Fashion blog against mainstream Media

Watching unashamed to people on the street

They define themselves as a magical duo. "We know each other, we have a nice taste for fashion, we are honest, we are sisters," Maartje (23) and Nienke (21) van Denderen from the Netherlands are looking to each other. "When I was a baby she held me in her arms," says the younger one smiling. It was the start of cooperation which would be practised later on. Nowadays these sisters are travelling all over the world: from London to Paris, from New York to Amsterdam, just to photograph fashion on the street and bring it to the people


By GERBEN SOLLEVELD (gerben.solleveld@wavemagazine.net)
from Utrecht, the NETHERLANDS


"When we were young, we were with four kids at home. I mostly got the clothes of my sister," Nienke says. They did not develop a special style for their own when they were young. It changed when they were getting older: "Once we earned money we could buy our own clothes," Nienke says about the moment when the interest for fashion was created. In the end the result is a popular weblog, Modereporters.nl, which started autumn 2009.

For the Modereporters (literally: fashion reporters) it was not difficult to find their unique selling point: "We want to be different, at least 70% of our material contains pictures. We want to show the Dutch audience today's fashion trends. Imagine that you are walking outside: while seeing anybody well-dressed, you cannot shameless stare at him or her for minutes. We photograph them for you, so that you can look to these fashioned people as long as you want. On our website you see the catwalk in an ordinary way," explains Maartje about the meaning of their blog, "we keep ourselves informed by checking as much fashion sites as possible. It is like football: if you like the sport, you want to know everything about it."

"When we are on the street we ask special looking people to pose for us, we explain what we're doing, after it we give them our business card," while Nienke is looking for a card in her bag, but cannot find one. Sometimes the love for fashion turns out to be mutually: while the reporters were at work in the street of New York, a guy came to them: "He was asking us for a photo shoot. That was nice to do."

Low-budget

A very ambitious project, while immediately going to the big apple, New York City. It seems to be a very big and expensive project. Maartje says: "Before I went to London for a report, I bought the cheapest tickets, like € 17,- for a round-trip flight. I departed early morning, and early morning the next day I was back in Holland." Nienke adds with an enthusiastic voice: "Once we were eating rice with some chicken in a park. We enjoy adventure, we don't prefer luxury stuff." The girls laugh to each other: "We're doing everything as cheap as possible." Does the fashion website earn some money? "Yes, today we earned like four pennies," Nienke laughs out loud. The only income comes from some advertisements. For now the fashion reporters first have to create some reputation.

Street fashion

The Amsterdam International Fashion Week (AIFW) is one of these big events where to leave your message, and so Maartje and Nienke are trying to multiply their connections in a small world, as Maartje explains: "We first photographed some inspiring people on the street. Afterwards we went to the fashion week in Amsterdam and we spotted the same people. So, people with a real good understanding of fashion are working in this world."

"We don't spur people to buy clothes, absolutely not; we support them to be creative." That creativity is shown in their photos. According to Maartje, street fashion is so much better: "When you look at a magazine, the front page is a model, the second page also. You never can be like a model. It is better to look at the ordinary people." About their own clothing, the girls are unanimous: "The basics are new, but there are so many other garments," says Maartje who herself is specialised in vintage - a way of clothing where old garments are used in a fresh style. Nienke is, according to their website, a low-budget shopper without seeing that it is cheap, she says with a big smile: "A few days ago, I had a trouser for only € 1,-, and some other garments. I called Maartje immediately to say 'I have three pieces for only € 6,-'!"

Inspiration

The London Face Hunter (his real name is Yvan Rodic) is a true inspiration for the fashion reporters, he has a blog with photographs as well. Recently Nienke started with a course to get taught in photography. Apart from Face Hunter it is just the people on the street who are an inspiration: "It makes our day when we meet beautiful people."

When asking the nicest happening in their short career, Nienke comes immediately with a story: "I first photographed a girl, after that a boy, and still another boy. When we came home I opened our e-mail, and there was a message from that last boy. He did like me. But I sent back to him 'Sorry, I already have a boyfriend'.

This magical duo does not face any competition: "We see other bloggers as friends, and if possible we try to cooperate." So, the future is open for more cities to visit: Stockholm for the second time, but the fashion reporters also wishes to go to Saint Petersburg.



(Published: 10.04.2010.)