Esther Vervliet
SCHOOL
INSTAGRAM PROFILE
instagram.com/esthervervliet/
ABOUT ESther:
My name is Esther Vervliet, I'm 24 years old and I'm a Belgian designer specialising in knitwear.
I have a bachelor's degree in fashion design from La Cambre in Brussels. I did an internship at Y/Project, in the jersey team. Then I wanted to specialise, so in September 2022 I started a master's degree in knitwear at the Institut Français de la Mode, in Paris. It was a wonderful experience for me and I learned a lot.
For example, I had the opportunity to design a silhouette in collaboration with Alaïa. For my final year, I developed a whole knitwear collection based on the theme of shyness, which was shown at Paris Fashion Week in February 2024.
I am currently doing an internship in knitwear at Kenzo.
ABOUT ESther's COLLECTION:
My collection focuses on shyness and introspection. I wanted to recreate body postures related to shyness, but also translate the internal sensations and emotions it causes.
My work is mostly inspired by the "Bodymaps", artworks created by the Bambanani Women’s group consisting in real-size bodies where women suffering from HIV represented their wounds and emotions, linked to their sensations and the history of their body. I applied this exact principle to shyness in my silhouettes.
Through my various techniques, volumes and colors I tried to represent the inner life of shy people that they often need to hide. All the knitting techniques I have developed have been inspired mainly by emotions I noticed related to shyness.
As for my cuts and volumes, they come from body postures I have observed in myself, my friends or others. I explored shyness emotions and attitude directly in my knitting techniques : the puffy yarn knit is a way of getting protected, my double layer technique with lace is making appear hide sensations and my smocked rib is translating the sensations of having all the eyes on you.
I want to pay homage to those people who doubt of themselves, and also to show how funny and poetic it can be to be shy.
