Archive for September, 2008

If you visit Amsterdam the first thing that you will notice is that everyone is riding bicycles. Everyone. Girls, guys, kids, businessmen in suits, old people, pregnant women, dogs – I’ve seen all of this and more whiz by on two wheels this week. (The dog was not actually pedaling but he was sitting on a flat rack on the back of a bike with no sides and nothing really to keep him from falling off other than his own balance.) This is one of the most bike friendly cities in the world and the number of people who use it for their primary transportation dwarfs places like New York or Paris. The bikes are cute too – I want one. Even though many of them are new-ish they all look like some sort of retro 60’s/70’s prop bike that a stylist would pair with a model wearing geek glasses in a back-to-school shoot for teenVogue. I had to rent a bike myself this week because I kept seeing people whose photo I wanted to shoot breeze past me at top speed. By the time I could say, “Excuse me, I was wondering…” they were long gone. So I rented a bike and started chasing after them – haha. Not kidding though. When in Rome…xo eddie

When many people think of Amsterdam they think of pot and prostitution – both are semi-legal here. Others think of tulips and windmills – tulips are not currently in season and there are few windmills in Amsterdam proper as they were not built in cities because the buildings block the wind. Dig a bit past these common associations however and you will find a city bursting with design and fashion talent. Any country that can claim Viktor & Rolf and Rem Koolhaas as native sons is definitely worth a second look on the design front. The Dutch government is doing its part to support and encourage the next generation of fashion designers – Europe is cool with the arts funding like that, you know. In what feels like an “only in Amsterdam” scenario, the Dutch authorities last year bought 55 buildings from a former brothel kingpin and have now temporarily handed 16 of the buildings over to the most promising fashion designers. Most of the designers have their designs displayed on mannequins and dress forms in what were previously the windows where the girls would sit to advertise for customers. (The other rooms in the buildings are being used as atelier and living space.) The initiative is called Redlight Fashion Amsterdam. These young Dutch designers now have a rent-free space to live and work in the very heart of the city. The red light district is in fact the oldest part of Amsterdam and many of the buildings are stunning and back right up to narrow canals Venice-style. I’m now the founding and only member of the People Who Visit The Amsterdam Red Light District To Observe Architecture And Shoot Streetstyle Photos Committee…xo eddie