Fashion takes a stand

Amsterdam-based fashion collective Young Designers United created a new collection as a statement on global conflicts.

Fashion just got political.

Amsterdam-based fashion collective Young Designers United launched a collection Tuesday that uses national flags to create politically charged designs that relate conflicts around the world.

Dubbed “The United Collection,” Young Designers United along with creative agency J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam deconstructed and reassembled flags into garments that integrated the flags of conflicting nations, focusing on conflicts between Ukraine and Russia, Eritrea and Djibouti, and the U.K. and, well, Europe in general.

the united collection

“Our aim with this project is to visualize what united can mean,” Angelika Groenendijk, founder of Young Designers United said in a statement.

“We want to make people think about how conflicts could be resolved if people look at problems in a different way – and inspire people to unite behind solutions.”

Materials were chosen specifically for their significance to each nation. While Romanian artist Andrea Endresz found inspiration in folk-designs in Russian and Ukrainian history, Dutch designer Anne Oomen chose to use rope to to symbolize Brexit’s effect on youth in the UK, and Irene Heldens, also from Denmark, brought Eritrea and Djibouti together with gold thread.

‘The United Collection’ by YDU from J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam on Vimeo.

Client: Young Designers United
Agency: J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam