Last Monday, Marlies presented her collections for 2020 in a spectacular show at Villa Thalia, Rotterdam. Singer Famke Louise had a big role during the show. She performed two of her songs: her newest song which will soon be released, and her iconic ‘Boss Bitch’ for which Marlies joined her on stage to rap a verse herself. “The best moment of the evening”, according to model and influencer Joann van den Herik. Together with the WELLA Professionals team, Wella Professionals Creative Artist Bianca van Zwieten created over 20 unique hairdo’s for Marlies, Famke and all of the dancers.

The collaboration Marlies x Famke is a result of the matching missions of both women. For years, Marlies has done everything in her power to create awareness for feminism in the Netherlands. Twice a year she publishes her own FEMININE|FEMINIST glossy full of inspiring stories and interviews with international role models. In addition she hosts regular readings, and she has launched the ‘Unlock Your Potential’ journal.

Famke is a perfect personification of Marlies’ motto ‘Dare to dream, Dare to grow, Dare to be’. Despite the amount of negative feedback she received after her first single in 2017, she kept her goal in mind and persevered. Multiple hits, television performances and a FunX Music Award in the category ‘artist of the year’ (as the first female winner!) later, it’s safe to say that Famke is pursuing dreams. Marlies: ‘I have a lot of respect for the way in which Famke deals with comments on social media. She’s a strong, young woman, who stands up straight regardless of the negative comments, and perseveres to reach her goals.’

Famke: ‘Our vision is very similar, but we both address a different audience. For this show, we combine forces to reach multiple generations with our message of female empowerment’.

Famke’s story is a familiar one to Marlies. She grew up in a small town herself, and had a different expression of femininity than was considered usual. This also led to frequent comments from her surroundings. Now, over 25 years later, Marlies’ Bare Bottom Dress is part of the Rijksmuseum collection, she has over 500 selling points across twenty countries besides the webshop, and countless women wear their marlies|dekkers lingerie and swimwear with pride. Marlies has proven her versatility as pioneer of the trend ‘innerwear becomes outerwear’.