In 2016, Esther Dorhout Mees made her first appearance at Paris Fashion Week with her seventh collection. The fabrics were woven from six different yarns that work together to create certain textures, in such a way that the print becomes three-dimensional after heat is applied.
Dorhout Mees is fascinated by the constant interaction between body and fabric. Her collections are inspired by natural, organic shapes, animal prints and 3D textures, with the female body always her starting point. Her seventh collection Nubivagant (2016/17) was inspired by flocks of birds and other groups of animals that move as a single entity without clear communication.
Dorhout Mees always opens her shows with a fashion film. Her film Nubivagant, which she screened during her first appearance at Paris Fashion Week, won the awards for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Hairstyling’ at the La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival in Los Angeles.
After graduating from ArtEZ Academy of Arts in Arnhem and many years working as a designer for famous fashion brands like Bruuns Bazaar and Tommy Hilfiger, Dorhout Mees founded her own eponymous label in 2010. The label’s distinctly elegant style is feminine and conceptual, and each collection tells a story. The base of all the collections are prints, silk, wool and delicate knits, combined with wearable unconventional materials.
