ESTHER VERVLIET
SCHOOL
ENSAV - École nationale supérieure des arts visuels de La Cambre
INSTAGRAM PROFILE
instagram.com/esthervervliet/
ABOUT ESTHER
My name is Esther, I am from Brussels and I am 22 years old.
I learned to sew as a child from my maternal grandmother. From the age of 14, I learned to use the sewing machine thanks to various training courses. From that moment on, I never stopped sewing in parallel with my general school curriculum. During my last two years of high school, I took a class every Saturday for two years with a stylist who helped me improve my skills and learn new ones, such as pattern making and cutting. I realized not only the great interest I had in fashion, but also the great place I wanted to give it in my life. At the age of 16, I became aware of La Cambre.
In September 2016, I was accepted into La Cambre's preparatory class, L'Antichambre, which took place every week on Wednesday afternoons. This allowed me to familiarize myself with the school, have a first experience of art classes, understand color and start drawing.
I entered La Cambre Modes at the age of 17 and I finished my Bachelor in June 2021. These were formative years of intense study which allowed me to find my creative identity as well as develop technical, methodological, graphic and communication skills. The pedagogy of La Cambre offers an important technical background that was then translated into an artistic piece in which all our achievements can be read.
This year, I made the decision to do a longer internship. I needed to take a step back from my studies and confront the professional world of fashion. I am currently doing a 6 month internship in jersey at Y/Project. I appreciate being able to participate in the process of creating a collection from A to Z, from the first mock-up to the finished product. It gives me insight into how a house works and it strengthens my motivation to continue on this path. Putting my creativity at the service of a brand opens my mind and allows me to see a different way of approaching cuts and clothing. However, I recognize that I still have many skills to learn in order to further assert my creative identity before fully entering the professional world.
These last months I also worked a lot to finance my studies. I worked full time in a museum in Brussels, the Fashion & Lace Museum. I participate in the development of the new exhibition on children's fashion. It was an exciting job that allows me to stay connected to my artistic practice while saving for my future studies.
Today I want to pursue a master's degree specializing in Knitwear, to obtain new skills. I was received in February at the Institut Français de la Mode. I decided to change of school because La Cambre does not offer a specialized master's degree, but also in order to be able to experience a different pedagogy and to exchange with other professionals. I have a strong desire to learn, to try to improve the readability of my work, of my speech. I also chose the IFM because they attach great importance to
the way we communicate about our work, something I would like to improve on.
I would like to move forward in the search for new textures, to create new volumes. I am certain that by discovering what the knit allows that the “chaîne et trame” fabric does not in the construction of a garment, would greatly impact my creative identity in a positive manner.
In my work, my personal story is often a starting point for a creation or a collection. I then develop the idea in pictorial, colorimetric and conceptual research. For example, in two of my last projects, my first inspirations had an intimate origin. My Twins collection was based on the twin relationship with my sister and our childhood. In the Claude collection, the basis was formed by the androgynous personality of my aunt and the work of Claude Cahun. My other influences are, among others, women artists, photography, cinema, and my feminist convictions. I want to produce creations that are rooted in my time and that speak of and to my generation. In the future, I would like to rely on these sources while managing to evolve my aesthetic and make my artistic language more complex.
