Sjaak Hullekes secures Mercedez Benz Dutch Fashion Award 09.

You’d think that having a housemate who effuses spiels in Dutch every few seconds (we’re talking ingredient-list-reading, back-of-book-blurb-reading, South-African-national-anthem-singing here…) such is his love for his Uni course, that I’d have had enough of anything remotely Nederlands-related, but given the country’s menswear talent, you’d be so v. wrong.

Sjaak Hullekes (whom I interviewed along with his business partner, Sebastiaan Kramer of Sebastic, a while back), has finally been given the recognition I’ve reckoned he deserved from the moment I came across his luxe yet non-fuss line. Last week Hullekes won the Mercedes-Benz Dutch Fashion Award 2009 (do see the coverage over at Dazed, it’s much more comprehensive, this is more a fan-boy-ish congratulatory note…).

From the ornate, fit-for-aristocracy-and-their-admirers aesthetic that Sjaak advocated when I first happened upon his work to the now more relaxed with quiet eruptions of opulence, the designer’s altered his look somewhat without losing his vision which is, I suppose, partly the reason he won the award. The collection abounded various interpretations of that apparent binary opposition – wearability vs. fashion-forwardness, with sheer shirting and tailored separates in soft Summer tones. Versatility and vibrance, here’s to continued success.