Gwen Van Den Eijnde

Associate Professor
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Gwen Van Den Eijnde
BA, Haute Ecole Des Arts Du Rhin
MFA, Haute Ecole Des Arts Du Rhin

Gwen van den Eijnde creates clothing, costumes and accessories that engage the viewer in an extraordinary fiction. He studied with Edith Dekyndt in the Atelier Textile of the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg (2000–05), participated in Robert Wilson’s International Summer Program for performance arts at the Watermill Center in New York (2006) and was artist in residence at Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart (2008–09) and at the Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw (2010).

Van den Eijnde earned the Audience Award for the best costume design from Luzerner Theater (2010) and worked with costume designer Olivier Bériot, choreographer Robyn Orlin as well as for Hermès atelier Petit h. Before joining the staff at RISD, he was visiting professor at the Fashion department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and head of Textile Design at HEAR Mulhouse in northeastern France.

In 2014, thanks to a Travel Grant from Atelier Mondial, Basel, van den Eijnde traveled to Japan to research traditional Japanese textiles and the art of sculpting kimonos. In June 2016 he was awarded the Cultural Prize of the Alexander Clavel Stiftung in Riehen/Basel. He is currently an Andrew Mellon Fellow in the Costume and Textiles department of the RISD Museum.

Courses

Fall 2023 Courses

APPAR 3122-01 - SOPHOMORE: IDENTITY/IDENTITIES I (FALL)
Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

APPAR 3122-01

SOPHOMORE: IDENTITY/IDENTITIES I (FALL)

Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: M | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Gwen Van Den Eijnde, Jackey Robinson Location(s): Canal Street Studios, Room 102 Enrolled / Capacity: 14 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This course introduces technical and conceptual grounding in the aesthetics of identity projection through apparel and personal ornamentation. In addition to offering an intersectional lens through which to investigate both individual and social identity, students will learn foundational and interdisciplinary skills for design and construction: from presentation plates to effectively communicate the visual language of their design intentions to digital embroidery, laser cutting, UV printing, etc. to explore novel material and construction strategies. Research, discussions, and collaborative activities investigate how clothing might assume responses for both the wearer and the audience in the context of identity informed by gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, religion, and more; both classic and experimental production techniques empower students to more fully realize their concepts of identity representation and projection.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Majors are pre-registered by the department. This course is a requirement for Sophomore Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

APPAR 3122-02 - SOPHOMORE: IDENTITY/IDENTITIES I (FALL)
Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

APPAR 3122-02

SOPHOMORE: IDENTITY/IDENTITIES I (FALL)

Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: W | 11:20 AM - 4:20 PM Instructor(s): Gwen Van Den Eijnde, Jackey Robinson Location(s): Canal Street Studios, Room 102 Enrolled / Capacity: 14 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

This course introduces technical and conceptual grounding in the aesthetics of identity projection through apparel and personal ornamentation. In addition to offering an intersectional lens through which to investigate both individual and social identity, students will learn foundational and interdisciplinary skills for design and construction: from presentation plates to effectively communicate the visual language of their design intentions to digital embroidery, laser cutting, UV printing, etc. to explore novel material and construction strategies. Research, discussions, and collaborative activities investigate how clothing might assume responses for both the wearer and the audience in the context of identity informed by gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, religion, and more; both classic and experimental production techniques empower students to more fully realize their concepts of identity representation and projection.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $250.00

Majors are pre-registered by the department. This course is a requirement for Sophomore Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

Spring 2024 Courses

APPAR 3123-01 - SOPHOMORE: IDENTITY/IDENTITIES II (SPRING)
Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

APPAR 3123-01

SOPHOMORE: IDENTITY/IDENTITIES II (SPRING)

Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: M | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Gwen Van Den Eijnde, Jackey Robinson Location(s): Canal Street Studios, Room 102 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

The design course builds on design process skills from the first semester through assignments that focus on research and its application, conceptual development, and team dynamics. Varied facets of apparel design are explored through lectures, museum research, classroom discussion, and creative exploration.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. This course is a requirement for Sophomore Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

APPAR 3123-02 - SOPHOMORE: IDENTITY/IDENTITIES II (SPRING)
Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

APPAR 3123-02

SOPHOMORE: IDENTITY/IDENTITIES II (SPRING)

Level Undergraduate
Unit Apparel Design
Subject Apparel Design
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: W | 11:20 AM - 4:20 PM Instructor(s): Gwen Van Den Eijnde, Jackey Robinson Location(s): Canal Street Studios, Room 102 Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

The design course builds on design process skills from the first semester through assignments that focus on research and its application, conceptual development, and team dynamics. Varied facets of apparel design are explored through lectures, museum research, classroom discussion, and creative exploration.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. This course is a requirement for Sophomore Apparel Design Students. 

Major Requirement | BFA Apparel Design

Image
Gwen Van Den Eijnde
BA, Haute Ecole Des Arts Du Rhin
MFA, Haute Ecole Des Arts Du Rhin