Johannes Offerhaus wins 21st Frans Molenaar Award
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Johannes Offerhaus has won the 21st Frans Molenaar couture award with his graduate collection ‘Centrifugal Systems’. He has received 10,000 euros in prize money.
Offerhaus, an ArtEZ alumni, was praised by the jury for the refinement of his elegant womenswear collection. Offerhaus also won over the audience with his dancing full-bodied skirts, which twirled automatically thanks to a little engine tucked into waistbands.
The Frans Molenaar Award is the only couture award in The Netherlands. It is named after couturier Frans Molenaar, who financed the award himself and ensured its longevity through a considerable bequest, made following his death last year.
After interning for Charles Montaigne and working for Gerard Pipart at Nina Ricci in Paris, Molenaar, who had studied to become a tailor in Amsterdam, launched his own couture business in 1967. He worked until his death in January 2015. He launched the Frans Molenaar Award in 1995.