Amsterdam International Fashion Week 2009 will take place from January 24 to February 1, 2009, at Westengasfabriek. If you want to try a unique and different kind of fashion show, you should try out the International Fashion Week of Amsterdam. The AIFW has slowly become the recognized fashion week that stands for alternative and innovative ideas by taking inspiration from the city of Amsterdam and its very well-rounded talent pool of young people. The AIFW offers the most hip and modern catwalk shows, and in between the shows it has events, exhibits, lectures and parties scheduled. The event has gone from the previous three catwalk shows, just some years back, to the current 20 shows, and over 50 events were scheduled last year.

Previous catwalk shows at Amsterdam International Fashion Week have featured designers and lines such as; Daite by Tessa Koops, C'est Brilliant, EAH Non by Kim, Django Steenbakker, Blue Blood and many more. EAH! Got the nomination for being most daring. Eva Hanna, who is the face behind EAH!, did not grace the catwalk this time as she had in previous show but stayed behind the scenes and pulled off a show with great, new and innovative designs of summer dresses, sandals, beach wear, bags, shoes and jewelry.

Amsterdam International Fashion Week is sponsored by great companies such as Redken, Maybelline, Evian, Torres, Heineken and a great number of other sponsors whom have their own events and parties throughout the week. The 14th Frans Molenaar Award was given to Danny Cremers with the prize he also got awarded 10,000 euro, which he can use on his future couture shows.

Amsterdam International Fashion Week's motto is that fashion should be for everybody, so they created along with fashion week a program called "Downtown Programme," which can be attended by anyone. Highlights from the event were "Fashion in Film" at Kriterion and a bags exposition of Liesbeth Kaag that took place at the museum of bags and purses.

Amsterdam International Fashion Week takes place twice a year; it put Amsterdam on the map as a town of innovative fashion.

Written by lisa Kir

If I could pick a fashion show anywhere in the world to visit, Amsterdam International Fashion Week would be near the top of the list. The last time I visited Amsterdam was for a high school class trip, and due to the vices that are readily available in that fine city, we were not allowed to go out unchaperoned-in fact, we weren't allowed to go ANYWHERE except for a tulip garden and a diamond factory.

The truth is that Amsterdam is a hotbed of fashion these days. In fact, the red light district itself is experiencing a makeover, as a project called Redlight Fashion Amsterdam has given some of the best and brightest young Dutch designers the opportunity to live and work in former brothels rent-free, and this initiative is expected to make Amsterdam International Fashion Week one of the most innovative fashion showcases ever.

The next AIFW will be held from July 19 through July 28, 2008 inside the Westergasfabriek, a cultural center housed in the national landmark former gasworks for the city of Amsterdam. Some of the designers expected to host a fashion show at AIFW include Blue Blood Denim, Marlies Dekkers (an internationally renowned lingerie designer), Oilily children's wear, and Antoine Peters.

The fashion show I'm most looking forward to at AIFW July 2008 is the whimsically titled Super Trash, though. That name made me hold my breath, expecting a Dutch version of Heatherette, but it's actually chic, streamlined and wearable, which is quite a feat in the city that brought the world Viktor & Rolf. Super Trash's January 2008 show featured tones of cream, black and plum àla Chanel, with LWDs (little white dresses) worn over satiny-textured leggings and styled with finger-tip length black jackets with asymmetrical necklines.

The vibe was simultaneously modern and classic, and they even gave cowl-necked sweaters a sense of style. The only look that fell flat looked like a model in a cat suit with a serape blanket wrapped around it, but we'll forgive them one misstep.

Super Trash was created by Amsterdam natives, but originated in Los Angeles before relocating to take advantage of the Dutch city's creative renaissance, so if they picked up a little of the effortless American separates sensibility to temper their avant-garde Amsterdam tendencies along the way, more power to them. Super Trash's fashion show was as chic as anything I saw at New York Fashion Week, and I can't wait to see what they do for spring.