PRESERVING DUTCH FASHION ARCHIVES. THE FASHION NETWORK ARNHEM

Abstract

In 2011 the Museum of Modern Art Arnhem, ArtEz Institute of the Arts and the Gelders Archives have joint forces to preserve the archives of modern Dutch fashion. They established the Modekern, a network in which each partner has its own responsibility. The Gelders Archives archives the records of important Dutch fashion designers, including sketches, fabric samples experiments and portfolios. The fashion academy of ArtEz uses these records for research and education. Designers and students can study these fashion archives, become inspired and use it for their own development. The Museum organizes exhibitions based on the archives and using fashion objects. No new institute was founded, but in this collaboration each partner brings in its strength: the whole is more than the sum of its parts. In this article attention is paid to the development of the Modekern 2011-2017.