Fashion Commons

Dear Zoe,

This morning, when I was still lying in bed trying to wake up, I stumbled across a LinkedIn message on my phone about the publication of a Dutch book entitled Plant by Emile van der Staak. Emile is the brilliant head chef of ‘De Nieuwe Winkel’ in Nijmegen https://denieuwewinkel.com/product/kookboek-plant/.  His experimental restaurant has garnered world fame and Michelin Stars https://guide.michelin.com/nl/nl/gelderland/nijmegen/restaurant/de-nieuwe-winkel. I became very excited and ordered the book immediately.

What Emile van der Staak does with food is what OC.M is trying to engender with fashion. I have followed the development of ‘De Nieuwe Winkel’ for years. Emile works with Wouter van Eck, the champion of a food forest, also in Nijmegen, called ‘Ketelbroek’ https://denieuwewinkel.com/voedselbossen/voedselbos-ketelbroek/ He is a renowned leader, in his own right, of a vibrant food forest movement in The Netherlands. I have visited, and fallen in love with his food forest. He purchased a worn-out piece of farmland to regenerate and planted a few, strategic, very well considered additional plants and trees. Otherwise he essentially lets nature run its course, and especially does not interfere. His plot is now a vibrant, luscious piece of land. Emile approached Wouter about selecting plant material from his food forest and a brilliant partnership was born.   

When Emile started, he started from scratch. Literally. He has experimented with roots and leaves and bark and fruits and wood and mushrooms in their various seasons and let his taste buds lead him to taste combinations that are as exquisite as they are unusual. Out of that has emerged his world-famous restaurant. I bought the book because I am so curious about what he does and how he does it. I know this book will go down in history and guide many more idealistic chefs. To start ‘eating local’, you have to know what nature offers and how to go about preparing her gifts.

On this restaurant website it says, “At the Nieuwe Winkel we cook to make the world better”. On the Michelen page it says, “This green Michelin star makes a statement against the climate crisis.”

So of course, Zoe, my thoughts ran to you, FAN’s very own doyen of Food and fashion. What they are doing in their restaurant is what we want to do with clothing. It reminds me of my frequent expression: Clothes should be honey, and makers should be bees. We want to wear our local environments, sustainably. We want to make the world better by dressing our bodies, encouraging nature and then unifying ourselves with it through our outfits.

Imagine if we could eat at that restaurant wearing clothing made of Dutch flax, that we transported ourselves there on bikes, and the restaurant was powered by wind and sun. Then I would experience the deepest calm of my life. Especially if the entire social system behind it all was geared to well-being, sharing, fairness – and not profit and exploitation. As Wouter van Eck says of his food forest harvests, “This is the result of working together with nature instead of against it.” He has demonstrated that his yields (if you broaden your diet) are significantly greater than through conventional farming. We know that our wardrobes would be bountiful, in the right way, if we allowed our earth to revive and be its opulently generous self and we knew how to convert it respectfully into clothes.

Before the restaurant became famous it was sometimes possible to book a reservation there. Now their website is active only 2-3 times a year and all of the tables are booked up within a few hours for months in advance. Nevertheless, if you plan another trip to Holland and I can be warned long enough ahead of time, let’s bike there wearing our linen outfits and revel in thoughts of what the future could hold – oh, and in a delicious meal for eyes and palate as well. Isn’t it the dream of us all to be ‘in synch with the Blue Planet’?

Much love,

Sandra