that was supposed to be a full seven days of shows and parties but ended after just one day because designers refused to work with Houkes and people were claiming he still owed them money. In spite of all the gossip, he told several newspapers he was still very hopeful about the project and even booked 20 rooms in a hotel for all the models and designers. An insider at the hotel claims only one model showed up. So, here we are and we still don't know anything about this mysterious fashion museum in Amsterdam, except that it doesn't seem to exist. For now, that is.
CARMEN FELIX
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