Apparel Ontfront

This summer sees the launch of a hooded blazer by Amsterdam-based menswear label Ontfront as a taster to the first full collection will be available from September.

Owner Tomas Overtoom is a co-founder of Off Schedule, Amsterdam's biannual version of Alternative Fashion Week which was set up in 2007. Together with his designer girlfriend Lisa Kolfman, he began experimenting with fusion outfits on the catwalk in cross-platform shows featuring dance, film and music. "We had an amazing overall blazer combo," he explains, "but this proved too difficult to produce." September's collection is entitled Midnight Sessions and features 13 pieces including a baseball/blazer, a trenchcoat/shirt and a scarf/polo neck jumper, all in viscose with satin linings. "Because it is streetwear we wanted fabrics that are easy to look after and which people could wash." All the garments are made by an Amsterdam-based company with a factory in Istanbul. "This was very important for us," says Tomas. "We travelled to Indonesia and saw a lot of small production facilities, these workers were working around the clock and making no money, we could have gone in there and got a fabulous business deal but that was not for us. We have more of a longer-term vision."

The label's name is derived from a masked hip hop party which Tomas organised. "It's a play on words. In Dutch 'ont' means 'de' and front comes from fronting things up, so it's all about de-masking being tough, mixing some feminine elements with streetwear to take it in another direction." The Midnight Sessions collection is set to go into 25 stores in Holland and in London will be stocked in Islington's Blue Menswear and Zigerman and Lusky on Greek Street, W1. The hooded blazer goes on sale online in July priced €139 (£110).

Words: Marian Buckley

www.ontfront.nl