Dr. Maaike Feitsma is a fashion historian and researcher in the Fashion Research & Technology group at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS), and teaches fashion history and theory at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI). She completed her PhD in 2014 at Radboud University Nijmegen with a dissertation titled Dutch Fashion? An exploration of myths and meaning, exploring the relationship between Dutch fashion and national identity—work that earned her the Hermesdorf Young Talent Prize in 2014. Her research includes sustainability, cultural heritage and identity, and innovative textile technologies, such as 3D‑knitted fisherman jumpers developed for contemporary communities. In 2025 she received the IFFTI Initiative Award Senior Faculty for her contributions to fashion research. 

Photographer: Niels van Veen