Marleen Ettema in a piece of Labwork
At the beginning of 2021, a new studio & creative hub will open its doors (officially) in Amsterdam: Studio Rozen. Part of the initiators of the studio & hub are:
Alle$ Lifestyle, a crew of creatives that actually can handle every ('alles' in Dutch) creative job you can imagine.
La Fam, unisex clothing brand and family, owned by sister & brother Anna and Renze van Jaarsveld.
Palet, which throws amazing, colourful Thursday parties in music temple Paradiso, Amsterdam.
Rich City Fortune, a label that creates exuberant comfortables & is focussed on inclusiveness.
Rosa Kater, who is an art director, 4D designer & clothing creator.
And then there is menswear designer & owner of the brand ‘Labwork’, Leonore Boeke, who we had a talk with about the hub and what they are planning after the place officially opened.
Leonore, what is Studio Rozen exactly?
It is a studio that we have formed with a collective of creative companies & individuals in this store space at Rozengracht 101 in Amsterdam. Right now we are transforming it into a place where all kinds of different disciplines like music, fashion & art can be expressed and come to life.
In the studio you will find a retail space (the Playground), exhibition area, photo studio, radio station, office room and an atelier space. The radio station will be used to host live streams or record podcasts and the exhibition area can be used for all kinds of exhibitions, pop-ups or events. For example, photographer Lara Verheijden hosted the release of her new Amsterdam Nude Calendar here in our showroom. This was the first exhibition in Studio Rozen.
Ultimately, the goal is to be a meeting place for young, creative people. When the Covid situation is over, we want to do a lot of events here as well. Think about new releases of music albums, clothing collections or screenings of new video clips or fashion films. We want to not only provide ourselves with a platform, but also others. This way everyone can get in touch with each other to learn, support & inspire.
The retail space of the store called ‘the Playground’ because it is a place where people can create, experiment, have fun, but also just play around.
‘’There is also something very spontaneous about the collective, because we didn’t knew each other that well before we moved into the space together’’
Why are you in a studio together as a collective?
To help each other to grow in the end. For example, if someone visits the studio to see or buy my designs, this person is also able to see the current exhibitions or get in touch with others of the collective. And imagine that when events are allowed again after Covid, we could host music events, while at the same people could have a look through the retail space. So the point is that it can reinforce each other. Since we’re all also working here day by day, we learn a lot from each other too. There is also something very spontaneous about the collective, because we didn’t knew each other that well before we moved into the space together. That’s quite special.
What does Studio Rozen add in Amsterdam that’s not present yet?
Well there is actually quite a lot for the creative scene in Amsterdam already. But that ‘open community’ feeling is something that we miss a bit. At Studio Rozen, everyone is welcome and you can just send us a DM if you want to execute something in the exhibition area or anywhere else in the studio. We just want the door to be always open for people or come up with ideas.
It is also a concept for & by creative, young people. That creates a good and supportive atmosphere focussed on togetherness. It is not just a shop, creative exhibition space or office, it is all in one.
During these hard times of Covid, some people might feel demotivated. How did you start with this concept during this period of time?
Actually, Covid only helped us roll out this concept. Due to the situation, we got the opportunity to rent the space for a relatively low price. The current situation can therefore also offer something beautiful in this case. We may not be able to organise big events in the studio now due to the measures, but there are alternatives for this like live streams or events in accordance with the measures and working with time-slots. We need think in possibilities. We don't know how long we can stay here for this price, but hopefully it would be at least a year. So make sure you stop by after we open, we don’t know how long we will be staying around for!
When is the studio opening and what can we expect?
We actually want to start the new year in a positive way because of everything that happened in 2020. That's why we're opening the studio on January 2, the first weekend of the new year. After the opening you can expect music events, screenings of films or video clips, exhibitions, pop-ups etcetera. But as I said, we’re open to anyone who has ideas for the spaces!
Next Events:
Album release, Pop up store & exhibition.
A pop up gift shop where you can buy affordable art from local artists.
