bio moniquevanheist

date of birth: 11 05 1972
place of birth: vlijmen / the netherlands

educations: -fashion institute arnhem, masterclass / the netherlands
januari 2003–januari 2004
-aki, academy of arts, enschede / the netherlands
department of fashion design
1st of september 1990-29th of may 1996

internship: falmouth school of art & design, falmouth / england
sculpture department
3rd of january-10th of april 1994

participation competitions:
- dutch fashion awards 2008:
winner mercedes benz dutch fashion award,
incubator award and media award
- dutch fashion awards 2007 / nomination (last 12)
- gwand schools, luzern / switserland, november 28, 2003
- finalist its#2, trieste / italy, july 10 to 13, 2003
- finalist ‘festival international des arts de la mode hyères’, hyères / france
april 26 to 29, 2002

exhibitions / shows:
- schielandhuis, rotterdam, the netherlands:
curator of exhibition about workwear / spring 2012
- modemetmonique,zeeuws museum, middelburg, the netherlands
april 9, 2010- october 24,2010 / solo exhibition
- arnhem modebiennale, participation exhibition and catwalkshow
june 2009
- ‘hello fashion’ / presentation classics-package moniquevanheist
may 28 2009, why not?, amsterdam netherlands
- caneaux de la mode / paris+amsterdam, november 2008
designproject with french craftsmen
- ‘bridges to fashion’ , schielandhuis rotterdam, september 2008 - february 2009
exhibtion about the cultural diversity of dutch and turkish design
- ‘risky business’ groupshow, tent rotterdam, march 29-may 20, 2007
- fashion NL / the next generation, gemeentemuseum den haag
group exhibition, march 25-june 5, 2006
- dresscode survival challenge
performance, amsterdam international fashion week, january 28, 2006
- mode-ode, gemeentemuseum arnhem / the netherlands
group-exhibition, june 10-september 20, 2004
- showroom institut néerlandais, paris / france, januari 20–22, 2004
- show 5th generation fashion institute arnhem
musée galliera, paris / france, january 19, 2004 [readmore]

other work experience:
- collages for articles in t:the new york times style magazine
from october 2006
- guest-teacher gerrit rietveld academy, amsterdam, 2007-2010
- teacher fashion design, willem de kooning academy rotterdam,
september 2006-september 2010
- freelance designer for G-star, april / may 2006
- freelance designer for imps&elfs amsterdam
design of kids collection , august-november 2005
- box-office employée at ‘theater lantaren-venster’
art-cinema and theatre, rotterdam / the netherlands
november 2001-october 2006
- bikemessenger, rotterdam / the netherlands, september 1999–september 2000

Company history

Dutch fashion designer Monique van Heist (1972) started her label ‘moniquevanheist’ in 2004 after receiving her master degree from Fashion Institute Arnhem. With her label she investigates the grey areas of our dress culture while applying a good dose of humour.
Monique van Heist gets her inspiration from observing the banal; lining up at the supermarket, on the street or in the news, modern societies’ less successful people or those who feel they have to dress in a certain way to answer to their professional or social status. Questions like ‘from where do we get our notions of what is pretty or ugly?’ or ‘what is the practical essence of our wardrobe?’ are elaborated into sophisticated collections based on Monique van Heist’s far from fashionable alter egos.

moniquevanheist won all three prices at the prestigious Mercedes-Benz Dutch Fashion Award in november 2008.

Company philosophy

Monique van Heist concentrates on classic unisex wardrobe pieces, including accessories like bags and jewellery, translating her sociological fashion observations into highly wearable and contemporary, perfectly cut and luxuriously executed designs, full of smart detailing and clear references.

In spring 2009 she launched hellofashion, a new way to present and run her brand. hellofashion is a continuous collection of ‘moniquevanheist’ classics by which she sets out to challenge the fashion system. This permanent and over time growing collection of garments, accessories and lifestyle products like furniture, make-up advice and even recipes, will be available for unlimited time. hellofashion cuts across the fashion system’s usual cycle by adding new products to the collection at any given time. The hellofashion project comes with a loose-leaf catalogue. With each new product launch a supplement will be released. This way the hellofashion catalogue will amount to an interesting ‘moniquevanheist’ overview and keepsake object.