Fashion shop Ami-e-toi, Arnhem

Fashion shop Ami-e-toi, Arnhem - 2009

Glamour deserves a second chance

The shop interior has an extravagant and luxurious look; the fashion is inspired by the somewhat decadent world of art deco. But appearances can be deceptive. Ami-e-toi is the Dutch clothing label of Mode Met een Missie (Fashion with a mission), a foundation dedicated to helping vulnerable women and allowing them to rediscover their self-respect. The dual layers of the interior design reflect this ambition.

The fashion label is run by Stichting Mode Met een Missie (the Fashion with a Mission foundation). Its (female) employees have often experienced the more negative sides of life and of society. This foundation gives them new opportunities to develop themselves. The name of the collection is a reference to the French for “my friend and I”. It is meant as a message that nothing and no-one exists in isolation and that we are all connected with other people. Many women rediscover their self-respect through their work in the ateliers. Personal growth enables them to build a new life.

The new Ami-e-toi shop in Arnhem exudes an unmistakably luxurious style. It is the glamour style of the 1920s and 1930s, a period full of expectation in which the avant-garde flourished in art and culture. This turning point in history also characterises the fashion label Ami-e-toi, designed by young Dutch fashion designers. The collection is characterised by the modern interpretation of old forms.

We find the same meeting of contrasts in the interior, designed by the Dutch interior designer Maurice Mentjens. The straight lines of the concrete construction are softened by loosely hanging net curtains, shiny objects and two enormous mirror walls. As the long clothes rack is clamped between the mirrors at right angles, the mirror images are doubled. The collection is endlessly repeated, in all its glory and attractiveness; the ultimate fata morgana for the true fashionista.

The hidden message of “a second chance” is incorporated into all the details, reflecting Mentjens’ fascination with symbolism. “The wall of mirrors is not a fata morgana but the illusion of the ‘fashion addict’. The chandelier made of cut glass and attached to the mirror wall is intended as a piece of pop art, with its chalice form a reference to the Holy Grail. In the world of philosophy, the Holy Grail is often defined as the spiritual search for one’s true self, in which mind, body and soul ultimately come together. The same paradigm is incorporated into the monumental semi-circular table. Only through reflection and acceptance of the self-image does the whole entity emerge. This is a beautiful metaphor with the same significance for both the ‘fashion victims’ and the women working in the ateliers.”