Photography: Isolde Woudstra Make-up en hair: Mariska van Staalduinen Models: Amy Opstal, Rein Reitsma, Roeland van Beest, Jasmin Dais Godoy Maia, Roel Nabuurs, Fernando Sojo Cabanillas. Collectie en concept image: Nada van Dalen And Pregnancy photos: Harmen Meinsma Fotograaf: Harmen Meinsma Styling: Inez Naomi Make-up artist: Ed Tijsen @ Angelique Hoorn Management. Assistent: Minou Meijers Hulp: Jiske Kosian, Vanessa Afrifa en Chris Nelck Modellen: Iheomy, Hannah, Maud en Daisy, Timo, lukas, Niki, Chris, Bente, Anne, Evelien, Jeroen, Ed, Florian, Giovanni, Hans, Peter, Frankie. Giving birth to Dying I designed the collection 'Giving birth to Dying' when I was pregnant with my first child. At the time both the past fascination with the dark side and the sweet-scented future of motherhood reached out to me in a dichotomous vortex. Would I still be able to retain my past interests or will I too become a frightened milk-smelling, muffin-eating, herbal-tea-drinking mother who stuffs her daughter into pink little dresses and is relentlessly proud of every little fart she makes? This was not the future I had in mind for myself. At the same time, however, I didn't know whether I could allow myself to research the most gruesome murders and serial killers while taking care of such an innocent little girl. The moment I experienced my first echo I realized that there was not even a choice that needed to be made: the first images of my girl, in grainy black and white, captured exactly the dark beauty in which I felt most at home. Whether it's true or not, I don't know, but people often told me that the birth of your child is the most memorable experience of your life. With my own birth this most definitely rang true: right before I was born I completely flipped my position and forced the doctors to perform a caesarean section that resulted in my poor mother nearly bleeding out and having her intestines temporarily removed from her stomach. I was born in a storm of blood in pale light. Now, thirty-six years later, I found myself in exactly the same position. At first disappointment reigned, but soon the realisation kicked in that this was how it was meant to be: hard stainless steel, bright lights, working surgeons, screaming and blood. Although my home was decorated with girly pink when I got back, my 'baby pinks' are light-blue and deep-red. This collection is riddled with references to the past darkness, albeit filtered, warped and altered: gruesome murder scenes colored in with kindergarten-crayons run alongside childhood clothing of Richard Ramirez (The Nightstalker) and Jeffrey Dahmer (The Milwaukee Cannibal). While maybe seen as simple aesthetic decisions at first glance, they are readily readable for those who understand and appreciate the references to the horrors of Dahmer, Bundy and Ramirez. The collaboration with Harmen Meinsma added yet another layer to the collection: on the surface a wildly colored and seemingly joyful series, with doom and gloom seeping through upon closer inspection. At the start of the ‘70s few could have predicted what horrors lay in wait for them that decade; the era of the serial killer emerging through the cracks of the fading ‘60s. Innocence was brutally fused with darkness. This fusion of light and dark echoes through the collaboration with Harmen Meinsma with twilit figures in technicolor.