Written by Iris te Wieske

Last Monday Borre Akkersdijk showed his SS13 menswear collection at the Apollohallen in Amsterdam. The Dutch designer, who is based in Paris, surprised everyone with a show that was all about movement. No white runway or serious faces for once. Instead of models, Borre chose to work with top gymnasts. These sportsmen demonstrated the comfortable, easy outfits of his label byBorre, while performing gymnastics.

Despite of all the action, Borre managed to keep the attention on his light colored, well-cut, and highly wearable pieces. Later that day the second show look place at bar Ludwig, where Borre showed both his menswear and womanswear collection accompanied by performances of inter alia Pepijn Lanen (De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig). Time to learn some more about this young, refreshing talent.

Borre studied at the Design Academy of Eindhoven. During this period he discovered what is now the characterizing element of his collections, namely the special 3D-fabric he uses. The idea came to mind when he went to the factory of Innofa, Borre explains. “Innofa produces fabrics for mattresses, and I just happened to be there for a different project. I saw the filled fabrics pass by in large panels. After seeing this, I immediately thought, I need to make fashion with this.”

But because it had never been done before, there was a lot of research that needed to be done. Something the textile museum helped him with. “The machines were retooled by the museum, which gave me the ability to investigate how it would look like, what I could make with it, and how I could play with the thicknesses.”

In collaboration with the TextielLab he produced knitted textiles that are padded with a filler thread. He experimented with the production of thickly padded knits on a large circular knitting machine. The machine was specially fitted with so-called padding mangle for this project, making it possible to produce knits that are padded out with filler threads. The investigation focused on the knitting of lengths of cloth in which the pattern components are filled out. The edges of each section remain attached, so the padding remains inside when the pattern components are cut from the base. Or as Borre simply explains, “the entire 3D knit, the bottom, the top and the filler are knitted simultaneously. The machine produces a round tube of fabric, and you end up with one large piece that’s completely filled from the moment you cut it open.” 

Despite his success, Borre remains very modest. “In the end I’m not a fashion designer, I just make things. The nice thing is I’ve dived into a technique that hadn’t been used before in this way. I just happen to end up in fashion with a lot of my projects.”

Borre presented his first collection – the First cycle – during Paris Fashion Week 2011, when he already set the tone for every success that has followed ever since. With his new SS13 collection he lives up to the expectations. His talent and innovative thinking brought him to where he is today, and definitely makes him one to keep in sight. 

Photos by Team Peter Stigter