Building a Family, Breaking the Rules: The Patchwork Family’s Eternal Calendar with Kees de Klein

An anti-fast fashion collective of designers turned into a full-blown, community-based movement, grounded in their shared love of upcycling, Patchwork Family has always been about more than just clothing. It’s about constructing a new, sustainable future—one stitch, one event, one collaboration at a time. Aiming to lower the bar for young designers to break into the fashion industry, they understand that fashion is the culmination of multidisciplinary collaboration, including performers, DJs, photographers, videographers, and graphic designers into their family. Their latest project, the Eternal Calendar, is a visual manifesto born from their ongoing partnership with photographer Kees de Klein (Great Expectations). We spoke to Meike van Lelyveld, Marco Blazevic, and Kees de Klein about their longstanding collaboration, self-facilitation, activism, rebellion, and building a family.

The Patchwork Family has grown from a bold fashion collective challenging fast fashion into a thriving community. Can you walk us through this journey and the transformations you’ve experienced along the way?

MB: First of all, when starting The Patchwork Family straight after graduating from ArtEZ three years back, we would have never imagined that it would lead us to navigating through so many different spaces. From international fashion weeks, to established museums, and our sex-positive party at the infamous Club Church. For me, this is one of the most exciting aspects of our work, and it naturally leads to our ‘transformation.’

MVL: It all started rather innocently. As a friend group, we were struck by the competitiveness and conservatism of the fashion industry. We didn’t see a path for what we wanted, so we decided to lay one out ourselves.

MB: Yes, I completely agree. Self-facilitation was, and still is, at the core of everything we do. We keep changing as individuals, but also as a family. With every new member, the collective and its ambitions evolve too. While we started as a collective of upcycling designers—still one of our main focuses—over the past three years, we’ve grown into a multidisciplinary family. 

MVL: And beyond that, we set out to establish the collective with the main goal of learning as much as possible. Looking back, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into—with basically zero industry experience and just a lot of eagerness to grow. Now, we’ve built a patchwork of mentors and institutions that can guide us when needed, while still giving us the freedom to follow our instincts and do what feels right.

Great Expectations dives deep into the theme of identity. Can you tell me more about exploring the intersection of fashion and self-expression?

KK: I’ve spent years in fashion as a photographer, while my design roots are deeply planted in activism. It’s like; my eyes crave advertising, but my heart calls for progress. Great Expectations is where these two meet. I like starting with something familiar and transforming it into something magical. I think of what I do as crafting a wardrobe for whoever I work with—a collection of references, visuals, and messages that express their beliefs. And then, we play dress-up. Or in Patchwork’s case: strip naked.

At the heart of both of your initiatives is a celebration of community, inclusion, and defying conventions. What sparked the inspiration for you to collaborate, and how do your distinct perspectives come together to create something fresh?

MB: Well it all started with a big fight between me and Kees.

KK: I don’t remember this?

MB: Hahaha, this was actually one of the most formative moments for me during my time at ArtEZ. You weren’t happy with the effort I had put in and told me I could do better—which, in the end, you were right about. I think even back then, at school, we had the dynamic where I’d present you with exciting chaos, and you’d help me clean it up—very similar to what we do now. I still remember having “a campaign photographed by Kees” on our dream list when we were setting up The Patchwork Family three years ago. This year, shortly before Amsterdam Fashion Week, we finally dared to reach out to Kees to see if he would be willing to collaborate on a campaign with us. That was the start of our partnership, which, by now, has turned into a mutual addiction.

I personally think we share very similar interests and values—not only as artists but also as people—while having very different skills and methodologies, which, when combined, lead to an outcome we could not achieve on our own.

KK: I fully agree. As a teacher, I always try to help students discover their own holy grails of inspiration and the tools to carve them. But with Meike and Marco, it felt more like exchanging ideas about the act of making itself. I remember one assignment on portraiture where they built a Trump Tower out of MAGA cups and made it collapse. They have a unique skill—channeling excitement on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

Now, you’re teaching me in return—not about inspiration or tools, but about how to build a family that sticks together, like the perfect recipe. 

MB: The Trump Tower was actually Meike’s solo project, but I’m happy that we already came across as a collective back then. Haha.

MVL: Yes but you did help me stack the tower! One of the most impactful things Kees taught us back at ArtEZ was to connect and collaborate with peers who share the same intentions in their work, rather than with industry experts who are lightyears ahead in their careers. That really resonated with me, and it’s been fascinating to carry this advice with us as a group while finding our own path. Finally, to circle back and collaborate with Kees as a peer is incredibly rewarding. We have the same intentions, and working together—especially with someone who has so much industry experience—has allowed us to find our voice while exploring and having a lot of fun.

Can you share more about what the “eternal calendar” represents and how it plays into your creative philosophy?

KK: Nothing celebrates quite like a calendar. Time flows from birthday to birthday, and a calendar is the keeper of plans, the plotter of futures. Each month tips its hat to another cherished member of the Patchwork family. It’s about revisiting a format that’s already so familiar, and by changing just a few elements, it gains new meaning. I love a good ref.

MVL: A calendar is one of the most intimate publications (of course, not as intimate as our inspirational condoms that we just released), counting the days alongside you and evolving over time, just like you! It’s nearly impossible to capture the dynamic and diverse nature of a collective in a single static print, so working with a changing medium was the perfect solution.

MB: It was also about creating an eternal source of inspiration to resist—which led to the subtitle, “Free everything that needs to be free.” While at the beginning of 2024, it was all about Free Palestine—and rightfully still is—we wanted to highlight the timeless and universal struggle for freedom, creating a publication that will forever inspire and motivate resistance against any form of injustice.

