Ronald van der Kemp (born 24 September 1964 in

Wijchen Wijchen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the province of Gelderland, in the eastern part of the Netherlands. Population centres Number of residents per population centre per 12 December 2009: Source: Statis ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

) is a Dutch

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

and founder of demi-couture fashion house RVDK Ronald van der Kemp, his namesake label.

Early career

Van der Kemp graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Academy of Art and Design in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in 1989 with a BA in fashion design. His early career took him to major fashion cities

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and

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, working as creative director, consultant and chief designer for brands including

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and

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, where he succeeded Elbar Albaz. He also worked at Celine. It was in these years as a consultant that van der Kemp honed his technical expertise.

Own label

In August 2014 van der Kemp launched his demi-couture label, RVDK Ronald van der Kemp, presenting his first ‘wardrobe’ during the Paris haute couture calendar in 2015. Shunning the fashion system’s way of doing things, van der Kemp’s proposed ‘wardrobe’ consisted of a selection of limited-edition items that were seasonless and timeless, ethically made with existing fabrics, and crafted by hand in small ateliers in Amsterdam. Net-a-Porter, the luxury ecommerce group, was the first retailer to buy van der Kemp’s demi-couture collection, which has since been worn by celebrities including

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Ronald van der 1964 births Living people Brand founders Dutch fashion designers Gerrit Rietveld Academie alumni People from Wijchen