99-year-old style icons and plush dresses: you want to see this expo about eternal youth

Have you already seen all the museums in Utrecht and would you like to do something cultural in another city? Then we have a good tip: the exhibition Youthful tremor at Kunsthal Rotterdam. What immediately strikes you here: You see beaming people everywhere. Kids marvel at the costumes their peers wore centuries ago and enthusiastically show off the designer dresses with Elmo and Hello Kitty plush toys. Older people can relate to the trends of their youth and take inspiration from photos of the eternally young 99-year-old style icon Iris Apfel.

Fashion and ‘eternal youth’ are the main themes of Youthful tremor. In the center of Hall 1 of the Kunsthal is a round video installation, in which you can stand in the middle and flashes of images and sounds fly around your ears. From here you can visit four rooms, each with its own theme:

Mini Me

Did you know that children’s clothing didn’t become a thing until 1900? Before that, children wore miniature versions of their parents’ outfits. Not always practical… You will understand it straight away when you see these 19th century lace and silk children’s dresses on display here.

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But: in this room you don’t just see parcels from the past. Pieces from the Dior and Gucci children’s collections show how too happy parents are in 2021 to have a mini Me walking beside them.

Be forever young

In this space, you travel through the last decades, basing yourself on different looks from the Modemuseum Hasselt collection. Mary Quant mini dresses, psychedelic print jumpsuits; you can see the times in these clothes. Think of the boyish trend for women in the 1920s: shapeless sequin dresses and boyish hairstyles reveal budding emancipation.

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Also interesting: the rebellious youth of the 1960s. Here you can clearly see what a great lasting impression this left. Since then, what young people wear has been the inspiration and the norm for designers.

Youth sells

At least we thought there was something odd about that space: In parts of the movie “Forever,” you can see how Americans in their sixties continue to strive for a youthful body. Hello cosmetic surgery! Juno Calypso’s cool photo series (but really cool pictures!) you name it.

Aging well

After these images that you can still feel in your stomach, the fourth and final room ensures that you leave the exhibition cheerful and full of inspiration. We see the granny look: young people revamping “grandmother’s clothes”. This opposite looks by Bas Kosters, JimmyPaul and Walter van Beirendonck, who base their collections on the colorful and imaginative world of children.

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This space also shows how diversity has its place in the fashion world. Gone are the days of the only super skinny teens in the countryside and on the catwalks. We are seeing more and more older models and style icons, which with their advanced style prove that such an old age has nothing to do with “dull and gray”. World famous style icon Iris Apfel may now be 99 years old; cosmetic procedures are not for her. Thinking, living and dressing young – this is his formula for success.

After your visit to Youthquake, you can (and we highly recommend it) continue to the other exhibitions which are currently on display in the Kunsthal, such as We Are Animals. Book your time slot today, because Youthquake can be admired until August 22, 2021.