Looking beyond fashion, how do you envision your work influencing wider cultural conversations on social justice, sustainability, or inclusion?

MB: As a researcher, I dive deep into queer and anti-fascist theory and strive to connect them with the medium of fashion, which is already reflected in how The Patchwork Family is structured. The elements used to upcycle the structure of The Patchwork Family are drawn from queer frameworks like Drag Houses and activist movements such as Anti-Fa or ACT UP, rather than from the fashion industry or corporate structures. Another key point is that we aim to view the word “sustainable” in the broadest sense possible, considering social and financial sustainability just as important as ecological sustainability. For us, none of these struggles are exclusionary. Or, to borrow from one of my favorite theorists, Judith Butler: “Coalitions do not require mutual love (…) “They require only a shared insight that oppressive forces can be defeated by acting together and moving forward with difficult differences without insisting on their ultimate resolution.” (Who’s afraid of Gender)

KK: Legitimizing is a word that comes up often in our conversations. We like to pair something institutionalized with something vulnerable—experienced with new-to-the-game. Whether it’s trespassing into places like Willet-Holthuyzen, historically reserved for the happy few, or revisiting classic portraiture by portraying our own trailblazers using a visual language steeped in tradition, it becomes about staking a claim.

MVL: Exactly, and we try to take this further into the very foundation of our work. Nowadays, everyone is very weary of these sexy buzzwords—which is good, of course—especially because it pushes us to triple-check our work and make sure we’re 100% behind it in every way. Behind the scenes of our crazy shows, we have designers doing academic research into upcycling and queer theory. And that all comes together in the Patchwork Family. I mean, the TED talk I gave on upcycling the fashion industry was just as much a performance as our last AFW show.

Fashion is often about rebellion—what’s the most rebellious piece or project you’ve worked on to date?

MB: I think it’s difficult to pick one piece or project that qualifies as the most rebellious, as for us it’s always about being as rebellious as possible within the framework we’re working in. The dynamic between the spaces and institutions we collaborate with is crucial, as it often dictates how rebellious a project can be. While we likely did our most extreme and blunt work at Club Church, I sometimes think that navigating more institutionalized spaces with subtler work can be even more powerful and “rebellious.” To me, running around Huis Willet Holthuysen half-naked, dressed only in a keffiyeh during Museumsnacht, could be more rebellious than an actual fisting performance at Club Church.

KK: I agree about the impact of toning down. I think the First Last Supper—an intimate dinner hosted last week with dear friends from diverse backgrounds—might actually be the most rebellious act in The Patchwork Family’s context of loud, bold events and performances. Everyone showed up as themselves—no alter egos, no stage personas. What could be more powerful than that?

MVL:  I loved that too! Especially how everyone subconsciously followed the dress code of our Family Affair parties at Club Church: dress up or dress down. The designers dressed up, and all the performers dressed down, completely leveling the playing field.

Patchwork Family isn’t just about fashion collections — it’s also about creating experiences through club nights, performances at Museumnacht, and intimate dinners. How do these events amplify your mission and contribute to the movement you’re building?

MB: I love that you use the word “movement”! Claiming physical space has been at the core of what we do since the very beginning, as well as maintaining a constant exchange of energy and inspiration with our community. Or, as in the case of our latest dinner—the Very First Last Supper—giving everyone a seat at the table.

MVL: Yes, and the importance of this physicality is so often overlooked in fashion. Every garment only exists within the context of a wearer in a physical space, just like our community. I mean, can you ever really have an amazing time on Instagram?

KK: I recently came across this sentence written by Olivia Laing: “Empathy is not something that happens to us when we read Dickens. It’s work.” It has become my mantra ever since. It’s also why I named my company Great Expectations.

In a constantly shifting landscape, what do you think is the future of ‘authenticity’ in fashion?

KK: It’s funny you’d say that—we both can’t resist leaning on bold, long-lasting fashion references. It’s like a universal language, one that everyone seems to understand. It might not be the first thing that comes to mind when describing ‘authenticity,’ but it works.

MVL: In a way, the Patchwork Family members see fashion design in the same way Kees does when creating a visual language. We’re all just upcycling—sometimes it’s deadstock garments, sometimes it’s iconic fashion photography, and sometimes it’s fashion archetypes.

In a world obsessed with fast fashion and trends, what’s your most controversial take on the fashion industry? 

KK: If trends keep shortening their lifespan at this rate, we might soon have trends that last just a second. That sounds like a backdoor to finally living in Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now. Jokes aside, a trend, to me, is just a wearable meme—a way to signal what you stand for and who your crowd is. I was at the Charli XCX concert at London’s O2 last month, and seeing 20,000 brats dressed up like their pop idol was mind-blowing. I just think it doesn’t have to be a Shein-green crop top.

MVL: Haha, your answer is very chaotic, but that’s on trend right now! Honestly, I love trends and the ridiculousness of the fashion industry in general—I think that’s why we all fell in love with it. Just because we’re doing everything we can to be sustainable, socially responsible, and inclusive doesn’t mean we cannot have fun and partake in the circus that is the fashion industry.

MB: There’s nothing more sustainable than nudity.

A little birdie told me you’re packing your bags for Paris soon—How do you see Patchwork evolving as a collective, and what are you most excited about for the year ahead?

KK: Who told you that?!

MVL: Another fashion cliché, but of course, we cannot say much yet… but I can tell you that we want to bring the quality, chaos, and plot twists of our Amsterdam shows to Paris Fashion Week—and drench it in haute couture! Maybe we’ll even welcome some new Patchwork Family members along the way?

MB: And most importantly, have a lot of fun!!!