Chapter 2: Amsterdam through the eyes of Simone
Char: Simone how are you? Tell a little about yourself J
Moon: I'm Simone I'm 22 years old and I've been living in Amsterdam for about 4 years now. I study at the AMFI, which is the fashion academy of Amsterdam. I do branding and I am now in my last year. In addition, I also did the Patta Academy and then I have my own company Gevluchte Kunst, which I am now mainly working on.
Char: Was Amsterdam your first choice to study?
Moon: I've never really thought about any city other than Amsterdam. I think I first looked closely at the schools and when I saw AMFI I thought okay, this is it and Amsterdam is very much in line with that. I really support the fact that I chose Amsterdam because I can really express my passion here and at the same time do what I want on the side.
Char: You chose the fashion academy, how did that choice come about?
Moon: I've actually had a passion for fashion all my life and I think that used to be a bit more unconscious, that I didn't realize it was so much fashion, but I always had a kind of passion for creating and creativity in me.
And when I went to Amsterdam, I actually started thinking about what do I actually want to study? The practical suits me more, while I have always been trained theoretically. Then I went to the AMFI, I visited an open day and then I immediately thought 'this is it'. This is where I have to go. Everything kind of comes together here.
Anyway, I think fashion is more than just clothes. That's what I really found out at AMFI. I see it as a much broader form of art, as a true reflection of society and I can develop very much in it.
Char: How did you start your own company Gevluchte Kunst?
Moon: I started that two years ago. I took the minor in entrepreneurship at AMFI. I realized I had a passion for entrepreneurship, but didn't know exactly in what way. Before that I also had my own company of jogging suits that I painted myself, and that was more of a hobby.
Then I went to do the minor entrepreneurship without any idea what I wanted to do. Here I met two girls and Hassan, and Hassan told his story about what he had experienced because he fled himself, that touched me so much and also showed me another side that we all thought we have to do something with this. This is how Gevluchte Kunst actually arose, in a very natural way. We give a stage to creative newcomers in the Netherlands. We work with all types of creatives, artists, photographers, et cetera. That's what it ultimately came from.
Char: Where do you get the most inspiration from for your work?
Moon: When I'm working in Amsterdam and I'm sitting in my room, I notice that I get stuck at a moment and that I need new stimuli and a new direction and then I often just go outside. I live on the Haarlemmerstraat, which is a very busy creative street with many different types of people and types of shops. When I go there I often also take off my earphones, my music, because then I can hear things and catch things and that way I can be inspired by people's conversations or things that I see. Or when I'm in the subway, what I see in the subway, for example. Then I try to link that to what I'm doing and see if there's a connection there. That way you can go in a different direction instead of sitting in your room and hammering away at something that won't come. Especially the environment outside and the people I think especially.
Char: What's your favorite spot in town?
Moon: On the one hand I like people and stimulation and creativity, but on the other hand I also really like nature and peace. Sometimes I really need that and it is sometimes quite difficult to find in the city, especially in the street where I live. I have a place around the corner from my house and it is very quiet, what is difficult to find in the area. When I get there in the morning or late at night, there is no one there at all, then maybe a boat sails past and that gives me a lot of peace.
If I need inspiration, this is also a place where I go to clear my head a bit and to land everything again and continue from there, so that's a very nice