State of Fashion Biennale attracts approximately 60,000 visitors
The State of Fashion Biennale 2026 | Available to Promise has successfully concluded after 7.5 weeks. In total, approximately 60,000 people visited the Biennale, which took place across various locations in Arnhem.
The Biennale was officially opened on 13 May by Her Majesty Queen Máxima. At the Eusebiuskerk in Arnhem, she attended the festive opening alongside Minister of Education, Culture and Science Rianne Letschert, Mayor Ahmed Marcouch and King’s Commissioner Daniel Wigboldus, together with a tour of the installations.
The exhibition Available to Promise and the public programme were on show at the Eusebius, Museum Arnhem, Rozet, Focus Filmtheater, the OndernemersLab and the Pavilion on Stadhuisplein.
Under the title Available to Promise, this edition explored the systems that shape fashion today. Rather than focusing on clothing as an end product, it centred on the underlying structures of production, labour, logistics, data, trade and ecology that make the fashion industry possible.
The State of Fashion Biennale 2026 was curated by an international team of curators, comprising Anne Zhou, Anouchka van Driel and Shanu Walpita, in collaboration with makers and designers from around the world. Together with them and the public, a wide-ranging programme of exhibitions, workshops, talks and performances was realised.
“We look back with pride on this edition of the State of Fashion Biennale 2026,” says Iris Ruisch, Director of State of Fashion. “This edition has shown what needs to change within the fashion industry, and that the power to do so exists. The collaboration with the curators, OMA/AMO and International Magic brought the exhibition, featuring more than 30 (inter)national makers, to a wide audience both inside and outside the Eusebius. Together with many structural partners, and thanks to some remarkable collaborations, we quite literally set the city in motion. With programmes in Ghana, Sri Lanka and China, we broadened both our audience’s outlook and the scope of our ambitions. The challenges facing the fashion industry deserve more than a promise: this Biennale showcased tangible solutions and alternatives, embedded in the heart of Arnhem and developed in close collaboration with the city.”
State of Fashion thanks all visitors, participants, partners and volunteers who contributed to the realisation of Available to Promise.