Hendrik Vermeulen

D Unknown meets with South African couturier Hendrik Vermeulen. D Unknown continues to cross borders and became acquainted with South African born couturier Hendrik Vermeulen. Hendrik Vermeulen was born in Fauresmith; a small town in the Free State Province. He felt drawn to fashion at the early age of six. His grandmother, or ‘granny’ as he put it, had a taste for fashion. Her stunning outfits, in combination with her exquisite taste for gloves and hats were his inspiration. Mothers have a way of seeing into the future: still a young boy she taught him to sew.

Hendrik gained experience working as ‘Atelier Manager’ for internationally renowned fashion designer, Gert van der Merwe. At a certain point he knew it was time to start working with his own style and ideas.   What one piece of advice would you give to someone wanting to start a career in fashion? “Work hard, work very hard…and give it your best at all times!” Where do you get your design inspiration? “From different sources, but mainly from nature”. Getting to meet extraordinary people is in his opinion the best “thing” which comes from being a designer. What does ‘Controlled Chaos’ mean to you as a designer? “Controlled Chaos is the absolute necessary ground for creativity”.

Hendrik describes his next big step as being the opening of his flagship in the center of Cape Town and the production of his first ‘Pret a Porter’ collection; both scheduled in the last quarter of 2012. His work has been featured in “One Small Seed” Pop Culture Magazine, Visi Konfetti, Fair Heads and Swiss Faces Magazine. D Unknown looks forward to meeting up again with Hendrik.

© Images by John Anthony Davis, Simon Deiner, Jean-Pierre Uys, Yvette Gilbert.